Aberdeen welcome St Mirren to Pittodrie for their final Scottish Premiership fixture of 2023 on Saturday afternoon.
While the Dons are looking to win a third successive league match, the Buddies are hoping to avoid losing a third top-flight game in a row.
Match preview
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Aberdeen received an extended break over the festive period as they have not played since December 20 following back-to-back postponements of fixtures against Dundee and Motherwell due to adverse weather conditions.
Barry Robson's side had put together a solid run of form earlier this month, winning three of their last four matches in all competitions, all of which at Pittodrie, with the 1-0 defeat to Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park being the only blot on their copybook during this brief period.
The Dons have accumulated 19 points from their first 16 Premiership matches this term and they currently sit eighth in the table - albeit with up to four games in hand on some teams - just three points above the bottom two and seven points behind Saturday's opponents St Mirren in fifth.
Aberdeen will be confident of ending 2023 on a positive note as they have only lost one of their last 17 home league meetings with St Mirren, whom they comfortably beat 3-0 in their most recent clash at Pittodrie in May.
St Mirren's poor run of form also bodes well for the Dons as Steve Robinson's men have only won three of their last 14 Premiership matches, failing to come out on top in any of their last three without scoring.
The Buddies have had little to cheer about during the festive period, as last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Hearts was followed by a narrow 1-0 home loss to Kilmarnock on Wednesday, a game in which Marley Watkins netted the only goal on the 25-minute mark.
Robinson's side have failed to build on their bright start to the campaign, but they still have plenty of time remaining to secure their highest top-flight finish for 38 years as can consolidate fifth place with a victory on Saturday.
St Mirren must rectify their miserable away form if they wish to come away with a positive result against Aberdeen, though, as they have lost their last six Premiership matches on the road by an aggregate score of 12-1.
Team News
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Aberdeen's Jack MacKenzie has been sidelined since mid-November with a muscle injury and is unlikely to return until the New Year, but Robson has no other injury concerns at present.
Bojan Miovski has scored 10 of his 14 goals this season on home soil, including three in his last two Premiership outings at Pittodrie, and the North Macedonian is expected to lead the line on Saturday alongside Duk, who has failed to score in his last six top-flight matches.
Robson may be tempted to stick with the same side that beat Livingston last time out, but Jamie McGrath and Jonny Hayes will be pushing to start in midfield and on the left flank respectively.
As for St Mirren, Ryan Strain and Alex Greive are both nursing injuries and are not expected to be involved on Saturday, but Ryan Flynn and Caolan Boyd-Munce returned to the matchday squad in midweek and are in contention to feature again against Aberdeen.
Conor McMenamin recovered from illness to make a substitute appearance last time out, and the attacker will be pushing for a recall to the first XI this weekend at the expense of Greg Kiltie.
Boyd-Munce will also be looking to force his way into the starting lineup and could either play alongside or replace one of Mark O'Hara or Keanu Baccus in centre-midfield.
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Roos; Gartenmann, MacDonald, Jensen; Devlin, Clarkson, Shinnie, Hayes; Polvara; Miovski, Duk
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Bolton, Gogic, Taylor; Fraser, O'Hara, Baccus, Tanser; McMenamin, Ayunga, Olusanya
We say: Aberdeen 2-0 St Mirren
Both Aberdeen and St Mirren could not be separated in the 2-2 draw played out in Paisely earlier this season, and another tight affair could be in store on Saturday.
However, considering the Dons' form and strong record on home soil, we believe that Robson's men will get the job done against an out-of-sorts Buddies outfit to end 2023 on a high.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
