Preview: Aberdeen vs Kilmarnock - prediction, team news, lineups

Aberdeen will welcome Kilmarnock to Pittodrie Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the opening match of the Scottish Premiership post-split campaign.

The hosts are eighth in the standings with 33 points, while the visitors are 11th with 28 points from 33 games.

Match preview

Aberdeen have endured a largely disappointing 2025-26, dropping from a fifth-placed finish last season to placing eighth in the pre-split Scottish Premiership campaign.

The Dons picked up just 33 points in the 33 pre-split league fixtures, recording nine wins, six draws and 18 defeats in that time.

Now going into the post-split campaign, Stephen Robinson's side find themselves just five points above the relegation zone, and a defeat on Saturday would close that gap to just two points.

Consequently, Robinson, who recorded his first victory as Aberdeen manager in the final pre-split fixture - defeating Hibernian 2-0 - will be looking to make it back-to-back wins and extend their lead over the bottom two to a considerable eight points.

Meanwhile, Kilmarnock are 11th in the table after just six wins, 10 draws and 17 defeats in 33 pre-split fixtures, leaving them in the relegation playoff place and two points adrift from safety.

Neil McCann, who was appointed in January, has overseen a significant improvement in recent weeks, with his team picking up four wins, two draws and suffering only four defeats in their last 10 games.

Kilmarnock will be hoping to build on that form in the final five matches of the campaign as they look to avoid competing in the relegation playoff, starting by claiming all three points at Pittodrie on Saturday.

Killie will look to draw confidence from their most recent encounter with Aberdeen, having recorded a fantastic 3-0 triumph, but they have lost all of their last four visits to Pittodrie.

Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form:

L L D L L W

Aberdeen form (all competitions):

L L D L L W

Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form:

D L W W L D

Team News

Aberdeen are without Nicky Devlin, Tom McIntyre, Mats Knoester, Nicholas Suman and Kristers Tobers for Saturday's match due to injury issues.

Robinson recorded his first victory as Aberdeen manager in their last outing, and the manager could opt to name an unchanged team in this one.

Kilmarnock will be unable to call upon the services of Tyreece John-Jules, Djenairo Daniels and Matthew Kennedy due to injury problems.

Joe Hugill has scored two goals in his last three appearances for Killie, and the striker should start alongside Bruce Anderson on Saturday.

Aberdeen possible starting lineup:

Mitov; Milne, Morrison, Molloy; Jensen, Aremu, Armstrong, Gyamfi; Cameron; Olusanya, Nisbet

Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:

Roos; Brandon, Stanger, Deas, Schjonning-Larsen; Kiltie, Lowery, Tshibola, Curtis; Anderson, Hugill

We say: Aberdeen 2-1 Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock may have improved since McCann's appointment, but Aberdeen will be boosted after securing their first win under Robinson, and with their strong record in this fixture at Pittodrie, we are backing the Dons to win here.

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