ABERDEEN suffered Scottish Cup semi-final heartache at the weekend at Hampden, but they have no time to sulk and urgently need points when Motherwell visit Pittodrie for the first game after the split.
The Dons announced last week that Elfsborg boss Jimmy Thelin will be manager next season and the under-achieving Dons responded with arguably their best performance of the season in Glasgow against Celtic.
They eventually lost out in a penalty shootout after a battling 3-3 draw, but they missed plenty of chances too and it begs the question about how they can be struggling so badly in the league this season.
They are only five points ahead of Ross County in the relegation play-off spot and will want to put that nightmare scenario to bed as early as possible in the split.
They face a Well side who only just missed out on making the top six and their seven-point cushion over County should be enough to avoid getting dragged into any unnecessary stress.
Stuart Kettlewell's side are good on the road – they have won their last three away games at Livingston, Rangers and Dundee and their only defeat in their last six games came at home to Aberdeen, who are themselves unbeaten in five under Peter Leven in 90 minutes anyway.
How the bookies view it
Aberdeen are favourites across the board and are hovering around evens here, although you can get 21/20 with McBookie.com.
Motherwell can be backed at 11/4 with UniBet and the draw is 12/5.
Recent head to heads
Aberdeen are unbeaten against Well this season with two wins in Lanarkshire and a 3-3 draw at Pittodrie under Neil Warnock, where they fought back from 3-0 down.
Players to watch
Bojan Miovski is highly unlikely to be at Pittodrie next season. The North Macedonian striker scored his 24th goal of the season at Hampden and is 7/4 with bet365 to get to the quarter century.
Theo Bair has been a revelation for Motherwell this season and the Canadian international has scored eight goals in his last 13 games. He is 3/1 to score anytime with UniBet.
Anything else catch the eye?
Aberdeen look a far better team without their captain Graeme Shinnie who was suspended both at Hampden and for this game too. It gives the likes of Connor Barron and Leighton Clarkson more freedom and that might make the difference here.
The Dons need this win to surely end any relegation talk and can edge it by a winning margin of one goal at 3/1 with bet365.
There should be goals here. There have been six goals on two of the three meetings between the sides this season and of course Aberdeen were involved in that six-goal thriller at Hampden.
So it's a pleasant surprise that McBookie.com have over 2.5 goals at 10/11 and that looks a really solid shout, with over 3.5 goals at 9/4 far from impossible either.
This Scottish Premiership match between Aberdeen and Motherwell will be played on Apr 27, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Aberdeen vs Motherwell prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.