- St. Johnstone have won eight of their last ten matches in all competitions.
- Kilmarnock have won nine of their last ten in all competitions.
No clear favourite for Saints-Killie
St. Johnstone and Kilmarnock both have impressive recent form to go into the Premiership's 2026-2027 season with, but it's Kilmarnock who appear to be on a much hotter streak.
Killie have won four of their last five matches and look more organised under Neil McCann, who took over on 6 January 2026 and has immediately got the Ayrshire side organised, confident and achieving results. They won 1-0 at home to Hamilton Academical in their most recent game and had the better of a 0-0 draw with Peterhead before losing the penalty shoot-out in the League Cup last week.
St. Johnstone have won only three of their last five in all competitions, suffering back-to-back defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle and a draw with East Fife with a penalty shoot-out defeat to the League Two side following a 1-1 draw. However, with eight wins from their last ten, it is clear the Saints are capable of maintaining momentum into their Premiership opener on Sunday.
Saints can avoid defeat against solid visitors
The hosts are the bookies' favourites for the game at 28/25, with Kilmarnock rated at 11/5 and the draw at 49/20. That's a bit of a head-scratcher to be honest as Killie are the form side, but the head-to-head edge goes ever so slightly to Kilmarnock.
Killie have won two of the last three meetings and beat the Perth club 2-0 away from home in the Premiership 2024/25 campaign. McCann's side have also won two of their last three trips to McDiarmid Park, so that gives the hosts a slight edge in our eyes.
It should be a tactical battle with St. Johnstone boss Simo Valakari looking to control the middle of the park and hurt Kilmarnock on the counter attack. That will certainly lead to some high-energy moments, but Killie are compact and direct in their play and will be dangerous on the break too. The Ayrshire club will look to get men in the box and use wide delivery and set pieces to get in behind the home side.
Goals unlikely to flow at McDiarmid
Ruari Paton has been St. Johnstone's end product, scoring three goals in his side's last five games, while Killie have been relying on Greg Kiltie to provide the final third quality with two of their last five goals.
This looks set up to be a low-scoring encounter with the goals markets looking similar in terms of appeal. Under 2.5 goals is a fair play at 1/1, but Both Teams To Score - Yes could be a smarter angle given both sides possess enough attacking threat to cause each other problems and also have enough structure to avoid the game running away from them.
