The three meetings between Aberdeen and St Johnstone have produced only one goal this season and manager Derek McInnes is expecting nothing other than another tight contest at McDiarmid Park this afternoon.
The Dons drew 0-0 with the Perth Saints on league duty in August and December, while a 90th-minute goal from Adam Rooney gave the Reds a 1-0 victory in the quarter-finals of the League Cup in September.
It is a total contrast from last season when the four matches between the clubs produced a whopping 18 goals, including a 5-1 success for the Saints and a 4-3 win for the Dons.
Tommy Wright’s side look on course to pip Ian Cathro’s inconsistent Hearts for fourth-place in the Scottish Premiership after opening up a five point advantage on the Jambos after last week’s 3-0 win at Inverness Caley Thistle.
Despite operating one of the smaller playing budgets in the division, St Johnstone have achieved a sixth successive top six finish and could qualify for Europe in fourth position – providing Hibernian are unsuccessful in their quest to win the Scottish Cup and Celtic, Aberdeen and Rangers finish in the top three.
McInnes, who managed St Johnstone from 2007 to 2011, is unsurprised to see his former club once again competing for European places.
He said: “I think there’s a lot made about their organisation and their strength and their familiarity which definitely helps.
“But what sometimes gets forgotten is that they’ve got good players.
“There’s some very good players there. I’m sure they’ll still be pushing to try and finish third in the league which says everything about the task we’ve got ahead of us.
“We like, most teams in the league, find St Johnstone a difficult team to beat.
“While we’ve remained unbeaten against them this season in three games, there’s been nothing in the games.
“In the two draws and the win we had here, there was not a lot in it.”
But with a League Cup semi-final against Hibernian just around the corner, McInnes hopes his side can bounce back from last Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Rangers with a win at McDiarmid Park.
The Aberdeen manager added: “We recognise there’s always good competitive aspect to St Johnstone.
“I think there’s a healthy respect between the teams.
“We have to be mindful that they have got good players but our motivation to do well is clear.
“Hopefully we can go there and get the result we want.”