Aberdeen will be looking to build on their midweek away victory in Europe with another three points in the Scottish Premiership when they travel to Livingston on Sunday afternoon.
The Dons won on the opening day of the new season, beating Dundee United, while the Lions suffered defeat to champions Rangers.
Match preview
© Reuters
The opening game of the 2021-22 campaign saw champions Rangers host Livingston last weekend, though the Lions were unable to cause an upset and they were beaten 3-0 at Ibrox.
Goals from Ianis Hagi, Scott Wright and Kemar Roofe helped the Gers secure a comfortable victory, with David Martindale's men failing to have a single shot on target.
The 47-year-old head coach has admitted that he has had difficulties getting his new signings up to speed amid ongoing fitness issues and that the club need to go back into the transfer market to bolster the squad.
Livingston played Aberdeen five times last season, including four games in the Premiership, but they were only able to win once, a 2-0 away victory in February. Both of their home encounters ended without success, with a goalless draw in January followed by a 2-1 loss in May.
Martindale is tasked with moulding a competitive squad for this campaign, with hopes of improving on last season's sixth-place finish. Claiming all three points against the likes of Aberdeen, who will also be aiming for a place in the top six, will be required if they are to have a successful year in the top-flight.
© Reuters
Aberdeen eased their way to victory in their opening Premiership match, when they beat Dundee United 2-0 on home soil last weekend.
After no wins or goals in four attempts against the Tangerines last term, strikes either side of half time from Jonny Hayes and Christian Ramirez ensured the Dons came away with all three points.
Head coach Stephen Glass heaped praise on his side's "exceptional performance" and was particularly pleased that the players "stood up to the physical challenge and kept their discipline" against a robust United lineup.
Since their opening league game, Aberdeen claimed a 3-2 away victory against Icelandic outfit Breidablik on Thursday evening, in the third qualifying round of the inaugural Europa Conference League. Despite conceding twice in the first half, a brace from Ramirez and a strike from Lewis Ferguson means Glass's men take a slender one-goal advantage into the second leg next week.
The Dons are now preparing for a trip to the Tony Macaroni Arena, where they are unbeaten in each of their last five matches. In fact, they have an impressive record against the Lions, having lost only one of their last 17 meetings across all competitions.
Glass will be hoping to build on their positive results from last weekend and on Thursday with another impressive display against Livingston, and securing another win on Sunday would provide a real confidence booster for next week's European second-leg.
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Livingston were able to welcome back Nicky Devlin for their opening game, after the right-back recovered from a broken rib and punctured lung as well as testing positive for coronavirus during the same week in pre-season.
The 27-year-old is in contention to start, with centre-backs Ayo Obileye and Jack Fitzwater as well as left-back Adam Lewis set to make up the back four.
Player-assistant manager Marvin Bartley is to serve the final game of his two-match suspension, which was carried over from last season, so Scott Pittman, Jason Holt and Craig Sibbald are all expected to keep their places in central midfield.
As for Aberdeen, they remain without centre-back Michael Devlin, who is suffering with an ankle injury.
In his absence, midfielder Ross McCrorie is set to continue in the heart of the defence alongside experienced defender Andy Considine, shielding Joe Lewis between the sticks.
New arrival Ramirez, who has scored in three of Aberdeen's four competitive matches so far this season, is expected to lead the line up front and could be joined in attack by former Livingston forward Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who scored nine goals for the Lions last season.
Livingston possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Lewis; Pittman, Holt, Sibbard; Forrest, Anderson, Montano
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Ramsay, McCrorie, Considine, McKenzie; Ojo, Brown, Ferguson, Hayes; Emmanuel-Thomas, Ramirez
We say: Livingston 1-2 Aberdeen
Aberdeen struggled to score goals last season, but the additions of Ramirez and Emmanuel-Thomas has given them a greater threat in the final third and they should cause problems for Livingston on Sunday.
The hosts themselves are set to look more dangerous in attack, having failed to pose a threat against Rangers, however, we think that the Dons have enough quality in their side to secure a narrow away victory.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Livingston win with a probability of 45.16%. A draw had a probability of 28.2% and a win for Aberdeen had a probability of 26.64%.
The most likely scoreline for a Livingston win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.94%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.09%) and 2-1 (8.47%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.98%), while for an Aberdeen win it was 0-1 (9.96%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 6.1% likelihood.
