Aberdeen

Watch highlights from Aberdeen's Scottish Premiership win over Livingston on Sunday.

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Nicky Devlin's late header gave disjointed Aberdeen victory over Scottish Premiership bottom side Livingston as their unbeaten run extended to six matches.

Are Aberdeen slowly building momentumn? Or are the performances concerning?

Have your say.

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "Livingston played really well in the first half, with a lot of movement and did a lot of good things with some good chances.

"We stayed in the game and in the second half we slowly grew into the game and there was more balance betwen the teams.

"We had some good transitions. They were good with their link-up play when they used the striker. Tete Yengi was really good today.

"But defending well again gave us a chance to win the game, even when they were better in the first half.

"The subs made more impact today than the last game. We had a tough game a few days ago and we found a way to win so I'm really proud of the players.

"We made some adjustments for the second half and gave the players the chance to prove themselves.

"Then it was more about energy, we're playing every third day now and we need everyone in the squad to contribute and take responsibility for the team and make impacts in the game."

Aberdeen's offer of selling Pittodrie Stadium to break the deadlock in talks over a new beachfront stadium looks set to be thrown out by the local council. (Press & Journal - subscription required), external

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Livingston manager David Martindale feels Sunday's opponents Aberdeen are in a "false position" in the top flight.

Jimmy Thelin's side are eighth in the table, six points above Livingston at the bottom before Sunday's trip to the Home of the Set Fare Arena.

Despite a tricky start for the Dons, who failed to score in their first seven league matches, they've picked up four wins in their last six.

"I've never felt Aberdeen have been as bad as their league position suggests," Martindale said.

"I think they're a good team, I've watched them, I've played against them. And even the first half up at Pittodrie [a 0-0 draw in September], I thought they were very, very good against us so I think they're in a wee bit of a false position.

"I rate them as a group. Hopefully we can use the fact they had a game on Thursday to our advantage on Sunday, but it's not going to be an easy game.

"If you were to sit here and ask, 'do you think Aberdeen will finish in the top six come the end of the season?', I'd probably say 'yes'."

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin is urging his players to prove they deserve to compete in multiple competitions.

The Dons, who won the Scottish Cup last year, have had a tricky start to the domestic campaign while also juggling Conference League commitments.

After the 1-1 draw with FC Noah on Thursday night, Thelin's side - now unbeaten in five - visit Livingston in the Premiership on Sunday.

"We have to focus on our performance," the Aberdeen manager said.

"Every game in this league is difficult but we have a strong belief we can put in a good performance. We have to take the challenge and not complain about fatigue or make excuses.

"We have to show up and if you want to be a club that competes at this level we have to grow as individuals and take the challenges as a positive thing.

"We want to prove we deserve to stay at this level and compete in the league, in Europe and in other cups."

When asked what he's expecting from Livingston, who played out a goalless draw against the Dons at Pittodrie in September, Thelin added: "They have speed and quality up top.

"They work hard as a team so it's going to be a tough game.

"We have things to improve but I think we're a better team now than we were the last time we played against Livingston."

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Livingston welcome back Joshua Brenet following his World Cup exploits with Curacao, while Connor McLennan is back in contention and Cammy Kerr (ankle) is closing in on a return.

Mo Sylla is set to join Aidan Denholm and Shane Blaney (both hamstring) and Adam Montgomery (calf) on the sidelines.

Aberdeen remain without Kristers Tobers (knee).

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• Livingston are unbeaten in four home league games against Aberdeen (W2 D2) since a 2-1 reverse in August 2021. Both of their past two at home to the Dons, though, have finished 0-0.

• Aberdeen are unbeaten in six league meetings with Livingston (W3 D3) since a 2-1 defeat in November 2022.

• Should Livingston lose, they will be the first side to earn eight or fewer points from their first 14 games of a Scottish Premiership season since Hamilton in 2020-21 (eight). Six of the past eight sides to have eight or fewer points from their first 14 matches went on to be relegated.

• Aberdeen have won four of their past six league games (D1 L1), more than their previous 17 beforehand (W3 D4 L10).

