St. Mirren vs Motherwell FC Preview 31/07/2022

St. Mirren vs Motherwell FC – 31/07/2022

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The Scottish Premiership gets underway this weekend with St Mirren and Motherwell looking to improve on fairly underwhelming seasons for last campaign with the Saints welcoming the Steelmen to St Mirren Park on Sunday.

As per the normal, both Rangers and Celtic battled it out at the top of the table in the SPFL last time out, which left the likes of Hearts, Ross County, Motherwell, and Dundee United to battle it out for a spot outside of the top two.

Motherwell were one of the top contenders to finish in third for much of the season as they finished sixth in the first phase of action with 40 points that came from 10 wins, 10 draws and 13 defeats.

After the 38 games, however, in the end they were just two points above St Mirren who sat in the relegation round.

Ultimately, it was a poor season for Motherwell but it was still, statistically speaking, an improvement from the season prior where St Mirren finished above them.

The most concerning area for the Steelmen heading into this one was their dreadful goalscoring record. They finished the season with 42 goals scored from 38 games, and for a side finishing fifth in the table, it’s clear to see where their problems were last time out – this record was only one better than Aberdeen who finished third from bottom.

As for St Mirren, they topped the table in the relegation round last season and could not improve on their efforts of the previous campaign in 2021/22 with them finishing third in the second phase tables on just 44 points from 38 games. What’s more, they won only 10 times, while drawing and losing 14 each.

St Mirren were also the second-lowest scorers across the SPFL last season with just 33 goals in 38 games, and this remains quite alarming for fans of the club heading into the new season.

On the other hand, despite sitting in the relegation table and scoring so little, with 51 goals conceded last season they were one of the better defensive sides, while they did only finish two points behind Motherwell too.

Both sides have barely been separated the last few years and with the likes of Hearts and Dundee getting better last season, it’s crucial that each team here gets off to the right start.

Based on last season, however, not much is expected of them and Forebet predicts a draw on opening day and for the game to see under 2.5 goals.