After beginning his tenure last weekend, Jim Goodwin will oversee his first home game as Aberdeen manager on Saturday, as they welcome Dundee United to the Pittodrie Stadium.
In the midst of a tough run of form, the hosts sit eighth in the Scottish Premiership table, while their visitors are three places but just three points better off.
Match preview
© Reuters
After a disappointing campaign in the Scottish Premiership, Aberdeen made the decision to dismiss Stephen Glass in February, with the side sat ninth in the 12-team top flight.
In their opening 26 games, the Dons earned just eight wins and 30 points, with the threat of not making the top six after the first phase for the first time since 2013.
The hierarchy acted quickly to appoint St Mirren boss Jim Goodwin as the new manager at the Pittodrie Stadium, and he took charge of his first game on Saturday, with an away trip to Motherwell finishing as a 1-1 draw as Vicente Besuijen's first-half opener was cancelled out by the hosts in the 68th minute, stretching their league winless run to seven matches.
With just six games left to play of the first phase and a three-point gap to bridge to the top half, Goodwin will now manage in front of a home Aberdeen crowd for the first time as they look for a vital victory to go level on points with their visitors.
© Reuters
Dundee United will make the trip looking to extend their unbeaten streak to five Premiership outings and strengthen their place in the top six ahead of the league's split into two groups.
After ending in the relegation group last season, the Tangerines will have been desperate for a different outcome this time around, and they now boast a strong claim, currently sitting fifth in the top flight with 34 points from their 27 games.
Following consecutive 0-0 draws, Tam Courts's side made a return to winning ways recently, with Dylan Levitt and Tony Watt firing them to a 2-0 home victory over Motherwell, before they made it back-to-back wins by beating Partick Thistle 1-0 in the Scottish Cup fifth round, courtesy of an Ian Harkes goal.
Courts's side extended their impressive run last weekend, holding defending champions Rangers to a 1-1 draw at home, albeit with a small feeling of disappointment as Joe Aribo cancelled out Ross Graham's opener with 15 minutes to go.
Nonetheless, the Tangerines occupy an enviable position with six games to go before the split, and, with the chance to move into the top four and further away from Aberdeen, they will be gunning for a victory on their travels.
- L
- D
- L
- L
- D
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- W
- L
- D
- D
- W
- D
- L
- D
- D
- W
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Still new to the job, Goodwin may look to deploy a similar Aberdeen side to the one he fielded in his first game at the helm last week.
Christian Ramirez should again be given the nod to lead the line, while Vicente Besuijen will operate on the flank after his goal in that game.
Key midfielder Scott Brown was absent for Goodwin's first game, with the former Celtic captain linked with the vacant St Mirren post, but he is said to be dedicated to playing and could make a return to the XI next to Ross McCrorie in the engine room.
Alongside McCrorie, young right-back Calvin Ramsay has been a shining light this term, attracting widespread interest from the likes of Manchester United, and the 18-year-old will again play a key role in the back four.
While he has had a relatively slow start to life with the Tangerines, Tony Watt should continue to lead the Dundee United line alongside Marc McNulty after scoring nine league goals in the first half of the season for Motherwell, leading to a January switch.
Courts has little reason to make wholesale changes to his side after an impressive showing against Rangers, with Ryan Edwards, Charlie Mulgrew and Ross Graham again set to line up in a back three with Ian Harkes, Calum Butcher and Manchester United loanee Dylan Levitt operating in the midfield.
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Ramsay, Gallagher, Bates, Hayes; McCrorie, Brown; Besuijen, Ferguson, Montgomery; Ramirez
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Siegrist; Edwards, Mulgrew, Graham; Smith, Harkes, Butcher, Levitt, Niskanen; Watt, McNulty
We say: Aberdeen 1-1 Dundee United
While Dundee United have been the more impressive side this season and will come in with more momentum, a change in manager ofter leads to an upturn in results, and the atmosphere at the Pittodrie Stadium could be a fresh and excited one.
For that reason, we predict a share of the spoils with neither able to put the other to the sword in what could be a tense affair given the looming split of the league.
Top tip
Sam Varley
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Aberdeen win with a probability of 55%. A draw had a probability of 24.9% and a win for Dundee United had a probability of 20.05%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aberdeen win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.95%) and 2-1 (9.42%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.72%), while for a Dundee United win it was 0-1 (7.3%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-1 draw for this match.
