St. Johnstone
- St. Johnstone have been the most consistent team in the division and sit top of the standings with 50 points from 25 games.
- They have only won 1, tied 2 and lost 2 of their last 5 in all competitions, but their home record has seen a dip recently with no wins in their last 3 (D1, L2).
- St. Johnstone have only failed to win 6 of their 13 home games in the Championship 2025/2026 (W7, D5, L1).
Ayr United
- Ayr United are fourth on the standings with 33 points from 24 games.
- Ayr United have won 4, tied 6 and lost just 2 of their 12 away games in the Championship 2025/2026.
- They have won 1 and lost 2 of their last 3 on the road, so Scott Brown’s men are not always comfortable on away days, although they’re rarely outclassed.
Head-to-Head
- Ayr United have won 2 of the 4 previous head-to-head matches (D1, L1) and they have a psychological edge over St. Johnstone, who have failed to better Brown’s charges in their last 3 home attempts.
- St. Johnstone have failed to beat Ayr United in any of the last 3 home games.
- The Honest Men beat St. Johnstone 8-7 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in the Challenge Cup 2025/2026 away from home, and they are good travellers in the second-tier.
- Ayr have scored 1.33 and conceded 1.08 goals on average per away game in the Championship 2025/2026, so they will feel confident of troubling the hosts.
Key Players
Joshua McPake is the chief goal threat for St. Johnstone with 14 in 23 Championship 2025/2026 games, while Mark McKenzie has seven in 24 and is often the spark for Ayr’s counter-attacks.
Betting Insights
- Ayr United are outsiders at 5.8 for this clash, but St. Johnstone are short-priced favorites at 1.52, with the tie priced at 3.85.
- We’ll be on the visitors in the double chance market as they have performed better than their odds suggest on the road this season.
- However, St. Johnstone’s home record is outstanding, particularly when you consider they are scoring 2.00 goals per game on average in the Championship 2025/2026.
- So, McDiarmid Park has been a fortress for Simo Valakari’s side, who prefer to build up patiently and create overloads in order to unlock defenses.
- Brown’s side are very compact, play at a high intensity and hit hard on the break, while also pressing the ball with numbers.
- It could be a free-flowing game as St. Johnstone will look to control the pace, but Ayr will try to disrupt their rhythm and hit them on the transition.
Prediction
We think the hosts should have enough quality and home advantage to come out on top in what should be a competitive game, but as St. Johnstone have scored 2.00 goals per home game in the Championship 2025/2026, we think Over 2.5 goals at 1.9 looks tempting for the gamblers.
