Queen of the South vs St Johnstone Predictions

• St Johnstone have lost just one of their last six competitive games excluding penalty shoot-outs.
• Third-tier Queen of the South have lost three of their last five competitive home games, winning one.
• St Johnstone have only lost one of their last 11 League Cup games, which came against Celtic.

Another cup bid for St Johnstone?

Having made the semi-finals of the Scottish League cup last season one year on from completing a remarkable cup double, St Johnstone are bidding to kickstart their 2022-23 campaign at Queen of the South, although Callum Davidson’s men will have to perform better than they did in a penalty shoot-out loss to Annan Athletic on Tuesday.

The Scottish Premiership outfit were reduced to 10 men before losing that contest, and are bidding for a more serene season after narrowly escaping relegation last campaign. A run of just one defeat in five games at the end of last season propelled them to safety, and while they had the top tier’s worst attacking record last season (scoring just 24 goals), the signings of Jamie Murphy and Graham Carey should add more creativity.

Queen of the South, meanwhile, were not so lucky in their fight against the drop in the second tier last term, going down with both the worst attacking (36 goals) and defensive (54 conceded) records in the division. They’ve lost three of their last five home games, including a 3-2 reverse to League Two’s Annan Athletic in this competition a week ago.

Visitors should have enough

St Johnstone have lost just one of their last 11 Scottish League Cup fixtures – against Celtic last November – in a run which stretches back to July 2019. Although they look hard pushed to bid for silverware again this term, the visitors should have more than enough about them to see off third-tier opponents.

While we’re backing St Johnstone for the win, a 1-0 away triumph looks a decent correct score prediction, with the visitors keeping three clean sheets in their last five competitive outings.