Aberdeen are set to take on Scottish League Two side Spartans on Saturday evening when the two face up at Pittodrie Stadium for their Scottish League Cup quarter-final.
The hosts narrowly beat Queen's Park FC 1-0 in the last round, while the visitors fantastically defeated Scottish Premiership side Ross County to progress to this stage.
Match preview
© Imago
The 2023-24 season was a highly disappointing one for Aberdeen, seeing them fall from a third-placed finish in 2022-23 to placing ninth in the pre-split table before managing to climb into seventh in the post-split rankings.
Barry Robson, Neil Warnock and Peter Leven all took a turn at the wheel of Aberdeen throughout their stuttering season, with Jimmy Thelin eventually being hired on a permanent basis ahead of the new term.
While their form in the league was extremely inconsistent, the Dons had deep runs in both the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup, making it to the semi-final and final respectively, and Thelin will be hoping to replicate and improve on those achievements this year.
Their form in the opening part of his tenure has certainly made them early favourites for a cup run, with his side fantastically winning all 10 games so far this season.
That will leave Aberdeen with great confidence in advancing from the quarter-finals of this year's Scottish League Cup, especially given that their opponents are competing in the fourth tier of Scottish football.
Spartans will be looking to pull off another major upset and add another Scottish Premiership scalp to their collection, having already defeated Ross County 1-0 in the second round.
Their form has taken a nosedive since that famous result though, winning just one of their following five matches across all competitions, alongside two losses and two draws.
A shock victory for Spartans would give them the opportunity to compete at the historic Hampden Park with a place in the final at stake, something that should give the fourth-division side more than enough motivation.
Team News
© Imago
The hosts are only set to be without the services of Dante Polvara, with the midfielder yet to make his return from a hamstring injury that he suffered in July.
Graeme Shinnie could also return to the starting lineup after missing the victory against Motherwell due to illness, reclaiming the armband from stand-in captain Nicky Devlin.
Thelin is likely to name a similar side to the one that defeated Queen's Park in the last round of this competition, with the in-form Pape Habib Gueye starting behind Ester Sokler in attack.
As for the visitors, Douglas Samuel is anticipated to name a similar team to the one that brilliantly defeated Ross County in the last round of the competition.
Blair Henderson scored the winning goal in that game, and the striker is set to line up ahead of Cammy Russell in attack on Saturday.
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Mitov; Devlin, Milne, Molloy, Mackenzie; Nilsen, Shinnie; Morris, Gueye, McGrath; Sokler
Spartans possible starting lineup:
Heraghty; K Watson, P Watson, Sonkur, Booth; Hunter, White; Dishington, Russell, Craigen; Henderson
We say: Aberdeen 3-0 Spartans
It is hard to bet against the Dons given their perfect start to the season, especially given they compete several levels higher than their opponents, leading us to anticipate a comfortable victory for the hosts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
