Gully Singh
BBC Sport Scotland at The SMiSA Stadium

It's the home fans making a fair noise, with the drum reverberating around Paisley.

They'll be encouraged by their performance at Pittodrie and hope to continue it on their home patch.

First chance for St Mirren as Mikael Mandron is played through by a brilliant Caolan Boyd-Munce ball.

The striker bares down on goal, but when he strikes, goalkeeper Ross Sinclair makes a good save.

The flag goes up to spare Mandron's blushes, but the replay reveals it was very tight.

Half-chance for Aberdeen as Leighton Clarkson's timid snapshot is easily stopped by goalkeeper Jordan Smith.

It's been a pretty cagey start at Easter Road. That was the first sight of some attacking football so far.

A reaction stop from Dundee goalkeeper Trevor Carson keeps out returning striker Lawrence Shankland.

James Penrice's bouncing ball is glanced goal-ward by the Hearts captain, but Carson is at hand to swat the ball to safety.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Scotland at Easter Road

Despite the dismal run of form from Aberdeen, the fans have turned out again in great numbers. Around 1,800 have made the trip to the Capital and already in full voice backing their team.

Hearts forward Elton Kabangu squanders the opportunity to burst beyond the Dundee backline after the home defence is caught out on the counter. The ball ends up at the feet of winger Musa Drammeh, who is dispossessed after hesitating on the ball.

The hosts have twice raced forward down the right flank either side of the early Hearts attack, but they have failed to make the most of either delivery into the box.

We're getting under way at grounds around the country.

Stay with us for the action in three Premiership games and goal updates from the other leagues.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Scotland at Dens Park

It was interesting to hear Hearts boss Neil Critchley talk about Lawrence Shankland hopefully being 'fresh' after his recent lay off in his pre-match interview. We will find out as he makes his first start since late December.

One thing that appears certain is he will have plenty of energy up beside him in the form of recent signing Elton Kabangu, who looks like he is going to be a real handful for the country's defenders.

As for Dundee, they are returning to action after having an enforced weekend off. I asked manager Tony Docherty if, given the excellent run they have been on, this was a good or a bad thing - he said both.

Bad in that when you are in good form you want the games to come thick and fast but good in terms of helping get back some of the players who have been out injured.

Image source, SNS

The last time Aberdeen visited Easter Road, the hosts were at the bottom of the table, 23 points adrift of a Dons side just two behind Celtic at the top.

Little did we know that the dramatic 3-3 draw in which three goals were scored in stoppage time would signal a revival for the hosts while the Dons' results have dropped like a stone in the opposite direction.

Hibs have lost just once in 11 outings since, are unbeaten in nine, six at home, and are up to sixth place, their eight-game unbeaten run currently being the longest in the top flight as pressure has eased on head coach David Gray.

In contrast, the Dons have won once in 14 outings overall - away to League 2 side Elgin City in the Scottish Cup - lost 3-1 at home to today's hosts in December and another defeat would lift Hibs to within two points of Jimmy Thelin's fourth-top side.

Read this weekend's Premiership Picks.

Image source, SNS

Kenny Crawford
BBC Sport Scotland at New Douglas Park

This is a big day for Ayr.

Yes, there are 14-odd games to go. Yes, Falkirk have a game in hand. Yes, it’ll be a tight three-horse race, with Livingston involved too.

But today an Ayr win puts them in that front-runner spot and it says to their challengers that the Honest Men are serious contenders in this fascinating title tussle.

Eighth-placed Hamilton are in need of a pick-me-up after three consecutive league defeats.

Despite Dundee and Hearts still only being eighth and ninth, and level on points, they are two of the Premiership's form teams.

The hosts' four games without defeat is no mean feat considering two of them were against the big two - draws with Rangers and Celtic - and the other a derby win over United, albeit all three were at home.

In saying that, because that win was in the Scottish Cup, Tony Docherty's side remain without a home win in four in the league, while Hearts are four unbeaten on the road.

Indeed, Neil Critchley's visitors are without a loss in six after lifting themselves clear of the foot of the table.

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St Johnstone owner Adam Webb admitted this week that, despite last weekend's win over Motherwell, the seven-point gap between themselves and second-bottom Kilmarnock means he has to make contingency plans for possible relegation.

However, he doubled down on the summer appointment of Simo Valakari, even saying "I can't be happier" with the manager appointed this summer.

Webb is also backing his manager in the transfer market, with two new arrivals this week and centre-half Jack Sanders, sold to MK Dons, being the latest to exit as the Finn reshapes his squad.

That should take some of the pressure off, but the American businessman also stressed that he and Valakari have not given up hope of avoiding relegation and that two victories over Well - first in the Scottish Cup and then the league - prove "he's doing the right things to get us to the right place" despite previous results.

Read this weekend's Premiership Picks.

Those of you who understand these expected goals statistics might be interested to know that Dundee have scored 37 goals from 25.5xG in the Premiership this season.

Their overperformance of 11.5 is by far the biggest of any side in the competition in 2024-25 - Celtic being the next best with 3.8.

Hibs, meanwhile, have scored 35 goals from 39.2xG, a difference of -4.2.

Only Kilmarnock (-4.5) are underperforming more based on their xG in the top flight this term.

Two sides meet in Paisley after back-to-back wins they hope mean they have turned a significant corner.

Seventh-placed hosts St Mirren ended their four-game losing streak by scoring three times in each of two away victories against Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup and Aberdeen in the league.

Bottom-of-the-table St Johnstone beat Motherwell twice, in the cup and league, to end a run of nine games without a win.

However, the visitors have not won in six away games, losing five of them, and have not won in Paisley in 10 visits since December 2018.

Image source, SNS

Hibernian head coach David Gray tells BBC Scotland: “I think it shows we've had a level of consistency in performances recently [naming same starting XI].

“We've also got a strong bench to come on and affect the game.

Gray admits the previous six-goal thriller with Aberdeen helped turn their season around.

“I think when you look at from where we were at that point, I think someone said to me the live scoreboard with 30 seconds to go was 28 points," he says..

“That's the challenge to the players right now, which is we win the game today and you can go a couple of points behind them.

“It'll be a difficult game. I know they've been on a poor run of late, but there's also a side in there that have put a really good start to the season.”

Image source, SNS