ABERDEEN'S quite remarkable descent into freefall shows no sign of slowing down any time soon after a staggering five defeats in a row and no wins in ten.
And they face an improving Hearts side at Pittodrie on Sunday.
The Dons have collapsed after that stunning start to the season which yielded 13 wins in a row and put them neck and neck with Celtic.
Fast forward just a couple of months they are now 19 points behind a Celtic side who have dropped five points of their own! They have also been overtaken by Dundee United in third place.
Teams have worked out that by punting simple balls over the heads of Aberdeen's defence is their achilles heel. And the Dons have also forgotten how to score goals too.
Hearts have gone the opposite way after their atrocious start to the season, they have won their last two games without conceding a goal.
And their last match saw them deservedly win at in-form Dundee United.
The pressure has eased on manager Neil Critchley and they are just three points off a top six place.
And a win on Sunday would reduce the gap to Aberdeen to eight points.
How the Bookies view it: Layers keep the faith in the Dons
Despite the recent form books, Boylesports still see Aberdeen as favourites here at 13/10 with the Jambos 13/8 and the draw 23/10. Hearts have come in during the week though.
Recent head to heads: Dons have Indian sign
Hearts have got a dreadful recent record at Pittodrie with the Dons having a similar record at Tynecastle.
Aberdeen have won the last nine meetings between the teams at their home whch is some record. Hearts' last win in the north east came nine years ago.
Players to watch: James Pen score again
Leighton Clarkson cracked the bar for Aberdeen in their last game – a 2-0 defeat at Motherwell and he chips in with the odd big goal. The ex-Liverpool midfielder is 5/1 to score anytime with Boylesports.
James Penrice has been Hearts' best player by a distance this season and he chipped in with the only goal of the game against Dundee United at the weekend. The former Livingston star is a big price at 10/1 with Boylesports to score anytime.
Predicted line-ups:
Aberdeen will be wthout the suspended Slobodan Rubizec after his red card last week and keeper Dimitar Mitov and top scorer Papa Gueye remain out along with Ester Solker. New signings Jeppe Okkels and Kristers Tobers will feature.
Hearts have doubts over keeper Zander Clark and midfielder Beni Baningime. Captain Lawrence Shankland remains out, but new signing Elton Kabangu could feature.
Aberdeen: Doohan, Devlin, Tobers, Nilsen, MacKenzie, Duk, Palaversa, Shinnie, Polvara, Keskinen, Nisbet.
Hearts: Gordon, Forrester, Halkett, Rowles, Penrice, Grant, Devlin, Boyce, Spittal, Drammeh, Wilson.
Anything else catch the eye?
As bad as Aberdeen have been, there were definite signs of improvement at Motherwell where their first half red card hampered them severely.
If they can get scoring again they have a chance, although their defence is still too vulnerable to high balls.
With Hearts having such a poor record here, the preference here is for a draw.
You would imagine Aberdeen might try and go back to basics and make themselves hard to break down, while Hearts don't tend to score too many goals – go for under 2.5 goals at 20/21 with Boylesports.
Finally, there was a red card when the sides met at Pittodrie eariier this season and this is usually a fill-bloodied affair. Go for over 4.5 cards at
This Scottish Premiership match between Aberdeen and Hearts will be played on Jan 12, 2025 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Aberdeen vs Hearts prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
