Aberdeen, looking to bounce back from their first league defeat of the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership season, will travel to the Easter Road Stadium on Tuesday to take on basement dwellers Hibernian.
The visitors are second in the league with 31 points from 12 outings, while the hosts sit at the bottom of the table with just eight points from their opening 13 matches.
Match preview
Aberdeen's remarkable unbeaten start to the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership season came to an unexpected end in their last outing, as they were disappointingly defeated 2-1 by St Mirren.
That defeat was Aberdeen's first in the league since a 1-0 loss to Dundee in March, ending a 20-game unbeaten run and marking their first Scottish Premiership loss under Jimmy Thelin, who took charge in June.
Thelin had a phenomenal start to life with the Dons, winning 15 and drawing one of the first 16 fixtures across all competitions, before eventually suffering his first loss to Celtic in the Scottish League Cup semi-final, a humiliating 6-0 defeat.
Despite initially bouncing back with a 4-1 win against Dundee, Aberdeen suffered their second loss in three matches and their first in the Scottish Premiership last time out as St Mirren claimed victory.
Now aiming to bounce back and stay within touching distance of league leaders Celtic, who hold a three-point lead at the top, Aberdeen will look to defeat a Hibernian side that have struggled to find form this season.
Hibs come into this game sat at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership standings with just eight points after 13 games played, from one win, five draws and seven defeats.
They began the campaign with two dominant victories in the Scottish League Cup group stage, beating Elgin City 5-0 and Queen's Park 5-1, before suffering a surprising 1-0 loss to Kelty Hearts, a result that has seemingly set the tone for their season.
David Gray's side lost their opening two matches before drawing with Dundee and Kilmarnock and beating St Johnstone, which looked to have kickstarted their campaign, but they have since lost five and drawn three.
Already trailing 10th-placed Kilmarnock by four points, Gray will be desperate for his side to start picking up crucial victories to move up the table, starting with a difficult match against Aberdeen, a team they have defeated in three of the last five meetings at home.
Team News
The hosts will be without Kieron Bowie for this match due to a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since September, with no expected return until the new year.
Jordan Obita has also been ruled out of this match after the defender received a straight red card in the 12th minute of their recent 4-1 loss to Dundee, meaning Nicky Cadden could start in his place.
As for the visitors, Pape Habib Gueye, who began the campaign with six goals in his first eight appearances, has been sidelined since September with a muscle injury and is expected to remain out until the new year.
Sivert Heltne Nilsen is also a doubt for the Dons after the midfielder was taken off in the 69th minute of their last match with a suspected injury issue, meaning Ante Palaversa could start alongside Graeme Shinnie.
Despite the defeat to St Mirren, Thelin's team have made a remarkable start to the campaign, and the manager may opt to keep faith in the same lineup to bounce back in this match.
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Bursik; C Cadden, O'Hora, Kiranga, N Cadden; Newell, Triantis; Boyle, Campbell, Youan; Kukharevych
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Mitov; Devlin, Rubezic, Molloy, Mackenzie; Shinnie, Palaversa; Morris, Clarkson, McGrath; Sokler
We say: Hibernian 0-2 Aberdeen
The visitors will be eager to bounce back after suffering their first league defeat last time out, and with the hosts having failed to win in any of their past eight, we expect a confident win for Aberdeen.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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