Aberdeen

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

After Aberdeen substitutes Kevin Nisbet and Vicente Besuijen made instant impacts from the bench to seal the points against Dundee last time out, Dons legend Willie Miller told the nation he wanted Jimmy Thelin to pick his lottery numbers.

The tongue-in-cheek comment during the commentary at Pittodrie in the 4-1 victory, during which Nisbet set Besuijen up for the third before scoring the fourth, came as the former captain and manager enthused about the impact Thelin's in-game changes have had on the outcome of Aberdeen matches this season.

In each of the club's last five league games, substitutes have got on the scoresheet after entering the fray, with Ante Palaversa, Peter Ambrose and Shayden Morris scoring winners against Hearts, Dundee Utd and Rangers respectively.

Ester Sokler, too, scored a crucial goal off the bench at Celtic Park, beginning an incredible comeback against the champions to salvage a point from 2-0 down.

A Nisbet cameo in Dingwall also turned one point into three at the end of August and there is no doubt Thelin's game management has made a huge impact and is a big reason why the Dons head into a sequence of tough assignments on the back of their best-ever start to a top-flight season.

The Dons now face three away games over the course of eight days as they try to keep pace with Celtic at the top of the table, starting with a trip to Paisley to face St Mirren before visits to Hibernian and Hearts.

The club's record there and at Easter Road and Tynecastle leaves a lot to be desired - and these three dates will provide a stern test of their credentials.

St Mirren picked up before the international break and are unbeaten in three, indeed they have won two of those, so it represents their best points haul in successive games this campaign.

With Celtic visiting Hearts, the scene of their last domestic defeat, later on Saturday evening, the Dons have their latest chance to go top of the table and it would be no surprise if Thelin's magic dice-rolling is required again.

Image source, SNS

• St Mirren are unbeaten in eight home league games against Aberdeen (W5 D3) since a 2-1 defeat in December 2018 under Oran Kearney.

• After their 3-1 win in August, Aberdeen could defeat St Mirren twice in a row in the league for the first time since December 2018, when they won four on the bounce.

• St Mirren have won two of their last three league games (D1), as many as their first 10 of the season before this (W2 D2 L6). The Buddies are looking to win back-to-back Scottish Premiership matches for the first time since February last season.

• Aberdeen have won 10 of their 11 league games this season (D1); it took the Dons 35 league matches to reach 10 wins last term.

• No side are on a longer ongoing unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership than Aberdeen (20, level with Celtic). Aberdeen and Celtic's current such runs are the longest without defeat by any side in the competition since Celtic went 27 without losing from October 2022 to May 2023.

Gary Scott
Fan writer

With international football now firmly on the backburner until March, all eyes are on the return of the Premiership which sees Jimmy Thelin's Aberdeen head for Paisley on Saturday to kick off an intriguing week.

The SMISA has not been a happy hunting ground for Aberdeen in recent seasons. You have to go all the way back to December 2018 for our last league victory there. Three draws and five defeats in our last eight league trips to Paisley makes for brutal reading.

The most recent visit was perhaps the most chastening as the dismal Neil Warnock experiment was basically ended thanks to the concession of two goals deep into injury time. That saw three points turn into none as Aberdeen's campaign lurched from one crisis to another. How quickly things have turned.

While St Mirren come into this one in decent form, Thelin will feel quietly confident about picking up three points against a Buddies side who have been uncharacteristically generous in defence and struggled with swift counter-attacks – areas that Aberdeen side have excelled in this season.

The games continue thick and fast with two visits to the capital back-to-back to come. First, a midweek visit to Easter Road to face beleaguered Hibernian before a weekend trip to Tynecastle rounds off November.

Similar to Paisley, trips to Edinburgh have been fraught with difficulty for Aberdeen in recent years. The disastrous Scottish Cup exit to Darvel in January 2023 was sandwiched by a 5-0 defeat in Gorgie and a six-goal thumping at Easter Road which ultimately did for Jim Goodwin.

If Thelin can guide his side through the next three games with the Dons' unbeaten league record intact, belief of a top-two finish will begin to grow significantly, which may lead to an extremely interesting January transfer window.

Gary Scott can be found at the ABZ Football Podcast, external

Aberdeen have made a dream start to life under Jimmy Thelin and are keeping pace with Celtic at the top of the Premiership.

Plenty has been said and written about the Swede's early impact, but what is the one thing regarding Aberdeen - good or bad - that no one is talking about?

Let us know., external

Eoin Jess' final goal as an Aberdeen player was a peach of a free-kick in a 5-3 win at Tannadice in September 2000.

Team-mate Derek Young recalls how he was keen to take it, but was soon "pushed out the way" as Pittodrie legend Jess weaved one last bit of magic in a Dons shirt.

Winger Luis 'Duk' Lopes, 24, is unlikely to sign a new contract with Aberdeen, with his current deal up at the end of the season. (Record), external

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin praises Duk for becoming an "important" part of his Dons side since returning to the first team picture. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Former Aberdeen forward Joe Harper urges the club to make on-loan Millwall striker Kevin Nisbet, 27, a permanent signing. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Jimmy Thelin has had to get a lot right to ensure his Aberdeen side remain locked on points with Celtic at the Premiership summit.

