Aberdeen go into their Scottish League Cup encounter with St Mirren on Saturday hoping to win their first match in three after a 4-0 loss to Rangers and a 1-1 draw with Hamilton Academical.
Meanwhile, St Mirren are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions, winning their last two games by a 1-0 scoreline.
Match preview
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St Mirren have been grateful to use the Scottish League Cup as an escape from their poor league form, with the Saints sitting 11th in the Scottish Premiership, one place above rock-bottom Hamilton Academical.
Jim Goodwin's side however came out victorious in their last league encounter as they beat Livingston 1-0 away from home, their first win in the Scottish Premiership since the middle of August.
The Saints now focus on Scottish League Cup action after finishing top of Group G and winning all four matches – two of which were won on penalties against Queen of the South and Greenock Morton.
St Mirren, who won the competition in the 2012-13 season, will qualify for the quarter-finals if they defeat Aberdeen, whom they have not beaten in any of their previous four meetings.
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Aberdeen missed the chance to move a point behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership after drawing 1-1 with Hamilton Academical on Wednesday night.
Ryan Hedges put the visitors in front but Marios Ogkmpoe headed home a second-half equaliser to earn the home side a much-needed point.
The Dons now turn their attention to the Scottish League Cup, a competition where they have reached the quarter-final stage in each of the last four seasons, including losing two finals to Celtic.
Manager Derek McInnes, who won his first and only trophy with Aberdeen in this competition back in the 2013-14 campaign, will be hoping that his team can bounce back from a disappointing week with victory over a St Mirren side who they have beaten in three of their last four meetings.
St Mirren Scottish League Cup form: WWWW
St Mirren form (all competitions): WWDWWW
Aberdeen form (all competitions): WDLWLD
Team News
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St Mirren centre-back Joe Shaughnessy is suspended after a straight red card in their last League Cup match against Queen's Park. Sam Foley is likely to start in defence as a result.
Junior Morais could be recalled to the side and feature on the right of a midfield five, which is where he started against Aberdeen in the 2-1 loss in October.
Aberdeen trio Lewis Ferguson, Ross McCrorie and Connor McLennan are all unavailable as they are self-isolating and following coronavirus protocols.
Jonny Hayes and Dylan McGeouch also remain out with groin injuries, as does Marley Watkins who is suffering with a hamstring problem.
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Fraser, McCarthy, Foley; Morais, Erhanon, McGrath, MacPherson, Tait; Erwin, Obika
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Hoban, Taylor, Considine; Logan, Campbell, Ojo, Leigh; Hedges, Edmondson; Cosgrove
We say: St Mirren 0-1 Aberdeen
St Mirren are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions, although their last defeat came against an Aberdeen side who will be keen to shore up their backline after conceding 12 goals in their last six games. A tight encounter is expected with Aberdeen likely to sneak into the last eight.
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 39.24%. A win for St Mirren had a probability of 33% and a draw had a probability of 27.8%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aberdeen win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.18%) and 0-2 (7.28%). The likeliest St Mirren win was 1-0 (10.45%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.07%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 7.3% likelihood.
