Introduction
Dundee will be looking to build on a positive start to this year’s Scottish Premiership campaign, when they take on St Johnstone this weekend.
St Johnstone are winless from their last four matches in the Scottish top-flight, and they’ll know they’re in for a tough test on Saturday.
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Match Preview
Dundee go into Saturday’s meeting with St Johnstone after a 3-1 win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on 28 October. Joe Bevan opened the scoring after 32 minutes. Hugill levelled from the penalty spot with 15 minutes left, but Ashley Hay then scored twice, with a header in the 83rd minute and a second goal in stoppage time.
St Johnstone drew 2-2 with Kilmarnock on 31 October, having played almost the whole game with ten men after goalkeeper Toby Steward was sent off in the tenth minute.
Cathal McCarthy put Kilmarnock ahead, and Danny Schmidt’s 40th-minute equaliser lasted barely a minute before Djenairo Daniels restored the lead.
Joel Cotterill levelled again for St Johnstone after 65 minutes, to rescue what would have seemed like an unlikely point.
Both sides have faced Kilmarnock in the last ten days, which gives a useful reference point for Saturday. The full numbers from both games are worth a look before kick-off, and the sections below pick out what stands out.
Dundee Form Guide
The Kilmarnock game split neatly into two halves for Dundee. Their expected goals (xG), came to 1.85 in the first half against 0.13 for Kilmarnock. After the break the picture reversed, with Kilmarnock producing 1.96 to Dundee’s 0.46, and the full-match totals ended close at 2.31 to 2.09.
Dundee’s PPDA (Passes Per Defensive Action) was 32.3. That means they made a tackle, interception or challenge about once in every 32 Kilmarnock passes, while Kilmarnock’s own figure was 10.1.
Joe Bevan completed seven of his 11 dribbles before going off after an hour. At the back, Ryan Astley won 12 of his 14 aerial duels and made 22 recoveries, the most of any Dundee player.
St Johnstone Form Guide
The early red card left St Johnstone a player short for more than 80 minutes, and Kilmarnock had most of the play. Kilmarnock had 61% possession and 20 shots worth 4.89 xG, against six shots and 0.90 for St Johnstone.
Ross Sinclair, who came on after 14 minutes to replace Toby Steward in goal, made four saves, three of them reflex saves.
St Johnstone’s defenders had a heavy workload. Cheick Diabaté made 19 interceptions and 16 clearances, and the team made 49 clearances in all. Kilmarnock recorded 11 deep completions, passes received within 20 metres of the opponent’s goal, while St Johnstone had none.
Even so, St Johnstone scored with two of their three shots on target. Danny Schmidt’s header came from a corner, and Joel Cotterill’s goal was their best chance of the afternoon at 0.42. Enes Alić supplied an assist for Schmidt’s equaliser on the day.
Dundee v St Johnstone Key Duels
The battle in the air looks important. Dundee won 37 of their 59 aerial duels against Kilmarnock. Hay won nine of his 15 and scored with a header from a corner, while Ryan Astley won 12 of 14 at the other end. Dundee had seven corners, and four of them led to a shot.
St Johnstone’s first goal against Kilmarnock was also a header from a corner. Away from that moment, Danny Schmidt won two of his 19 aerial duels, while Bozo Mikulić won six of his seven at centre-back.
On Dundee’s right, Joe Bevan won 10 of his 18 offensive duels as well as completing seven dribbles. If both sides line up as they did last time out, he would come up against Enes Alić, who won five of his ten defensive duels against Kilmarnock.
Conclusion
It’s set to be an interesting battle between both teams, who will be eager to pick up three important points this weekend.
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