St Johnstone welcome Motherwell to McDiarmid Park on Wednesday evening for round 11 of the 2026-27 Scottish Premiership campaign.

In their previous outing, the Saints fell to a thumping 4-0 defeat against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium, while the Steelmen were beaten 2-0 at home by Hearts.

Match preview

After winning promotion from the Scottish Championship at the first time of asking last season, finishing top of the table and an impressive 11 points clear of runners-up Patrick Thistle, St Johnstone will be content with the start they have made to their latest top flight campaign.

While they may currently sit in the division’s Relegation Group, the Saints are just three points behind Dundee United in fourth and have been especially strong at home, picking up eight of their 12 league points at McDiarmid Park while losing just once there this season too.

However, St Johnstone will undoubtedly be a little disappointed with their performances in the Scottish League Cup, as following consecutive campaigns in the knockout stages of the tournament, Simo Valakari’s men won just two of their opening four fixtures to finish third in their group and stumble at the first hurdle.

Having endured a heavy 4-0 defeat against Rangers last weekend, the Saints will certainly be hoping for an instant bounce back on Wednesday when they face Motherwell, who they claimed a dramatic comeback victory over when the sides last met at McDiarmid Park in the Scottish Premiership. 

Following a respectable 2025-26 league campaign, earning qualification to this season’s UEFA Conference League playoff rounds as a result of their fourth-placed finish, Motherwell will be bitterly disappointed with how the current season has panned out so far.

Despite losing none of their first four league matches, a feat which was achieved by only two other teams in the division, Alfred Johansson’s side have been defeated in each of their previous six outings and subsequently sit tenth in the Scottish Premiership table with just a point buffer to Hibernian at the foot.

Much like their opposition, the Steelmen were dealt an early exit in both of their cup competitions too, falling to a 1-0 defeat against Championship side Stenhousemuir in the Scottish League Cup Round of 16 before suffering a thumping 7-2 aggregate loss to SC Freiburg in their decisive Conference League playoff tie.

Claiming victory in each of their previous two matches against St Johnstone, including a 1-0 win at McDiarmid Park to knock the Saints out of the Scottish League Cup last season, Motherwell will be hoping to continue their strong recent record against the hosts on Wednesday and climb away from the bottom of the league table.

St Johnstone Scottish Premiership form:

St Johnstone form (all competitions):

Motherwell Scottish Premiership form:

Motherwell form (all competitions):

Team News

Having suffered a season ending knee injury, defender Zach Mitchell has returned to Charlton Athletic early from his loan spell and won’t appear again for St Johnstone, though Croatian defender Bozo Mikulic managed to return to action for the Saints last weekend.

After coming off the bench against Rangers, Kai Fotheringham was shown a straight red card for a late tackle on Nicolas Raskin and is therefore unavailable for Valakari on Wednesday.

Netting six times in the Scottish Premiership so far this season, putting him joint top of the division’s scoring charts, Josh Fowler is undoubtedly the hosts’ dangerman and will be looking to post his fifth home goal of the season this week.

Both Callum Hendry and Paul McGinn continue to be out for Motherwell because of severe knee injuries, while 23-year-old Australian Oscar Priestman is also expected to be unavailable with a calf issue.

The Steelmen will be waiting on a late fitness test to determine whether Dylan Williams can feature too, with the defender missing the previous three matches because of a hamstring problem.

Contributing to four strikes so far this season, including two goals in his previous three outings, Alex Lowry has provided Motherwell with a goal threat from midfield and is likely to start alongside Dylan Levitt and Lukas Fadinger in the middle of the park on Wednesday.

St Johnstone possible starting lineup:

Steward; Smith, Finlayson, Diabate; Steven, McAlear, Cotterill, Alic; Gullan, Campbell; Fowler

Motherwell possible starting lineup:

Paulsen; Sparrow, Girdwood-Reich; Moormann, Longelo; Fadinger, Levitt; Maswanhise, Lowry, Hodge; Palmer-Houlden

We say: St Johnstone 2-1 Motherwell

Possessing a strong recent record against Wednesday's hosts, Motherwell will be hoping that they can get the better of St Johnstone for the third successive time this week and as a result edge themselves slowly towards the Championship Group.

However, losing to just Celtic and Rangers in their previous seven league outings, it is the Saints that we are backing to take all the spoils at McDiarmid Park instead, lifting them into the division's top six and putting them seven points above the Steelmen.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.