Preview: Dundee vs. Ross County - prediction, team news, lineups

Both teams are level on points with only goal difference keeping the Dark Blues above the visitors, with plenty on the line in this one.

Match preview

Dundee might have only lost two games so far in the Scottish Premiership, but they still find themselves in ninth place with only goal difference keeping them out of the relegation zone.

A big reason for that is that they have been draw specialists, picking up four points through those performances this season, which includes their previous two outings heading into this one.

Dundee shared the spoils with Kilmarnock and Hibernian recently, with the latter being a goalless game last weekend, and being more clinical is going to be important moving forward.

The Dark Blues have been slightly more attacking at home, scoring four goals in three games, and they will also take confidence from the fact they are yet to be beaten at Dens Park in the league.

Continuing that form could be beneficial this weekend due to how tight things are in the bottom half of the division, with a victory potentially lifting Tony Docherty's men as high as fourth depending on other results.

The visitors could also see themselves climbing that many spaces after this game, but with even more teams above them they would be relying on more results going in their favour.

However, something that the Staggies can guarantee is that they will overtake Dundee if they are able to pick up three points on Saturday.

Malky Mackay's men have failed to win in their four most recent outings in all competitions, and more worryingly have only scored twice throughout them.

Ross County might be struggling for goals, but they are equally having difficulties keeping them out of the back of their net, with no team in the division conceding more than them.

Despite that, the Staggies did tighten things last weekend, and even though they did lose against Hearts the 1-0 scoreline showed significant improvements from a defensive point of view.

Dundee Scottish Premiership form:

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W

D

L

D

D

Ross County Scottish Premiership form:

W

L

W

D

L

L

Ross County form (all competitions):

L

W

D

L

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L

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Team News

Jordan McGhee and Scott Tiffoney dropped out of the Dundee starting lineup last weekend due to injury, and both men are unlikely to feature this time around.

The Dark Blues could welcome Josh Mulligan back from suspension, however outside of that an unchanged team might be used following a strong defensive performance last time out.

Alex Samuel impressed in his first start of the season for the Staggies last weekend, and that is something that could be rewarded by featuring once again on Saturday.

Ross County do have several injuries to deal with as Ross Callachan and Ben Paton are both expected to be out of action on a long-term basis.

Last week Josh Sims and Josh Reid both also got hurt and are unavailable for Mackay, but Dylan Smith did return to the matchday squad last time out, therefore could be an option.

Dundee possible starting lineup:

Carson; Kerr, Shaughnessy, Lamie, Beck; Boateng; Robinson, Robertson, McCowan, Tiffoney; Bakayoko

Ross County possible starting lineup:

Laidlaw; Nightingale, Leak, Harmon; Brown, Randall, Turner, Dhanda; Samuel, Murray, White

We say: Dundee 2-1 Ross County

There is very little between these two teams so far this season and that is reflected in their league positions, which should lead to a close match.

However, Ross County's poor defensive performances throughout the campaign could be their undoing here, leading to a Dundee victory.

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