St Johnstone vs East Fife Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Last season was a really mixed affair for St Johnstone, but Tommy Wright will be hoping for better with his side this time around. They ended up in the lower half of the Premiership last time out, but can the Saints improve on that this term? They’re kicking off their new campaign on Saturday, as they host East Fife in their opening Scottish League Cup group clash. The Saints are heavy favourites to win their pool, and they start with a straightforward clash against League One opposition this weekend.

The Saints claimed a 4-0 win at Berwick earlier this week, and they’ll be aiming to follow that up on their return to competitive action. That was their first win of the summer, and it has put them on course for a strong start on Saturday. East Fife make this trip after a poor season, while they’ve lost both preseason matches so far. That comes after a difficult end to the season, which saw them lose six of their last seven matches in League One. Will that terrible run bleed in to the new campaign?

St Johnstone are heavy favourites for this clash, so this must feel like the perfect chance to get their campaign off to a strong start. They’re going to look to rack up the goals against a much poorer side, who lost 61% of their games in the third tier last term. They head in to this match with little chance of causing a shock. They really struggled on their travels, after hitting 67% of their goals at home last term. They’re now facing a huge task to up their form ahead of a visit to Saints this weekend.

The hosts had a mixed top flight campaign, but they’ve won four of their last five League Cup matches at home. That includes both group games last term, which saw them rack up seven goals. That impressive form has got to count for something here, especially when you consider that East Fife are in terrible form going in to Saturday’s meeting.

The visitors have lost three of their last four away games to nil. To make matters worse, they have lost to nil in six of their last seven trips in this competition. With that in mind, we can’t see them scoring at Premiership opposition, so we’re backing the hosts to win and keep a clean sheet in Saturday’s clash. We’re also going for a comfortable 3-0 victory for St Johnstone, based on the gulf between the two sides.