And one thing the Swede is certainly benefitting from amid a stunning league start is an attack that continues to overperform their underlying numbers.

With 24 goals netted across 11 games, the Dons are the division's second highest scorers by quite some distance at this early stage.

Where that figure becomes more impressive, though, is the fact it has been accumulated alongside an expected goals tally of 15.5.

Effectively, that means Aberdeen have scored almost nine times more than expected based on the quality of chances they have created.

As the sample size increases, that points to a clinical attack - especially given four teams have had more touches in the opposition box and three have had more shots on target.

But a glass-half-empty view will worry whether this is sustainable as these numbers can tend to even out across the course of an entire campaign.

However, maintaining their shot conversion rate of 17% - the division's highest - should help to avoid a decline.

In addition to that, their big chance conversion of 54% is considerably higher than Celtic's (30%).

These minor statistical wins over the reigning champions, who only lead the table on goal difference, could prove to be significant if Thelin's men are to keep pace.

Aberdeen defender Jack MacKenzie - who is out of contract next summer - has earned a new contract at Pittodrie, according to former Dons keeper Joe Lewis. (Press and Journal), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip in full.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering some of your questions on Aberdeen.

Matthew asked: A graphic was published online this week showing the percentage of minutes given to Under-21 players so far this season. Celtic, Aberdeen and Rangers all had zero. As Aberdeen fans, should we be concerned about the lack of youngsters playing or just accept that if we want to continue mixing it at the top of the table, then we may need to sacrifice Under-21 minutes?

Tom answered: This is a big question and on Sportsound at the start of the season we had a really close look at this and the numbers are really, really poor.

Domestic players, certainly teenagers up to Under-21s, homegrown players, the numbers are very low. And at Celtic, Aberdeen and Rangers, they're non-existent. Ideally, all of those clubs would want to bring in their own players.

Aberdeen have done it and they've done fine on player trading over the years. I think they'd like more. Every club wants more young players in there, but we're not seeing them.

Is that a failure of the academies? Are the players just not good enough? Well, if they're not good enough, and Celtic and Rangers have far more resources than Aberdeen on this front, why aren't they getting the return out of that? Are the players not good enough?

And if that's the case, why? What's the problem with the academy? Are the players good enough, but they're not just getting a chance? We've seen that with Celtic. They have produced good players and they just come into the team for a game or two games and then they disappear off the face of the earth.

I'm not saying it's easy, but it's easier for Celtic to do it because they win most games quite comfortably. Therefore they have the capacity to put some young teenagers homegrown from their academy on for 15, 20 minutes. All the other clubs, Aberdeen included, struggle to get themselves into that envious position.

Former Rangers defender Alan Hutton believes alarm bells are ringing at Ibrox because of Aberdeen's flying start to the season under Jimmy Thelin. (Press and Journal), external

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen's ability to win ugly draws parallels with the Dons sides that were able to sustain title challenges throughout the 1990s, says Pittodrie great Eoin Jess.

Jimmy Thelin's men remain level on points with leaders Celtic at the top of the Premiership table after 11 games.

And throughout their start to the campaign, the Dons have shown they can respond to adversity and win while not playing at their top level.

Aberdeen legend Jess, who finished runners-up in the league on multiple occasions during his time at Pittodrie, sees similarities with the sides he ran close in.

"Sometimes they've not performed well but got the result," he said. "That's a sign of a good team. That's what we did back in the day.

"You can see the confidence; good results breed confidence. And you can see they're playing for each other, which is great and refreshing to watch."

Despite the chastening six-goal defeat to Celtic in the League Cup semi-final, Jess sees no reason why Thelin's side can't sustain a season-long challenge in the Premiership after they responded with a 4-1 win over Dundee.

"Who knows if they can maintain a title challenge... but they've bounced back with a really good performance [against Dundee] so I don't see why not," he added.

"It's obviously going to be difficult, but we seem to be going the right way which is good for the club."

• Watch the Scottish Masters live on BBC Scotland, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website tonight at 19:15 GMT.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions on Aberdeen.

Andrew asked: Assuming Celtic continue their impressive form in Europe into the new year, can Aberdeen take advantage of this in January? Should Dave Cormack get busy in the transfer market and get some cover in defence and midfield?

Tom answered: The goalkeeper and back four have started every league game. Sivert Heltne Nielsen and Jamie McGrath have started 10 of the 11 league games. Some of these guys are playing international football. So at some point they're going to get tired and Aberdeen will need to have ones to step in there.

I think Cormack will add a bit. They probably could do with a bit of defensive cover. Jack MacKenzie has been very good. McGrath has been very good. Will they get offers for those guys? And I think Jimmy Thelin will probably be anticipating something because a lot of these players will have drawn attention from elsewhere, probably down south.

Celtic haven't shown any sign domestically that Europe is bothering them right now. They'll sign some more in January.

I don't think that's going to be an issue. I don't think that's going to bring Aberdeen any respite. They're going to have to do it the hard way. And, you know, they've done it well so far.