• Aberdeen are winless in 10 away league games against newly-promoted opponents (D3 L7) since a 3-1 win over Ross County in November 2019. The Dons have lost their past four away league games to promoted clubs in a row.

Australia striker Kusini Yengi, who arrived on a two-year contract in June, is looking to leave Aberdeen in January and the out-of-favour 26-year-old is attracting interest from clubs in Japan, United States and Europe. (Press & Journal), external

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

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We asked for your views on Aberdeen's 1-1 draw at home to Noah in the Conference League.

Here are some of your comments:

Andrew: A game and performance representing the complete lack of preparedness we had for this European campaign. We'll play far better teams domestically than Noah this season. Last season should've been a springboard for further success but we've completely missed that opportunity.

Chris: Kevin Nisbet took his goal well, that was the highlight. We're pedestrian going forward and the midfield was asleep till the changes were made but even then Stuart Armstrong was way off it and Nicolas Milanovic is not living up to his hype like others too.

Tyler: Still hard after a season and a half to fathom what our style of play is. We also have an abundance of senior players barely playing (Ambrose, Yengi, Nilsen, Bilalovic, Frame, Kjartansson). Hard to get excited as an Aberdeen fan at the moment.

Paul: What is this Aberdeen team's identity? Very hard to say when players are flitting in and out of the matchday squad. I cannot help but feel that all this tinkering is hindering us and at least the partial cause of our current lack of personality. Another shapeless, toothless display.

Eric: An entertaining game, but our lack of being able to convert our chances is worrying. Is it time to play two strikers? Or do we continue to rely on midfielders to misfire? Surely we have enough forward players to resolve this. If not, we need to ship some of them out in January.

Malky: Another underwhelming performance from this team. The players again looking too robotic and afraid to make decisions for themselves, always too many touches, slow to release the ball, lethargic and allowing the opposition plenty of time to get back into their shape.

Calum: Really abject performance, slow, ponderous and without any form of identity. We are an incredibly hard watch right now, and I fear apathy is creeping into the fan base. We deserve better.

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Former Aberdeen skipper Willie Miller on BBC Sportsound

The players went off with boos ringing around the stadium. I think that was a little bit harsh on this occasion.

Aberdeen put a lot into it but they still lack the quality. They don't create enough opportunities. They certainly don't take enough of the small amount of opportunities that they do create.

The good news is Kevin Nisbet has found the back of the net, he looks much more like the player we know he is. But it's a disappointing result for the Dons.

It looks very, very doubtful on two points that they can do anything but it's been a good experience for them.

BBC Scotland chief sports writer Tom English

The board are all in on Jimmy Thelin. They were very strong behind the scenes when he was going through a really terrible patch.

They'll back him again in January. Internally, they're talking about a gnarled, experienced centre-half and a box-to-box midfielder. They better start talking about a striker as well, because the lack of goals is a concern.

Okay, Nisbet has got one and it was a good goal. But the lack of goals in this team is a real problem.

There's a number of strikers in this league Aberdeen should be interested in. The obvious one is Tawanda Maswanhise at Motherwell.

Former Aberdeen striker Billy Dodds on BBC Sportsound

It's not just the striker, it's service. They created a few opportunities but not enough.

The players gave a lot but they didn't deserve to be booed. I think they can get a whole lot better from where they've been, which was rock bottom.

I think they can recruit to make them a much better team as well. But from where they were earlier in the season, to get this little run of form has given them a base to build from.

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin insists he will not prioritise domestic matches over their two remaining Conference League fixtures, despite hopes of progression appearing slim at best.

The Dons were held 1-1 by Armenian side Noah on Thursday and will now likely require victories at home to Strasbourg and away to Sparta Prague if they are to finish in the top 24 and reach the knockouts.

Thelin's side are 33rd in the 36-team table having taken just two points from their opening four matches.

"I will never do that," the Swede said. "I think you always need to be competitive as a player and as a manager and as a club. You always have to play for and also get used to it for the future also, so we will not do that.

"But it was important for us to win against Noah to give us the chance. Now we have to win both games and be really, really lucky with all other results.

