Aberdeen

Watch all the highlights as Motherwell secured a dramatic late victory over Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership.

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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Sorry to rub salt in the wound, Aberdeen fans, but it turns out no team has failed to score in their first six league games since the Dons themselves, back in the 1999-2000 season.

What might frustrate even further, is that there have been chances.

Jimmy Thelin's side have an xG of 6.4 in the league this season, meaning they should have scored six goals. Yet, they have none.

That difference of -6.4 between xG and actual goals is, comfortably, the worst in the league. The next worst offenders are, surprisingly, Celtic (-3.6).

That xG of 6.4 also ranks at eighth highest in the league. That means they are far from the worst attack in a creative sense, but they are easily the least clinical.

That might be typified by the fact that they only have 2.5 shots on target per game, the second-worst in the league.

Their xG per game isn't even much worse than last season - 1.20 in the last campaign as compared to 1.07 this year.

Even their total shots per game isn't far off what it was.

At the other end, the defensive stats are actually an improvement on last season - a campaign which, we should remember, included a record-breaking winless run.

The 'expected goals against' stat contrasts at 1.61 (24-25) to 1.22 (25-26), and on average they've faced one shot less than they did last year.

From out wide, they only make 2.5 accurate crosses per game - again, the second worst record in the league.

They've also won possession in the final third just 1.8 times per game, the worst in the league. That means that if there is a high press, it isn't working.

There's plenty to conclude from all that. One thing that is inarguable is that their attack is blunt.

Kusini Yengi was the starting striker at the beginning of the year. That looks to have changed already. Kevin Nisbet and Marko Lazetic are still getting up to speed.

Defensively, it's much the same as it was last year - but the argument could be that large parts of last season weren't good enough either.

An optimist might see encouragement from these stats. At least they're making chances. At some point, the lack of luck in front of goal has to change, right?

We asked for your views on Aberdeen's 2-0 defeat against Motherwell.

Here's what some of you said:

Garry: What's going on with the collective mentality at this club? The constant chopping and changing of line-ups, the lack of any identity as to style of play and poor decisions top down, just add up to an appalling mess with predictable outcomes. Never experienced this in all my days as a Dons fan. Not a smile or joyous moment from any of the players is telling. Jimmy Thelin can't be blamed for individual mistakes but his tactics and obvious lack of inspiration have ground the joy out of this club. He has to go. Thanks for the cup but that's history now.

Justin: Total sickener. We definitely played better and on another day we'd have scored two. Dimitar Mitov can be given a pass because he's saved our proverbial bacon many times, not to mention the cup win. It's hard but I think it'll turn around very soon. It simply must for the whole club and city.

Martin: Keep saying it's a three-year plan. Nearly half way through and we are bottom of the league with no goals. If the plan is the Championship we are well on our way. Good players with no direction.

Bruce: On any other day, a draw at Fir Park would be a decent result, but the result and performance have been obscured by recent form. We played a decent game and could have scored two or three. Feel for Mitov, who's been playing well. Confidence will only grow when hard work yields a result. This was a positive step, despite the result.

Craig: Frustrating and upsetting, however we were better, much more disciplined, the formation largely worked, we created several good chances, but how can Thelin legislate for Kevin Nisbet, Topi Keskinen, Marko Lazetic, etc missing golden chances? We'll get our Rocky Bushiri moment and come out of this.

Donald: If it wasn't clear before it must be crystal clear now, Thelin is NOT the problem! His players are not taking their chances. We should've buried Motherwell, from the first couple of minutes right through to the end of the match, Aberdeen should have had a comfortable win. Fate decided differently from a Dons point of view. The Scottish football scene will continue to scorn the Dons, and probably ridicule my club, but life was harsh on the Dons and Thelin. Motherwell got a victory that they didn't deserve, Aberdeen still need to be more clinical though! Onwards and upwards!

