Hearts vs Aberdeen
29th December 1500hrs
Football – Scotland – Premiership
Pick Aberdeen
Bookmaker Ladbrokes
Odds: 13/8 odds taken 1500 GMT, Saturday 28 December)
It’s been a miserable calendar year for Hearts who come into this game bottom of the Scottish Premiership. Aberdeen will be looking to add to that misery by inflicting another defeat on the home team.
Scottish Premiership Betting at Ladbrokes
Hearts vs Aberdeen Live Stats & Betting Odds
Hearts Preview – Can Hearts end a miserable year on something of a high by getting Daniel Stendl his first win in charge?
2019 cannot end quickly enough for Hearts who have been dismal throughout the calendar year. It’s just six league wins in the calendar year from a total of 37 matches and it’s no surprise to see them sitting bottom of the table by three points. The Hearts board took too long in removing Craig Levein as head coach and were also guilty of dithering in appointing his replacement, taking over a month in doing so. In that time Hearts’ performances and results have only gotten worse and they are very much now in the middle of a scrap for survival. Daniel Stendl is already fully aware of the job he has on his hands having lost his first four games in charge. The Boxing Day defeat at home to Hearts was another disappointment in a long list of them.
The only real hope that Hearts have with this current squad is the number of players they have injured at the moment. Several of them are key to the team but they also cannot be relied upon as many of them are injured too often. Stendl knows he has to rely on the transfer window to overhaul this squad and establish a new mentality. That in itself is going to bring with it a lot of risk.
Aberdeen Preview – Are Aberdeen set to make it six defeats in a row for Hearts and ensure they remain in the hunt for third?
It’s not been a great season for Aberdeen and Derek McInnes has come in for a lot of criticism for the style of football his team have produced. That said, Aberdeen are still fourth and can end the year in third should they win here and Motherwell drop points on the same day. That may seem somewhat insignificant but third is the best that Aberdeen are going to do. McInnes will not be overly bothered by the reaction of the supporters but he will want some more consistency in his team’s results. Their last five matches have brought two wins and two defeats but it’s been a challenging run of fixtures facing three of the top six.
One man who Aberdeen will have to do without is top scorer Sam Cosgrove. The striker was sent off in last weekend’s defeat to Celtic having scored earlier in the game. Cosgrove has scored 11 goals already this season and will likely be the subject of interest from other clubs in the winter transfer window. His goals and overall impact will be a big miss for this game. Aberdeen did manage to see off Livingston without him, though, and have other threats.
Key-Facts – Hearts vs Aberdeen
- Daniel Stendl’s appointment has done nothing to improve Hearts’ fortunes who have now lost their last five games
- Aberdeen bounced back from losing to Celtic last week by edging past a resilient Livingston team on Boxing Day and are two points behind Motherwell in third
- This visiting team has not won this fixture since Aberdeen were victorious at Tynecastle in May 2017