Jack asked: Thelin and his staff have managed to work wonders with the Aberdeen squad this season, some who previously looked to no longer have a future at the club. Has there been any one player who has impressed you in particular?

Tom answered: It's hard to pick out one player when they're joint top at the table and unbeaten, going toe to toe with Celtic in the league, because it's so impressive across the board. So you could start listing names here. Goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov has been excellent. The back four have played 11 league games in a row and they've been very, very solid.

McGrath has been excellent. Papa Gueye, out of the team now through injury, was excellent. He's one of the renaissance stories, as is Duk.

Topi Keskinen has been good. Shayden Morris has been good off the bench. Ultimately, the one who's impressed the most is Thelin because he's the architect of all of this.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin believes qualifying for European football again is key in the Premiership club's bid to pose a long-term challenge at the top of the Scottish game. (Daily Record), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Former Aberdeen captain Russell Anderson believes his old club can sustain their Premiership title challenge.

The Dons have made a blistering start under Jimmy Thelin, whose side are level on points with leaders Celtic having won 10 and drawn one of their opening 11 games.

Anderson said: "I think they can sustain the challenge. Of all the games I have seen so far, I think they are good enough to beat anyone on any given day.

"They have a lot of confidence at the moment and the manager, I have heard him already, it is the old cliche of taking one game at a time. He will be reminding the players about what they are actually doing to allow them to win the games rather than thinking too far ahead.

"So if they continue in that vein and can keep everyone fit, there is nothing to suggest they can’t sustain this for the season.

"And it would be really interesting to see, if they are still neck and neck with Celtic maybe after another 10, 20 games, what that would look like for the run-in."

Anderson is hoping the positivity generated by Thelin's side filters through as he prepares to skipper a team of former Pittodrie players at the Scottish Masters in the Granite City on Thursday night, live on the BBC.

Celtic, Rangers and Dundee United complete the quartet of sides taking part.

Anderson said "There is a feelgood factor about the city when it comes to football at the moment which is nice to see and feel. Hopefully some of that we can take advantage of on Thursday night."

• Watch the Scottish Masters live on BBC Scotland, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website on Thursday, 14 November at 19:15 GMT.

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Aberdeen provided the perfect tonic for their Hampden humbling with an eventually convincing victory over Dundee at Pittodrie to continue this remarkable start to the Premiership season.

Their points haul of 31 out of a possible 33 is staggering. Celtic have obviously achieved it as well but only a handful of times in the champions’ history have they managed this sort of opening to a campaign, which shows you just how impressive it has been by the Dons.

There have only been a few examples of sides having won 10 of their first 11 games in a season and not going on to win the title.

That remains a tall order and some bookmakers still make Rangers second favourites behind Celtic, whose odds are anywhere between 1/12 and 1/20. It's up to the Dons players to show they can do what the likes of Leicester City, Montpellier, Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli have done over the last decade or so in their respective countries and overcome those sort of odds.

The international break allows manager Jimmy Thelin to take stock of where Aberdeen are and what lies ahead and that is a tough set of fixtures.

Three away games follow at St Mirren, Hibernian and Hearts and all are venues Aberdeen have struggled at in recent seasons. The Dons are nine league visits to Paisley without success and while they won at Easter Road late last season, that is their only victory in their last seven trips to Leith.

Their record down Gorgie Road leaves a lot to be desired with no wins there since May 2017 and, despite the travails of all three of those sides at times this season, these will be tough assignments.

Once those games are done and dusted there comes a visit to Pittodrie from Celtic in early December. If Thelin can navigate the road trips that lie ahead, what a spectacle that could be.

Former Rangers and Aberdeen striker Billy Dodds ponders which club will finish higher in the Premiership this season, with the Dons currently nine points above Philippe Clement's men after 11 Premiership games.

Kevin Nisbet and Vicente Besuijen combine brilliantly for Aberdeen's third goal just 21 seconds after coming off the bench in Saturday night's 4-1 win over Dundee.

(Available to UK users only)

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has confirmed Jamie McGrath underwent surgery last week in a bid to limit the number of games the Republic of Ireland midfielder will miss. (Press & Journal - subscription), external

Aberdeen's form has put Celtic on alert, says the defending champions' captain Callum McGregor. (Record), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

If you want an example of substitutes making an instant impact, look no further than Jimmy Thelin's double swap during the second half of Aberdeen's 4-1 victory over Dundee.

Kevin Nisbet came off the bench to set up fellow sub Vicente Besuijen's goal with a wonderfully weighted free-kick within a minute of coming on, before getting on the scoresheet himself late on.

Could we see him force his way back into Steve Clarke's Scotland squad this season?

Honourable mentions too for Dimitar Mitov and Ante Palaversa, who were unfortunate not to make the cut for my team this week.

What would you like to ask Tom English about Aberdeen?

Our chief sportswriter is in the hotseat ready to answer your questions and offer his insight and opinion on your club.

Answers will be provided on Tuesday’s episode of the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast and on this page later in the week.

Put your questions to Tom here., external