STATISTICAL PREVIEW: LIVINGSTON V FALKIRK

Fellow newly promoted side Livingston is up next for The Bairns on their first Premiership away game in 15 years. Both teams have had a good start to the season, progressing through to the knockout stages of the League Cup and earning draws in their opening Premiership fixtures.

Livingston’s Form Guide

Using the Livingston vs Falkirk match stats on Andy’s Bet Club, we can see that Livingston have been strong at home, with their last defeat at The Home of the Set Fare Arena coming on 4th May against Partick Thistle.

● 2–2 Draw vs Kilmarnock (A) – Premiership

● 6–0 Win vs Kelty Hearts (H) – League Cup

● 2–0 Win vs Brora Rangers (H) – League Cup

● 1–0 Loss vs Kilmarnock (A) – League Cup

● 1–2 Win vs East Fife (A) – League Cup

Livingston’s Last Match:

Kilmarnock	Stat	Livingston
2	Goals	2
8	Shots	11
2	Shots on Target	5
38.5	Possession	61.5
3	Corners	5
11	Fouls	14
2	Yellow Cards	2

Livingston’s first match back in the top flight was the definition of a game of two halves, with eight of their 11 shots coming in the second half along with both of their goals, while Kilmarnock scored both of their goals in the first half.

The turning point of the game came in the 65th minute, when Kilmarnock’s centre-back, George Stranger, was sent off following a VAR review, which also resulted in a penalty. Livingston converted this and later added a second in the final five minutes of normal time, courtesy of one of their 19 crosses.

Despite Kilmarnock’s dominance of shooting opportunities in the first half, Livingston managed to dominate possession throughout the match, ending with 61.5%. However, they struggled to turn that control into an attacking threat, completing fewer passes into the final third than Kilmarnock.

Looking further into the numbers, you can see that this is due to a heavy reliance on backwards or sideways passes to keep the ball, recording 247 compared to Kilmarnock’s 106, highlighting their tactics of recycling possession rather than progressing the ball forward.

While Livingston may dominate the ball, they often find it difficult to convert that into meaningful attacking movements, at least whilst all 22 men are on the pitch.

Livingston’s One to Watch:

Robbie Muirhead: He played a key role in Livingston’s draw against Kilmarnock, winning and converting the penalty that sparked the comeback. He also won two additional fouls and competed in six aerial duels, showing his physical presence as their number ten. This is his second season at the club, after a very successful first season, scoring 13 goals in 33 Championship appearances.

Final Thoughts:

In this battle of the newly promoted clubs, you can expect Livingston to keep possession through many backward and lateral passes, but they may struggle to convert this into shooting opportunities.

Their main threat could come from crosses, as they will aim to improve their relatively weak performance in aerial duels against Kilmarnock’s aerial dominance. This poses a concern for Falkirk, who managed to win only 41 percent of aerial duels in their match against Dundee United.

The way Falkirk can possibly look to improve on Kilmarnock’s performance against Livingston is by continuing to play many passes into the final third and making runs into the penalty area, both of which Kilmarnock recorded low numbers of in their match. This would allow Falkirk to create more high-quality chances and increase the likelihood of breaking down Livingston’s defence.

This statistical preview was written by a data analyst at Andy’s Bet Club – a sports betting content platform offering betting tips, real-time data and bookmaker reviews. You must be 18+ to use the website, and please remember to always gamble responsibly.