Aberdeen play host to Livingston on Wednesday evening looking to bounce back from their Scottish League Cup defeat to Rangers.

At a time when the home side sit in 10th position in the Scottish Premiership standings, Livingston are bottom, five points adrift of safety.

Match preview

Ahead of last week's fixture against Hearts, there were suggestions that Barry Robson may be struggling to keep hold of his position in the Aberdeen dugout.

However, any pressure on Robson in the short term should have been lifted courtesy of a win over the Edinburgh giants and the triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa Conference League that followed.

The respective successes leave Aberdeen 10 points adrift of third in the Scottish top flight and only earned third in their European group, yet it was a huge step in the right direction ahead of the showdown with Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final.

While Aberdeen did not register a shot on target, they were competitive throughout before they ultimately succumbed to a 1-0 scoreline at Hampden Park.

Despite the disappointment that they have experienced, Robson may feel that a corner has been turned ahead of what feels like a pivotal encounter in the league.

Although Aberdeen could possibly end Wednesday in eighth place, defeat to Livingston would see them sit two points off bottom spot in the table.

On paper, that may be unlikely with Livingston having failed to win in eight Scottish Premiership fixtures, but David Martindale's side got back on track to a certain extent at the weekend.

A goalless draw was posted at home to Kilmarnock, who are fifth, and Livingston had previously only gone down 1-0 in the previous two encounters.

Seven matches have passed by since Livingston hit the back of the net, a record that will concern Martindale, but there are signs that a first win since October 7 is not too far away.

Team News

While Robson will likely retain the bulk of the Aberdeen XI that started against Rangers, he may also want to add some fresh legs.

Dante Polvara and Duk are most likely to be drafted into midfield and attack respectively, while Angus MacDonald could come into the back three.

Barring any further fitness issues, Martindale may choose to retain much of the Livingston XI that started against Kilmarnock last time out.

Sean Kelly was withdrawn at half time of that contest and will miss out, with Bruce Anderson expected to be included further forward and Andrew Shinnie dropping deeper.

Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Roos; Gartenmann, MacDonald, Rubezic; Devlin, Shinnie, Clarkson, Hayes; McGrath; Miovski, Duk

Livingston possible starting lineup:
George; Nottingham, Obileye, Devlin; Nouble, Holt, Shinnie, Penrice; Pittman; Anderson, Guthrie

We say: Aberdeen 2-1 Livingston

While the quick turnaround may not necessarily help Aberdeen in terms of energy, a chance to get back on track as soon as possible could do. With that in mind, we feel that the home side could edge this fixture by the odd goal in three.


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