St Johnstone and Hibernian will kick off their 2022/23 Scottish Premiership campaign when they face off at the McDiarmid Park on Saturday evening.
St Johnstone had a poor campaign last season spending all the season in the relegation battle, but they ended up having enough to secure their safety at the very end. They needed to compete in the Premiership playoffs though, where they beat Inverness 6-2 on aggregate in the final to secure their top flight status this season.
The Saints primary target this season will be to avoid finding themselves in that position once again, but to do that they will need to start the season in a much stronger manner. They have not been in the a good form recently, losing their first two Scottish League Cup group games, but they able to bounce back with two consecutive wins over Elgin City and Ayr United.
It was however, not enough to book them a place in the knockout stages of the competition as they finished third in Group F. they will be looking to quickly get over the disappointment as they seek to get off their Premiership campaign in a style.
Meanwhile Hibernian made an inconsistent campaign last season finishing in the bottom half of the table, but managed to secure top-tier football as they finished 10 points above the relegation zone.
Hibs, main target this season is to push for the top half finish, which will require them to kick off the campaign strongly. They missed out on securing a place in the knockout stages of the Scottish League Cup as they finished third in Group D with six points from four fixtures.
But generally they have had a successful preseason campaign losing just two of their seven competitive and non-competitive matches, while winning all the remaining five and are coming off a 1-0 win over Norwich City in the final pre-season friendly.
They will be keen to build on that as seek to open their top flight campaign strongly, they have not lost to St Johnstone in their last four league meetings and should fancy their chances on Saturday.
St Johnstone vs Hibernian head to head
Both sides have met in 52 encounters since 1997 with St Johnstone claiming 19 victories while Hibernian have claimed 18 victories and there have been 15 draws.
- Hibernian 4-0 St Johnstone 15/05/22
- Hibernian 0-0 St Johnstone 05/03/22
- St Johnstone 1-2 Hibernian 26/09/21
- Hibernian 1-0 St Johnstone 26/09/21
- St Johnstone 1-0 Hibernian 22/05/21
Home
- St Johnstone 1-0 Ayr United
- Elgin City 2-4 St Johnstone
- Queen of The South 4-2 St Johnstone
- St Johnstone 4-2 Annan
- St Johnstone 3-2 Cove Rangers
Away
- Hibernian 1-0 Norwich
- Hibernian 1-3 Greenock
- Rose 1-4 Hibernian
- Falkirk 1-0 Hibernian
- Hibernian 5-0 Clyde
St Johnstone team news
St Johnstone have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the clash with Alex Motchell and Remi Matthews expect to be handed their league debuts.
Hibernian team news
Hibernian also have no fresh injury problems ahead of the league opener.
Prediction and odds
- Hibernian win
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
