Heart Of Midlothian v ST Johnstone — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Premiership · Saturday, 29 August 2026 · 15:00. Our rating makes this 52% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is over. The Premiership average is 52%.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals52%48%Over
Over 3.5 goals28%72%no pick
Both teams to score51%49%Yes

The result model puts Heart Of Midlothian at 56%, the draw at 24% and ST Johnstone at 21%, from expected goals of 1.74 and 0.96.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Premiership has produced over 2.5 goals in 52% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Heart Of Midlothian have 2 in 2 this season (1 of 1 at home), ST Johnstone 1 in 2 (0 of 1 away). Those records are pulled toward the league rate with the weight of about 32 matches — enough that two or three unusual games cannot swing a rating — giving 56% and 50%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 2 and 2 games played this season, last season's rates are still blended in and fade out entirely by game 14 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. That moves the two figures to 53% and 48%.

The mix. Weighted 40% home side, 40% away side and 20% league — the split that beat every alternative across 30,582 matches of testing — that gives 51%.

Head to head. These sides have met 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 67%. That nudges the number 10% of the way toward the head-to-head pattern — deliberately small, because fixtures change more than reputations do — landing on 52%.

Goal expectation. Separately a Poisson model built from attack and defence strength — using real expected-goals data where the league has it — puts this match at 51%, from expected goals of 1.74 for Heart Of Midlothian and 0.96 for ST Johnstone. Folding in 30% of that view gives 52%.

This breakdown is generated from the same inputs the rating uses, so it cannot describe a calculation we did not perform. The full model is set out in the methodology.

Season form

TeamGamesO2.5O3.5BTTS
Heart Of Midlothian2100%50%50%
ST Johnstone250%50%50%

Head to head

14 May 25Heart Of Midlothian 2–1 ST JohnstoneO2.5
23 Feb 25ST Johnstone 1–2 Heart Of MidlothianO2.5
22 Dec 24Heart Of Midlothian 2–1 ST JohnstoneO2.5
2 Nov 24ST Johnstone 1–2 Heart Of MidlothianO2.5
7 Feb 24ST Johnstone 0–1 Heart Of MidlothianU2.5
25 Nov 23Heart Of Midlothian 1–0 ST JohnstoneU2.5

More: Heart Of Midlothian season stats · ST Johnstone season stats · Premiership table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.