Aberdeen will be looking to progress from the fourth round of the Scottish Cup for the fifth successive year when they host Livingston on Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, the Lions have been eliminated at this stage of the competition in eight of the last 11 seasons.

Match preview

Lewis Ferguson pictured for Aberdeen in April 2019 © Reuters

Aberdeen claimed back-to-back 1-0 away victories, with a third-round win in the Scottish Cup against Dumbarton followed by a victory at St Johnstone last weekend.

A brilliant through-ball from Matty Kennedy set up Jonny Hayes, who found the net with his weaker right foot, scoring the only goal of the game against the Saints just after half time.

That win was the second since the appointment of Stephen Glass in March and moved the Dons to within four points of Hibernian, who sit third in the Scottish Premiership.

Aberdeen, seven-time winners of the Scottish Cup, last won the competition in 1989-90 but have since come close on several occasions. The Dons have reached the semi-finals eight times in the last 13 years and the final once in 2016-17, losing 2-1 to Celtic at Hampden Park.

Despite keeping clean sheets in five of their last seven matches at Pittodrie, the Dons have only won two of these games.

Rangers defender Filip Helander gets a shot away in the Scottish Premiership clash with Livingston on August 16, 2020 © Reuters

Livingston head into Saturday's clash after being thrashed 6-0 by Celtic last weekend, their heaviest defeat since losing 7-0 to Hibernian in February 2006.

A brace from Mohamed Elyounoussi, as well as strikes from James Forrest, David Turnbull, Ryan Christie and a Jack Fitzwater own goal, helped the Hoops cruise to victory, with the Lions losing their 14th Scottish Premiership game of the season.

Manager David Martindale will be keen to move on from such a heavy defeat and is confident that he can get his players focused for the trip to Pittodrie this weekend.

Livingston's last visit to Aberdeen saw them secure a 2-0 victory in February, thanks to an own goal from Dons goalkeeper Joe Lewis and a strike from Nicky Devlin.

The Lions have already reached one cup final this campaign, falling at the final hurdle against St Johnstone in the League Cup, and Martindale will now be hoping that his players have the same desire as they did earlier in the season to enable them to reach the latter stages of the Scottish Cup.

Victory for Livingston on Saturday would be their first away from home since beating the Dons two months ago.

Aberdeen Scottish Cup form:

Aberdeen form (all competitions):

Livingston Scottish Cup form:

Livingston form (all competitions):

Team News

Connor McLennan in action for Aberdeen in April 2019 © Reuters

Aberdeen remain without midfielder Greg Leigh, who is out with a hamstring injury, while Welsh winger Ryan Hedges is ruled out for the rest of the season with a muscle problem.

Calvin Ramsey could be handed his second start in the Scottish Cup, which may see Ross McCrorie move into midfield.

Striker Fraser Hornby could be brought into the first XI at the expense of Florian Kamberi, who is yet to score for the Dons since joining the club on loan in February.

Despite suffering defeat to Celtic last weekend, Livingston boss Martindale could name the same starting lineup for the fifth consecutive match.

Striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has only found the net twice in his last 12 appearances but is expected to start ahead of Matej Poplatnik.

Defender Alan Lithgow made his first appearance of the season last weekend after 15 months out with a hip injury and is in contention to feature again on Saturday.

Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Ramsey, Hoban, Considine, McKenzie; Kennedy, Ferguson, McCrorie, Hayes; McGinn; Hornby

Livingston possible starting lineup:
McCrorie; Devlin, Fitzwater, Guthrie, Longridge; Bartley, Holt; Sibbald, Pittman, Forrest; Emmanuel-Thomas

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We say: Aberdeen 1-1 Livingston

All three meetings between Aberdeen and Livingston this season have been tight affairs and Saturday's game is set to be another closely-fought contest.

A flurry of goals is not to be expected and with little to separate the two teams, a draw could be on the cards with the tie going all the way to penalties.

Top tip

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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 51.6%. A draw had a probability of 26% and a win for Livingston had a probability of 22.35%.

The most likely scoreline for an Aberdeen win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.28%) and 2-1 (9.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.2%), while for a Livingston win it was 0-1 (8.1%).