Kilmarnock will be looking to reinject some momentum into their faltering campaign when they welcome Aberdeen to Rugby Park on Sunday lunchtime for an interesting Scottish Premiership clash.
Killie have won just one of their last six league games, while recent results have seen their visitors slip behind Hibernian in the Premiership table.
Match preview
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Killie boss Alex Dyer must be growing concerned at his team's results in recent weeks, with the Ayrshiremen having collected just three points from the last 18 available in the league.
One win in six league matches is the kind of form that soon sees teams battling against relegation, and Dyer will be desperate to see his team win on Sunday.
Last weekend, the men from Rugby Park were beaten 2-0 at Celtic and they now sit in eighth place in the table with just 17 points, a mere four points more than bottom-placed team Ross County.
Four of those defeats were by 1-0 scorelines, which suggests that Dyer's team are not that far away from finding some form, but it is the lack of goals that is worrying.
Killie have failed to score in five of their last six league matches and that kind of blunt attack will cause issues unless Dyer can find some way of rectifying things soon.
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Aberdeen coach Derek McInnes made three changes to his team last weekend from the side that had been beaten 1-0 by St Mirren the week before.
The tweaks to the lineup worked too, with the Dons beating Ross County 2-0 at Pittodrie, a victory that brought an end to a run of four games without a win in all competitions.
One of the players who came into the team was Connor McLennan, who played as one of a pair of attacking midfielders supporting striker Curtis Main.
The new combination brought dividends, with Main bagging a brace of goals that ended a personal scoring drought that extended back to August.
The Dons also have history on their side on Sunday, having not lost at Kilmarnock in 17 games in all competitions.
McInnes's team are also undefeated in 11 of their last 12 games against any opposition in all competitions.
Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form: LLLWLL
Kilmarnock form (all competitions): LWWWLL
Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form: DWLDDW
Aberdeen form (all competitions): WLDLDW
Team News
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Killie midfielder Clevid Dikamona missed last weekend's defeat to Celtic after his red card against Hamilton Academical the previous week, he could return to Dyer's lineup on Sunday.
Eamonn Brophy was dropped to the bench for the clash with the Bhoys with Nicke Kabamba playing as a lone striker and Rory McKenzie on the right side of the attack.
Given that Killie need to start winning games soon it will be interesting to see if Dyer persists with that shape as he has no injuries or suspensions hindering his selection for Sunday.
Derek McInnes, in contrast, has a few injury issues to consider before he picks his team this weekend.
Wingers Scott Wright (hernia) and Marley Watkins (hamstring) are both sidelined until January, while Dylan McGeouch continues his recovery from a hernia.
Michael Devlin underwent surgery on an ankle problem earlier this week and is expected to be out until mid-March.
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Rogers; McGowan, Broadfoot, Rossi, Haunstrup; Kiltie, Power, Tshibola, Pinnock; Kabamba, Brophy
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Hoban, Taylor, Considine; Kennedy, McCrorie, Ferguson, Hayes; McLennan, Main, Hedges
We say: Kilmarnock 0-1 Aberdeen
We think that Killie will succumb to another narrow defeat and lose 1-0 to the Dons on Sunday, a result that is sure to see the pressure on Alex Dyer's position increase.
Aberdeen need the three points if they want to continue putting pressure on the teams above them, especially Hibs, and that will provide more than sufficient motivation for them to edge a victory at Rugby Park.
Top betting 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 Aberdeen win with a probability of 46.26%. A draw had a probability of 28% and a win for Kilmarnock had a probability of 25.79%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aberdeen win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.04%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.35%) and 1-2 (8.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.88%), while for a Kilmarnock win it was 1-0 (9.68%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 9.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Aberdeen would win this match.
