St. Johnstone vs Aberdeen 08/08/20

08 August 2020

St. Johnstone and Aberdeen are set to meet at the McDiarmid Park in a potentially low-scoring Scottish Premiership showdown. All six of their previous top-flight H2H clashes have produced under 2.5 goals, with three yielding the exact 1-1 scoreline.

The 55th-minute equalizer from Liam Craig helped St. Johnstone avoid defeat to newly-promoted Dundee United last time out, bringing the home side’s unbeaten run in the Premiership to eight matches (W3, D5), last season included. The ‘low-scoring’ theme has highlighted St. Johnstone’s recent league outings, as five of their previous seven top-flight fixtures have featured under 2.5 goals. Just over a half (53.85%) of the 13 match goals scored/conceded across those seven clashes came after the halftime break (seven). Yet, the ‘Saints’ can take some confidence from the fact they’ve avoided defeat in three of their last Premiership H2Hs (W1, D2).

A 1-0 home loss to Rangers on the opening matchday of the season now means that nine of Aberdeen’s 14 competitive games this calendar year have produced under 2.5 goals, with seven featuring under 1.5 goals. Also, less than 50% of their Premiership away fixtures last season produced over 2.5 goals (7/15). The visitors had established themselves as ‘stalemate specialists’ on the road last season, as no team played out more away draws than the ‘Dandies’ (six) in 2019/20. In turn, two of Aberdeen’s previous three league trips to St. Johnstone have ended in a draw (W1), both of which yielded the identical 1-1 scoreline.