Aberdeen travel to St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership for the second successive Saturday after facing them in the League Cup last weekend.
The visitors are looking to win their first league game in three against a side that progressed to the cup quarter-finals at their expense.
Match preview
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St Mirren have enjoyed a spell of good form in recent weeks and are unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions.
Five of those games have been in the Scottish League Cup, including the surprise 2-1 victory over Aberdeen last weekend, with an 88th-minute strike from Jamie McGrath securing their place in the next round.
Jim Goodwin's side have also picked up four points from their last two league matches and ended an eight-game winless run in the Scottish Premiership with victory at Livingston two weeks ago.
However, they were handed some disappointing news this week as the SPFL announced that the club, along with Kilmarnock, have been consigned to Scottish Premiership defeats after being found guilty of breaches of coronavirus protocols.
The Saints – who sit 11th in the table, one place above Hamilton Academical who are bottom – will be looking to win back-to-back league games for the first time since May 2019.
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Aberdeen have suffered a dip in form which has seen Derek McInnes's side knocked out of the Scottish League Cup and win only one of their last five league matches.
The Dons however will be pleased that Ross McCrorie, Connor McLennan and in particular Lewis Ferguson are now out of self-isolation and are all in contention for this weekend's trip to Paisley.
Ferguson had been a key player for Aberdeen this season before having to self-isolate, with the midfielder directly involved in eight goals in his last six Scottish Premiership games – scoring six and providing two assists.
McInnes is keen to get back to winning ways and will have confidence heading into Saturday, with the Dons having lost only one of their last 20 league meetings with St Mirren.
Aberdeen have also suffered only one defeat in their last 11 away league outings – winning four and drawing the other six – although they have failed to win any of their last three matches on the road.
Victory against the Saints would move them level on points with Celtic in second place if the Hoops were to lose to St Johnstone on Sunday.
St Mirren Scottish Premiership form: LLLLDW
St Mirren form (all competitions): WDWWWW
Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form: DWDWLD
Aberdeen form (all competitions): DLWLDL
Team News
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St Mirren centre-back Joe Shaughnessy is back from suspension and could start ahead of Sam Foley who played in the last match.
Dylan Connelly could keep his place in the starting XI on the right side of midfield ahead of Junior Morais.
Aberdeen's Lewis Ferguson and Connor McLennan are both in contention to start on Saturday, although Ross McCrorie may not be ready to feature in the starting lineup.
Niall McGinn is a doubt after feeling his hip and groin during training so will be assessed leading up to the match.
Dylan McGeouch remains out with a groin injury as does Marley Watkins who is suffering with a hamstring problem.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Shaughnessy; Connelly, Erhanon, McGrath, MacPherson, Tait; Erwin, Obika
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Hoban, Taylor, Considine; Kennedy, Ferguson, Ojo, Leigh; Hedges, Main; Cosgrove
We say: St Mirren 1-1 Aberdeen
St Mirren have kept clean sheets in both of their last two home league games against Aberdeen and with the Dons struggling to find form, the home side could extend their unbeaten record.
Top betting tip
Oliver Thomas
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 42.08%. A win for St Mirren had a probability of 29.12% and a draw had a probability of 28.8%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aberdeen win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.6%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.37%) and 1-2 (8.13%). The likeliest St Mirren win was 1-0 (10.74%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.22%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.2% likelihood.
