St Mirren vs Hearts Prediction: Jam Tarts can gain another three points

St Mirren face Hearts at the SMISA Stadium on Wednesday night (19:45) as the hosts look to book themselves a spot in the Europa Conference League with a victory. The Saints lost to Kilmarnock last time out but will be looking to bounce back to winning ways on home soil and book their spot on the continental stage.

Hearts are already guaranteed to finish third, and Steven Naismith’s men can prepare for a Europa League play-off over the summer. They’ll want to end the season on a high with a victory here, and below you can find my St Mirren vs Hearts prediction. 

Team News

St Mirren are unfortunately without Hyeok-Kyo Kwon, who suffered a serious hamstring last month and has been ruled out until the summer. Mikael Mandron is likely to lead the line again despite his poor goalscoring record while Conor McMenamin is also set to continue on the right-wing in Stephen Robinson’s 3-4-3 system. 

Calum Nieuwenhof is out for the visitors with a hamstring problem, and Craig Halkett is out for the season having suffered a knee injury back in February. After a clean sheet last time out, expect an unchanged back four, with Stephen Kingsley and Kye Rowles at the heart of the backline. 

St Mirren vs Hearts Match Odds

St Mirren are priced at 7/4 to win this game, with Hearts now available at 8/5. That gives the away side a win probability of 38.5%. A draw can be backed at 23/10, BTTS is 8/11 and over 2.5 goals is 10/11. 

Hearts to win @ 8/5

Although this is a massive game for St Mirren as they target Europe, I think they may come up a little short. Hearts have shown their class so far this season and established themselves as the third-best side in the land. I think they will have more than enough quality to gain an away win here, especially considering the fact that St Mirren lost at home to Kilmarnock last time out and put in a disappointing performance. 

I’ve also been impressed with the way Hearts have approached their recent games. They have nothing to play for as far as the table is concerned but managed to dismantle Dundee at Tynecastle at the weekend, winning by three goals to nil. I think they can follow that up with another success here, as their hosts have won just one of their last seven matches. 

Hearts won 2-1 here just a few weeks back before the split, and I can’t see any reason why they won’t follow it up with another three points. 

Lawrence Shankland to score @ 5/4

The 28-year-old has bagged a remarkable 22 goals in 35 league games so far, meaning that he leads the Premiership's Golden Boot race. Shankland has taken his game up a level this season and now looks like one of, if not the finest striker north of the border. He has been linked with a move away consistently over the past 12 months, but a season in the Europa League may tempt him to stay.

St Mirren haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last nine games and as a result, I think they could be in trouble on home soil. Shankland can take full advantage in the penultimate game of the Scottish Premiership season. 

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