Aberdeen endured another miserable day in their wretched season when Motherwell scored twice in stoppage-time to record their first Scottish Premiership win of the season.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the game via this link

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James McFadden on BBC Sportsound: I think the manager, his instruction, his belief of how he wants to play, the belief he's given to the players, is massively key for Motherwell.

It's all well and good, but the players still need to step up and it's credit to them because they are willing to take the risk.

Not an outstanding display from Motherwell, but a very good one and finally a victory on the board.

Willie Miller on BBC Sportsound: It wasn't just better, it was much better. Aberdeen in the first half created a number of chances but didn't take them. I think over the course of the 90 minutes, if you take away the two goals at the end, it's a very even game.

I'm sure Jimmy Thelin will be in a situation where Aberdeen fans are not pleased with the result tonight, but I can assure you it was a much better performance.

If this type of performance had been earlier in the season, you'd be hopeful it would turn round. It's cruel for Aberdeen but magnificent for Motherwell.

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin: "Before Tuesday I don't think we performed well enough to deserve results but today the performance was much better.

"The energy was there, the players were fighting in duels. I hope the fans feel the connection with the team again. We tried, we had some good chances at the beginning and end of the game but we need to find the last pass to find that goal.

"The chances we've had this season, to have not scored a goal is quite incredible. Sometimes you need luck to get out of this, today we didn't have any luck.

"It's a difficult game to lose. Sometimes it's not easy to be positive when you're on this run but you have to believe and we have to build on this performance now.

"We have to be even stronger now because to get that setback in the 95th minute is super tough. I have strong belief we can do it, if you keep pushing sometimes the luck comes in your favour.

"Sometimes to turn things around you need some lucky moments when you are struggling like we are right now.

"It's still early in the season. We need to turn things around, if we win games now we will catch up quickly but we need to start winning.

"We're focused on the next game on Thursday but it's a hard hit today."

Full-back Alexander Jensen feels "pressure from myself" to perform amid Aberdeen's current slump. (Record), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

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Paul McGinn and Elijah Just are the likeliest candidates to return for Motherwell but they will have a similar squad to the one that triumphed at Pittodrie last weekend.

Callum Slattery, Tom Sparrow and Callum Hendry are expected to return after the international break, while Sam Nicholson, Filip Stuparevic (both knee), Eseosa Sule, Jordan McGhee (both thigh) and Zach Robinson (Achilles) are long-term absentees.

Aberdeen have a full squad to choose from with the exception of teenager Kjartan Kjartansson.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Aberdeen defender Alexander Jensen has vowed "we are more united than ever" as they look to end their poor start to the season.

Jimmy Thelin's side are bottom of the Premiership with just one point going into Saturday's trip to Motherwell, having failed to score in any of their opening five league games.

The Steelmen also knocked the Dons out of the Premier Sports Cup at Pittodrie last weekend, adding to a run of form that has turned up the pressure on boss Thelin.

When asked if the players are fully behind the manager, Jensen said: "Yes, of course, everybody is in this together. It is the players and the manager, we are all behind each other.

"So yes, we are more united than ever, and we are aware that we have to be more united than ever to get past this and start winning football games as we know we can.

"We just need to win a football game. It is easy to say, but we just have to keep going and show it on the pitch."

After winning the Scottish Cup last season and bolstering their squad during the summer, the Dons were expected to kick on this term.

Defender Jensen cannot put his finger on why it hasn't happened.

"I think everyone wants the answer to that," the Dane said.

"It is tough right now, but I just think, instead of saying it is always a new game, you have to show it, and things can change fast in football.

"Now we have three games, and maybe we are sitting in one week and we have won three games, and then it is a completely new situation.

"I think it is a talented squad we have, so it is a matter of time. We have the quality and the character to turn this around."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Jimmy Thelin has been speaking to the media before Aberdeen's Premiership trip to Motherwell this weekend.

Here are the key lines from the Dons boss:

• Thelin insists the squad have the character to deal with the pressure of the current plight. The players "should relax and focus" on being the best they can be.

