Motherwell and Aberdeen meet at Pittodrie on Saturday for a mid-table meeting ahead of yet another international break.
The teams have enjoyed contrasting fortunes in recent weeks. Aberdeen ended a horrendous ten match winless run with success against Hibs and Hearts sandwiched with a draw against Rangers. Motherwell are hoping to end a five match October dip that yielded a solitary point. They each have four wins and three draws to their credit and share the fifteen point mark with Hibs.
Happy times in Aberdeen
When the teams met at Fir Park in September goals from Kevin Van Veen and Juhani Ojala gave Motherwell a comfortable 2-0 win but on this occasion the home side are strong favourites.
Captain Stephen O’Donnell collected a red card at the weekend and his absence will force an alteration to the visiting defence. The manager has several options, he may move Bevis Mugabi to the right back position or recall Liam Grimshaw. Ricki Lamie came off the bench following SOD’s dismissal to partner Sondre Solholm and he may keep his place if Juhani Ojala is not fit.
It’s likely that Graham Alexander will retain his favoured 4-3-3 shape and perm three from Tony Watt (banker), Jordan Roberts, Connor Shields, Kaiyne Woolery and Kevin Van Veen to lead the attack.
Aberdeen have had to turn to Dean Campbell and Dylan McGeouch to solve the selection problem with an injury hit back line but the inexperienced pair earned praise from Stephen Glass following their performances against Rangers and Hearts. Scott Brown played at centre back as McGeouch joined the midfield.
Christian Ramirez leads the Dons’ top scorer table with half a dozen league strikes among his nine to date. Keeping him quiet will be vital if Motherwell are to have a successful trip.
Motherwell have won on two of the last three trips to Pittodrie but there has not been a draw since Scott McDonald scored an equaliser in 2015. Time for another, 1-1.