Aberdeen vs St. Johnstone: Match Preview
St. Johnstone head to Pittodrie tomorrow to face Aberdeen, with the game kicking off at 3 pm on Saturday.
[Kane and Vertainen in disbelief after an attacking chance]
Saints go into this one off the back of a goalless draw at home to Dundee on Wednesday, which may have stopped the rot in terms of defeats, with no doubt that it was better than recent performances but still not good enough.
Callum Hendry had the biggest chance of the game, sitting Charlie Adam down before setting himself up to shoot but his effort was well-saved by Adam Legzdins in the Dundee goal.
Otherwise, Saints were good in flashes but resorted to long-balls too often and were hanging on by the last 15 minutes, waiting for the final whistle. A huge opportunity was missed to climb the table.
Tomorrow's Opponents
Aberdeen
Manager: Stephen Glass
League Position: 6th
Points: 28
Goals Scored: 26
Goals Conceded: 26
Top Goal Scorer: Christian Ramirez (8)
Head-to-Head
St. Johnstone has played against Aberdeen twice this season, with the first being a 1-0 win at Pittodrie Stadium - courtesy of a late Stevie May winner from the edge of the box against his former club, a highlight of the season to date.
[Stevie May nets from range]
The most recent of the two games between the sides was a 1-0 home defeat at McDiarmid Park, with a contentious Teddy Jenks goal somehow allowed to stand by officials after a handball all that could split the sides on the day. Chris Kane hit the post and Vertainen came close to scoring, but overall a draw would have been a fairer result.
Team News
St. Johnstone
Callum Davidson remains with long-term absentees Shaun Rooney, Craig Bryson, David Wotherspoon, and Michael O'Halloran whilst Nadir Ciftci also misses out following the suspected hamstring injury he picked up in midweek.
Liam Gordon is unavailable after he picked up his 6th yellow card of the season against Heart of Midlothian.
However, new signing Melker Hallberg goes straight into the squad for this one and will be vying for a starting birth.
Predicted Line-up:
Clark
Brown
McCart
Mahon
Cleary
Booth
Hallberg
MacPherson
Butterfield
May
Hendry
Formation: 5-3-2
Aberdeen
Stephen Glass will be without Andy Considine, Marley Watkins, and Mikey Devlin who are all injured, whilst club legend Niall McGinn has recently joined Dundee. Matty Kennedy has returned to the fold following his back injury.
New signing Vincente Besuijen has recently joined from ADO Den Haag and could be in line to make his debut. Whilst Right Back Calvin Ramsey is reportedly on the verge of a move to Bologna.
Predicted Line-up:
Lewis
Ramsey
Bates
Gallagher
Campbell
Ferguson
Brown
Hedges
Jenks
Ojo
Ramirez
Formation 4-2-3-1
Score Prediction: Aberdeen 0-0 St. Johnstone
Neither side is playing well, with Aberdeen losing 1-0 to St. Mirren midweek and St. Johnstone without a win in 11 games. Both teams have underperformed this season and the two matches between Saints and Aberdeen this campaign have been far from thrillers.
[Bryson battles with Ramirez]
The hosts will be favorites for this one but who knows which Aberdeen will turn up on Saturday. St. Johnstone needs to pick up a point at the very least, with chances of survival getting lower and lower.
There is every chance that the Saints pick up a result tomorrow and I'd love to be proven wrong, with just 15 points and 11 goals scored all season something needs to change drastically, and soon.
A point would be far from a disaster, but it likely won't be enough.