• He says the squad are fully behind what he is trying to do.

• On criticism of him and the players: "It is a lot of noise, you have to expect that", and Thelin adds: "The players just need to focus on what they can control."

• He admits the team are lacking "identity" but says: "We have had a calm chat about what we want to be."

• The Swede reiterated that everyone is on the same page and he talks "more or less every day" with chairman Dave Cormack.

• On Saturday's game: "For us it is more about what we have to do now... how we want to be recognised as a team."

• Other than Kjartan Mar Kjartansson, everyone is fit.

Midfielder Stuart Armstrong's thoughts are on Aberdeen, not a Scotland recall at present. (Press and Journal - subscription required), external

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou is expecting a "desperate" and "dangerous" Aberdeen side to turn up at Fir Park on Saturday evening.

Jimmy Thelin's side sit rock bottom of the Premiership table and are still searching for their first win of the season.

Although Motherwell triumphed 1-0 Pittodrie in last weekend's League Cup quarter-final, Askou feels his side will have to improve this weekend.

"I expect us to actually have to play better than in that game to get a similar outcome," the Dane said.

"We needed a little bit of luck against them at times. Aberdeen are obviously a team that's under a little bit of pressure but a team that's extremely desperate can also be really, really difficult to play."

Askou also thinks the Dons pose an attacking threat despite the fact they've failed to score a league goal this term.

"I expect us to have to perform well in many of the same areas that we did away to Aberdeen, especially defensively, because they still have top players up front," he added.

"They still have a lot of quality. We have to be really, really mindful that we don't give them a sniff of something to go for or give them any easy chances or make it too easy for them to defend."

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A lack of cohesion and confidence is at the root of Aberdeen's troubles, says football analyst and Dons fan JJ Bull.

Manager Jimmy Thelin admitted the club have hit "rock bottom" after their winless Premiership start worsened in midweek with a fourth defeat in five games, all without scoring.

"There are some things you cannot quantify with data, such as confidence and momentum," Bull told BBC Scotland.

"Aberdeen should have scored six goals according to underlying numbers, but they've not scored any.

"The number of shots on target is 23%, which is the lowest in the league.

"The players are not able to pass the ball confidently through the lines or get the ball through the midfield to players higher up the pitch and keep it.

"They're not cohesive or confident and that's what the numbers show."

Bull believes that while tactics play a part, many managers say desire and intensity is more important, which he thinks Thelin lacks in his post-match interviews.

"The principles are there. His ideas are not revolutionary, nor bad. They're all good ideas and they work, but the problem is it's not working," he added.

"Thelin has the right ideas and is a good manager but that's often not enough because if it starts going wrong, you can't correct it with tactical changes, it's to do with momentum and inspiring people."

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• After their 2-0 win in January, Motherwell are looking to claim back-to-back home league victories over Aberdeen for the first time since December 2012 (four in a row).

• Aberdeen have won seven of their past nine league meetings with Motherwell (D1 L1), winning 4-1 most recently in March, although were knocked out of the League Cup by the Steelmen last weekend.

• Motherwell have drawn their past six league games (including all five this season) – the longest run of successive draws by any side in Scotland's top flight on Opta's records (from 1998-99).

• Aberdeen are winless in nine league games (D1 L8), failing to score in all five this season; they previously failed to score in six successive top-flight matches in February 2021.

• Only Dundee United (seven) have dropped more points from winning positions in the Scottish Premiership this season than Motherwell (six), doing so in each of their previous three league games.

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Defender Mats Knoester has called on the Aberdeen squad to "look in the mirror and do better" to ease the strain on under-pressure manager Jimmy Thelin.

After their wretched run continued with a 2-0 defeat at Dundee United on Tuesday night to remain bottom of the table without a goal in five games, Thelin's side visit their League Cup conquerors Motherwell on Saturday.

