Scottish Premiership | Gameweek 23

Jan 12, 2025 at 3pm UK

Pittodrie Stadium

Aberdeen vs Hearts

Match preview

Aberdeen had a great start to the 2024-25 season, but recently things have been going downhill for them. They've been slipping down the table.

The Dons, with Jimmy Thelin at the helm since the summer of 2024, started the season with 16 matches unbeaten across all competitions, racking up 15 wins and just one draw.

But then they lost 6-0 to Celtic in the Scottish League Cup semi-final, which was a bit embarrassing. They did bounce back with a 4-1 win against Dundee, but that was the start of a pretty rough run.

Since then, Aberdeen haven't won any of their last 10 games, losing seven of them. They've also lost all their past five matches going into this one.

These results have seen Aberdeen fall from being joint top with Celtic on 31 points after 11 league matches to fourth in the table with 34 points from 21 games, a staggering 22 points behind the Bhoys.

With the teams below them also making up ground on the Dons, who now only have an eight-point lead over seventh-placed Dundee, Thelin will be desperate for his team to turn their form around and strengthen their place in the top half of the table.

But their opponents, Hearts, will be coming into this match with plenty of confidence after a much better run of form and results in recent weeks.

Hearts started the season with zero wins in their first 10 matches, losing eight and drawing two. They were even knocked out of the Europa League by Viktoria Plzen in the playoff round.

That spell also led to the dismissal of former manager Steven Naismith, with Liam Fox stepping in temporarily and overseeing one win, one draw and one loss before Neil Critchley was appointed as the permanent manager.

Critchley had a great start at Hearts, beating St Mirren 4-0 in his first match and getting two wins and a draw in the next four games. But then they lost four games in a row.

A 1-1 draw with Aberdeen broke that spell, and they've had a much better run in the last few games. The Jambos are heading into this one having won four, drawn three and lost three of their last 10.

As a result, Hearts are now closer to safety in the Scottish Premiership, with 10th-placed Ross County now only two points ahead. If they win here, they could even move up to seventh, depending on the results of other games.

Recent Performance

Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form:DLLLLL

Hearts Scottish Premiership form:LWLDWW

Hearts form (all competitions):DWLDWW

Team News

Aberdeen are going to be without Jack Milne (ankle), Pape Habib Gueye (muscle) and Vicente Besuijen for this match because of injury, and Slobodan Rubezic isn't available either as he got a red card in their last game against Motherwell.

Also, Gavin Molloy, Dimitar Mitov and Ester Sokler are all probably going to be out due to ongoing injuries, so Ross Doohan and Kevin Nisbet are likely to keep their places in the starting team.

As for Hearts, Gerald Taylor (knee), Stephen Kingsley (hamstring), Calem Nieuwenhof (hamstring), Frankie Kent (muscle), Lawrence Shankland (calf) and Zander Clark are all set to miss out with injury.

Seventeen-year-old James Wilson has been a revelation for Hearts this season, scoring four goals in 10 appearances in the league, and the striker is set to continue in attack here.

The rest of the team that beat Motherwell and Dundee United in their last two games is likely to be named by Critchley again for this match.

Possible starting lineup

Aberdeen possible starting lineup:

Doohan; Devlin, MacDonald, Molloy, MacKenzie; Palaversa, Nilsen, Shinnie; Keskinen, Nisbet, Duk

Hearts possible starting lineup:

Gordon; Forrester, Halkett, Rowles, Penrice; Devlin, Grant; Drammeh, Boyce, Spittal; Wilson