Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s Scottish Premiership clash between Kilmarnock and Aberdeen, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two teams aiming to bounce back from defeats will clash on Wednesday when Kilmarnock welcome Aberdeen to Rugby Park for a Scottish Premiership matchup.
The hosts have suffered back-to-back league defeats heading into this one, while the visitors were beaten 2-1 by Hibernian in their last league outing.
Match preview
Kilmarnock have experienced an extremely mixed start to the 2025-26 season, beginning the campaign undefeated in normal time in their first nine games, followed by suffering three defeats and a penalty loss in their last six.
Killie, under the leadership of new manager Stuart Kettlewell, began the term with three wins and a draw in the Scottish League Cup group stage, and they have since progressed past Dundee United in the second round before losing on penalties to St Mirren in the quarter-finals.
They also started the Scottish Premiership with four consecutive draws, followed by a devastating 2-1 defeat to Celtic on matchday five, conceding a 96th-minute winner to Kelechi Iheanacho.
They did initially bounce back with two straight wins in the league, beating both Dundee United and St Mirren 2-0, but they have since lost to both Hearts and Rangers, leaving them aiming to snap a losing streak on Wednesday.
Despite their ongoing losing run, the hosts will draw confidence from the poor start to the campaign that their visitors, Aberdeen, have endured.
The Dons, who recorded a promising fifth-placed finish and lifted the Scottish FA Cup trophy last season, have managed just three victories across all competitions this term, alongside 10 defeats and two draws.
Those results have included Aberdeen being eliminated from the Europa League in the playoff round and eliminated from the Scottish League Cup in the quarter-finals, as well as suffering defeats in each of their first two Conference League league phase fixtures.
Furthermore, Jimmy Thelin‘s side sit 11th in the Scottish Premiership standings with just seven points from nine matches, after two wins, one draw and six defeats.
It did appear as though Aberdeen were finding form when they won two matches consecutively earlier this month, defeating Dundee and St Mirren, but a 6-0 loss to AEK Athens in the Conference League halted their momentum, going on to suffer a 2-1 loss to Hibernian last weekend.
Thelin will be desperate for his side to stop their losing streak spiralling any further by securing a win here, but history goes against Aberdeen, as the Dons have lost all of their last four visits to Rugby Park.
Kilmarnock Scottish Premiership form:
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Kilmarnock form (all competitions):
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Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form:
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Aberdeen form (all competitions):
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Team News
Kilmarnock are set to be without Djenairo Daniels for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury, while Marley Watkins and Matthew Kennedy are also both out with injuries.
Killie have signed Tyreece John-Jules on a short-term deal until January following Daniels’ injury, and the striker could feature from the bench on Wednesday, with Bruce Anderson and Marcus Dackers expected to start in attack.
Further back, Jamie Brandon and Dominic Thompson should feature from wide positions, with Robbie Deas, Lewis Mayo and George Stanger making up the back three.
As for Aberdeen, Kristers Tobers remains unavailable due to an ongoing knee injury, while the rest of the squad should be available for selection.
Marko Lazetic has scored in each of Aberdeen’s last two league outings, and the forward should come into the starting team for this one, likely to play alongside Adil Aouchiche and Jesper Karlsson.
Kilmarnock possible starting lineup:
Beach; Stanger, Mayo, Deas; Brandon, Watson, Lyons, Kiltie, Thompson; Dackers, Anderson
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Mitov; Devlin, Milne, Knoester; Jensen, Palaversa, Armstrong, Molloy; Aouchiche, Lazetic, Karlsson
We say: Kilmarnock 2-1 Aberdeen
Both teams have faced their struggles already this season, but Kilmarnock have enjoyed several more encouraging results than their visitors, and with the home advantage in their favour, we expect a win for the hosts.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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