"We need to get out of this for everybody," Knoester said. "You always see the manager as the one who is taking the responsibility but it is 11 players on the pitch who are not doing well. It is our responsibility as well to take it.

"I have to say our manager prepared us for everything and again we gave it away in two moments.

"It is a bit crazy just to say the manager is to blame. I understand that it is always like that in football but, for me, the players need to look in the mirror and do better."

Knoester says pressure is part of life at the Dons and the players have to handle it better.

"Of course, there is pressure on us because the results are not good. You definitely feel a pressure but that is also good and necessary because the expectations are high," he added.

"They should be high for a club like Aberdeen and we just need to handle that and try and get this mindset we have nothing to lose.

"We haven't had a good result yet, apart from a cup game, so we need to start from zero and create this mentality.

"The next few days we have to be hard on ourselves and each other but build again and together. That is very important because we will need to do it together.

"We need to be better in surviving difficult moments and also to be a lot more clinical in the final third."

Martin Watt
BBC Sport Scotland

574 minutes without a Premiership goal.

Of all Aberdeen's deficiencies in their worst start to a league season in 26 years, their inability to put the ball in the net is perhaps the most glaring.

In taking just one point from the opening five matches, Jimmy Thelin's side have scored zilch. Worryingly, their xG (expected goals) total is 5.29, suggesting woeful finishing when chances do present themselves.

New arrivals Jesper Karlsson and Stuart Armstrong had opportunities in the latest loss, Tuesday night's 2-0 defeat at Dundee United, but neither could break the Dons' duck.

Armstrong's effort off the bar was the third time Aberdeen have struck woodwork, only Celtic (5) and Hearts (4) have been thwarted more.

The Tannadice defeat was also the Dons' highest xG from open play - 1.11 - this season in the Premiership and their joint-most shots total of 16, although only two were on target.

And there were zero what Opta call 'big chances' for the visitors, whose tally of six in that category is the lowest of any Premiership club.

To complete the early-season perfect storm, Aberdeen are also underperforming their xG against of 5.84, having shipped seven goals so far.

And Tuesday night was their biggest xG against by a distance, 1.83, with United registering 15 shots, a third of which were on target.

We asked for your views on Aberdeen's plight after they remained rock bottom of the Premiership following the 2-0 defeat at Dundee United.

Here are some of your comments:

Michael: Aberdeen Football Club represents the city of Aberdeen. At the moment they are not giving the city a very good image. I'm beginning to feel embarrassed at the results lately.

Joe: I think Jimmy Thelin underestimated Scottish football and how quick fans can turn on managers as he's seeing first hand. Bigger clubs than Aberdeen have been relegated and on recent performances it is what they deserve. I honestly think Thelin has lost the dressing room as the players don't care if they win, lose or draw any more.

Ryan: Thelin will get it right, he won the Scottish Cup only a few months ago. He needs longer and the backing of the fans.

Steve: Why oh why does he keep persisting with this 4-2-3-1 formation? After last night's performance he quite simply has to be sacked. Have some players or most players lost faith in him, because of his unwillingness to change? He shows no emotion on the touchline.

Kevin: What is it with AFC managers? They come with good resumes but in a short period of time they crumble. How the cup was won I'll never know but this has got to end one way or the other.

Bernie: Regrettably, the end of the "long-term" project wasn't that long in coming, after all. Hoisted by his own petard!

Gary: It's not looking good for Jimmy, unfortunately. I think he is out of depth and the team are suffering. The chairman has to take full responsibility for this as he pursued Thelin. Something has to change for Saturday's match tactics wise, because if we don't get some points on the board then we are in serious trouble!

Watch highlights from as Dundee United continue Aberdeen's woeful Premiership start with a win 2-0 win at Tannadice. (Available to UK users only)

Aberdeen's Conference League opponents, Shakhtar Donetsk, will be without Brazilian winger Alisson Santana when they meet next Thursday after the 20-year-old signed for £14m from Atlético Mineiro suffered a broken leg. (Press & Journal), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full.