"We don't control anything there now. So it was more about that situation to give us a chance. Now it's a difficult situation. And for us this is still an opportunity to grow and learn."

Thelin's side were booed off by some supporters at the end but the manager says he understands frustration.

"Football is about passion and emotions, so I have no problem with that.

"The performance in this game was not there really and of course they can feel frustration because I feel frustration myself. And the players feel it because it was not good enough. We have to do better."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Nicky Devlin believes "it is up to everyone to find ways" to create more as Aberdeen's struggles in front of goal continues to haunt them.

Although they had plenty of chances against Armenian champions FC Noah in the Conference League, they could only record a 1-1 draw that has all but ended hopes of progression to the knockouts.

It was not the first time this season that the Dons have struggled to create clear-cut chances and when they did come along – barring Kevin Nisbet's fine first-half strike – they were unable to take them.

"That's not just the attacking players, the defensive players were in those positions at times as well," Devlin said.

"Even defensively we probably didn't make the right decisions at times and that has ultimately cost us. I don't think we made, for all the play we had in the first half, the goalie make too many saves and that is the most disappointing thing."

At the back Aberdeen have tightened things up in recent weeks, and in their last six league games they have registered four clean sheets.

But at the other end, they've only scored nine goals in their 12 Scottish Premiership fixtures.

"We were obviously losing a lot of silly goals at the start of the season, and with the change of shape we have looked better defensively, but it has probably taken an extra guy away from forward areas," the right-back added.

"It is up to everyone to find ways. We have got good enough players on the pitch and forward-thinking players to create more, but we just have to, as a team, do it together.

"There are different ways we can score goals, it can't always just be forward players expecting them to pull something out of the hat or create magic - we have to all chip in with goals."

As a result of the draw with Noah, Aberdeen have taken just two points from four Conference League games so far and sit 33rd in the 36-team table.

With two games left, they have the daunting prospect of games against high-fliers in Strasbourg and Sparta Prague.

"We will have to try and win the last two games and hope other results go our way," Devlin added.

"The way the fixtures are in the next couple of weeks, we don't get a chance to dwell on games and be too disappointed. We have two days now to recover before we go to Livingston [in the Scottish Premiership] and it's a game we have to go and win.

"It will be difficult, I am sure they will look forward to us coming down there after a European game so we need to be at it. We need to show more than we did today, especially when we get into the forward areas and create a wee bit more."

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A "must win" game according to Jimmy Thelin, but again Aberdeen looked meek and muddled throughout a match that all but ended their hopes of European progression.

It's become harder and harder to identify a distinct style of play since Thelin and his team endured that horrendous run in the middle third of last season, a tailspin that they are still struggling to right.

In 48 games against Scottish top flight and European opposition, played over 90 minutes, they have won just nine times.

Perhaps it's no wonder that the confidence among Aberdeen players looks shot - despite the fact they're unbeaten in their past five games.

On that run though, and stretching back further to their previous eight, the Dons have scored just one goal or fewer in each game.

Their xG has been above one in just two of those games - against Hibernian and St Mirren.

The win that perhaps meant the most was the win over Hearts last Sunday, when they ended Derek McInnes' unbeaten run as gaffer and gave the league leaders' perch another wobble.

And yet, that victory came without their creative fulcrum Jesper Karlsson. Missing due to personal reasons, Aberdeen somehow still came out with a win thanks to Topi Keskinen's solo strike.

When Karlsson has been available, he's been the first name on the team sheet. His quality is clear to see. He's industrious, entertaining, capable of skill rarely seen in this division.

Yet the full responsibility of the attack has weighed heavy on his shoulders. Keskinen too often flits in and out of games, while Kevin Nisbet's strike against Noah was his first of the season.

Fans will wince at the sight of Conference League leaders Strasbourg and high-flying Sparta Prague on the horizon. While Thelin says he and his side will never give up, will always remain competitive, one worries they will be in for a similarly bruising night to they suffered in Athens.

The 6-0 demolition at the hands of AEK has left scars, exposing a team that wilt when the heads go down. They cannot suffer any repeats of that night.