Aberdeenvs.Ross County

After keeping pace with Celtic for most of the season so far, the Dons now look in danger of not even finishing in the top six if current form continues.

Match preview

Aberdeen started the season by taking 31 points from a possible 33 available, beating Rangers and drawing away at Celtic.

However, since then, the wheels have fallen in scarcely believable fashion, with a 1-0 defeat at Tannadice against Dundee United on Sunday extending their eight-game winless run which has yielded just three points.

Jimmy Thelin's side had a comfortable buffer over Rangers before this dismal run, but now find themselves in third, and potentially only a couple of games from dropping further.

Following a 4-0 defeat at Kilmarnock on Boxing Day, morale will be at rock bottom after losing in the last minute of injury time on Sunday, and they may only be seven points inside the top six come the weekend.

One positive they can take is that they have an excellent record against Ross County, with the Dons now nine games unbeaten against their upcoming opponents, winning six.

However, the visitors enter this fixture on a positive run themselves, boosted by a dramatic comeback at the weekend.

Don Cowie saw his side lose four in a row before Christmas, conceding 13 goals in the process, but they have now taken four points from two games since to move away from the bottom.

County were able to salvage a point incredibly despite entering the 97th minute 2-0 down at home to Hearts on Sunday.

Joshua Nisbet and Jordan White then netted two quick-fire goals to stun the out-of-form Jam Tarts to ensure they remained in 10th heading into the matchday.

That result came after an impressive 3-0 win away to Dundee on Boxing Day, meaning they are now five points clear of St Johnstone at the bottom of the standings.

Improvements in front of goal have been crucial in those two games, with five goals scored in comparison to just 14 in their first 18 games of the season, but they must remain consistent considering they have still scored the fewest in the division.

Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form:

D

L

D

L

L

L

Ross County Scottish Premiership form:

L

L

L

L

W

D

Team News

Not much has changed in the Aberdeen starting XI despite their woeful form, but there could be an alteration in attack, with Ester Sokler failing to make much of an impact at the weekend.

Peter Ambrose and Kevin Nisbet are the other options to replace Sokler, but all three have just six goals between them so far this season.

On the injury front, they are still sorely missing Pape Habib Gueye and Vicente Besuijen in attack, while Jack Milne remains sidelined in defence.

Ross County are without Eli Campbell after he went off early shortly after scoring the opener against Hibernian midway through December.

Fellow defender Will Nightingale is also on the treatment table, alongside attacker Alex Samuel, with White likely to put pressure on Ronan Hale for a start up front following goals off the bench in back-to-back games.

Aberdeen possible starting lineup:

Mitov; Devlin, Rubezic, Molloy, Mackenzie; Palaversa, Nilsen; McGrath, Clarkson, Keskinen; K Nisbet

Ross County possible starting lineup:

Amissah; Efete, Leak, Lopata, Wright, Harmon; Randall, Grieves, J Nisbet, Chilvers; White

We say: Aberdeen 2-2 Ross County

There is seemingly no end to Aberdeen's collapse, and a buoyant Ross County could be unwelcome visitors to Pittodrie this week.

Written by

Andrew Delaney

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