Aberdeen are at Dens Park in the Premiership on Saturday, looking to beat Dundee and make it 12 wins from 12 under Jimmy Thelin.
The flawless Dons head to Tayside for the 3pm kick-off as Swede Thelin closes in on yet another milestone in his phenomenal start as manager.
Jimmy Thelin takes on Tony Docherty as he looks to equal Martin O’Neill milestone…
Another win for Thelin’s Aberdeen this weekend would mean he has matched the opening victory count achieved by Martin O’Neill when the Northern Irishman took over at Celtic in 2000.
Equalling the ex-Hoops boss’ start to a season where the Glasgow club went on to win a treble would symbolise just how well things are going so far under the Dons new gaffer – with Thelin’s team also scoring a lot of goals while not conceding many.
Standing in their way are a Dundee side who finished sixth – a place above Aberdeen – last season under Derek McInnes’ ex-Pittodrie assistant Tony Docherty.
Though the Dees only have one Premiership win so far this term, Tony Doc has undoubtedly done a good job in his first managerial role.
He is also the last manager to beat the Dons over 90 minutes.
Dundee’s 1-0 win over Aberdeen on March 13 – in the first game of Peter Leven’s second interim stint in charge of the Reds last term – has been followed by a 21-match Dons unbeaten streak in regulation time.
The run has been comprised of 17 victories, three draws and the wildly-entertaining penalty shoot-out loss to Celtic in last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final.
Aberdeen may head to Dundee on Saturday without first-team coach Leven, however, as he is currently in the frame for the permanent managerial position at top-flight rivals St Johnstone.
Thelin’s (good) selection dilemma
For last Saturday’s comprehensive 4-0 Premier Sports Cup quarter-final win over League Two Spartans, Aberdeen boss Thelin stuck to his first-choice, tried-and-tested goalkeeper/back-four formula.
There has not been anything to suggest he would think about changing what has been a solid rearguard for the game with Dundee.
The (positive) selection headache for the Dons manager is, instead, in midfield and attack.
He stuck with the central midfield pairing of Sivert Heltne Nilsen and Ante Palaversa against Spartans for the second match in succession, while also managing to get creative midfielders Jamie McGrath AND Leighton Clarkson, as well as attackers Pape Gueye and Kevin Nisbet into his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation. All six performed well – some (the four midfielders) were superb.
But coming off the bench were club captain/centre-mid Graeme Shinnie, Finland international winger Topi Keskinen and forward Ester Sokler, who scored, while five-assists-one-goal wideman Shayden Morris was an unused substitute. Will any of them come into the starting line-up?
My prediction: One change to the starting line-up… Clarkson out for Keskinen, who will go wide right, with Gueye playing in the centre of the three behind Nisbet.
Will we see Duk at Dundee?
Following a summer spent AWOL, Cape Verde international attacker Duk has been back at Cormack Park training for a few weeks now.
Ahead of the Spartans cup clash, manager Thelin hinted Duk could make his return to the Dons match-day squad for the first time at Dens Park.
If he does, might we also see him get some minutes during the Premiership fixture?
Fans (some at least) will be interested to see, following Duk’s behaviour in recent months, and subsequent apology, whether the undoubtedly-talented, if slightly-maverick forward has returned determined to make amends on the pitch…
Enter our new Dons Score Predictor League!
We have launched our new Dons Score Predictor League, where readers can win £100 for guessing the correct scoreline for each of Aberdeen’s Premiership matches in the 2024/25 season.
As well as a correct result for each league fixture seeing contestants entered into a £100 cash draw, a right answer will also earn them 1 point in our Dons Score Predictor League table – with the highest points scorer over the campaign winning a whopping £1,903.
The Dons Score Predictor League is open to Evening Express print readers and our online subscribers.
To ensure you’re a paying reader, you need to know the upcoming game password to fill in the entry form – which will be included in this pre-game talking points piece for each Premiership match.
The password for the Dundee v Aberdeen game on Saturday is “Nilsen”.
You can find the form to enter your score prediction here – with the deadline for match-day six entries noon on Saturday.
Our writers’ Dundee v Aberdeen score predictions…
Ryan Cryle: Dundee 1 – Aberdeen 3
Danny Law: Dundee 0 – Dons 1
Paul Third: Dundee 1 – Aberdeen 3
Sean Wallace: Dundee 0 – Aberdeen 2
Andy Skinner: Dundee 0 – Aberdeen 1
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