Aberdeen have had their first real wobble of the season, but after a week off action, they should come back and stand a great chance of winning against a Hibs side that the bookmakers overrate.

Although the Dons have failed to win any of their last 5 games, 4 of these have come away from home and they still post an outstanding record at Pittodrie. Indeed, the only side to have won in the Granite City this season is Celtic – and they only achieved a narrow 1-0 win.

With no longer any need to rotate his squad, Jimmy Thelin will be able to name his strongest team, with Aberdeen seeking to enhance a home record that reads 7 wins from 9 matches.

Hibs have been wretched on the road. From their 8 away matches, they have suffered 5 defeats and were most recently beaten 3-0 by Celtic. They might have overcome Ross County at home last weekend, but their guests made the type of defensive errors in that game that Aberdeen simply have not been guilty of and are unlikely to present to them.

The clash between these sides earlier this season finished 3-3. Expect a refreshed Aberdeen to go one better in this game.

While it may be a little early to say that Rangers are back, there have certainly been clear signs that Philippe Clement’s side have finally started to get things together in recent matches and that spells trouble for a Dundee side that has not impressed on the road this season.

The first league meeting between these teams of this campaign comes at a good moment for the Ibrox club. Although they lost in the League Cup final to Celtic last weekend, their performance level was high, just as it was a matter of days earlier as they drew with Tottenham in the Europa League. If they can continue that level of intensity, they should have far too much for the Dark Blues.

Indeed, Rangers have won their last three league games, claiming victories over Ross County and Kilmarnock in their last couple by an aggregate of 9-0.

Dundee, meanwhile, have lost 4 of their 8 away matches in the league, with all of these defeats coming by at least 2 goals. They were also beaten 3-0 at Ibrox in the League Cup when the Gers were not playing anything like as well as they are now.

Both Airdrie and Partick Thistle will be looking to bounce back from defeats when the pair meet in the Scottish Championship on Saturday. Rhys McCabe’s hosts remain rooted to the foot of the table following a 3-0 defeat against Livingston on Tuesday night. As for Partick, they are still in fourth place despite last week’s 2-0 loss away at Livingston.

However, a trip to Airdrie looks like an ideal opportunity for Thistle to get back on track. Kris Doolan’s side were enjoying an eight-game unbeaten run in the Scottish Championship before losing to Livingston last time out.

Partick claimed a 2-1 win over Airdrie during that eight-game sequence and they look well placed to inflict another defeat on the Diamonds this weeknd. Out-of-sorts Airdrie have lost 13 of their opening 17 league games of the season, with their solitary success coming against Raith Rovers on the opening weekend of the season. They have lost eight of their last nine Scottish Championship matches and everything points towards them coming away empty-handed from Saturday’s encounter with Thistle.

Falkirk will look to return to winning ways in the Scottish Championship when they play host to Hamilton on Saturday. John McGlynn’s 10-man side tasted defeat for just the third time this season when losing 5-2 away at Ayr last weekend. Hamilton, on the other hand, halted a three-game losing run with a 2-1 win over Queen’s Park last Saturday.

League leaders Falkirk have responded well to adversity this season and they look worth siding with to take top honours against Hamilton in a game that produces two or more goals. The Bairns have triumphed in seven of their eight Scottish Championship home games this season, scoring multiple goals in each of those victories. It’s also worth noting that McGlynn’s men ran out 3-1 winners away from home against Hamilton in October’s reverse fixture.

In fact, John Rankin’s side have come up short in each of their combined five contests with the three teams that currently make up the top-three in the table. Furthermore, each of those five defeats featured a minimum of two match strikes, and there is plenty of scope for more of the same at the Falkirk Stadium on Saturday.

League One table toppers Arbroath should be expected to recover from their 3-2 loss to Kelty in midweek by taking something from an Annan side that has struggled desperately in recent weeks.

The hosts picked up a win over Dumbarton last time out, but the Sons are the only team in the league to have won fewer points than them this season. Annan have won only 4 of their last 18 matches across all competitions and were defeated 2-0 by Arbroath earlier this season in the league at Gayfield.

Arbroath, meanwhile, had been in fine form before losing to Kelty in a tight midweek match in Fife. They had suffered defeat in only 1 of 7 games prior to the midweek reverse, and last week, they became the first team to win away at Inverness in the league this season.

The visitors have a strong squad that has been improving almost week-on-week, which is evidenced by the fact that their defeat in Kelty was the first they had suffered on the road since September. Don’t expect Arbroath to lose two in succession.

Montrose will be targeting back-to-back wins in Scottish League One when they welcome Dumbarton to Links Park on Saturday. Stewart Petrie’s side find themselves five points off the summit following last week’s 2-1 win away at Alloa. In contrast, Dumbarton were demolished 5-1 by Annan at home last Saturday, and the weekend prior to that they were soundly beaten 4-0 by Stenhousemuir. That pair of setbacks has left Stephen Farrell’s side 17 points adrift of automatic safety. As such, it makes sense to side with Montrose in the double chance market against the struggling Sons on Saturday.

The Gable Endies have done the majority of their best work at their Angus base this season, with 12 of their 23 points haul being collected in front of their own supporters. That has coincided with Montrose avoiding defeat in six of their eight league games at home this term. That doesn’t augur well for a Dumbarton side that have triumphed in just one of their eight Scottish League One road games this season, losing three of their last five. Thus, Montrose warrant support to come out of this contest with at least a point.

Stenhousemuir have enjoyed an excellent run of home form but will be hard-pushed for it to continue when they tackle Inverness at Ochilview on Saturday.

They come into this game having lost striker Matty Aitken to injury last weekend while they also face a headache at the back after keystone defender Gregor Buchanan triggered a suspension last weekend as he picked up his sixth yellow card of the season in a 2-1 loss to Queen of the South.

Inverness have not had their problems to seek this season after going into administration and were last weekend defeated 2-0 at home by Arbroath. That came about after a first-half red card to Robbie Thompson when the game was still scoreless.

Prior to that, the Highland side had shown impressive character to come back from 2-0 down away to Montrose to pick up a 3-2 victory at Links Park, while they also won their previous league away match 2-1 against Cove Rangers.

Caley may be deprived of much in the way of depth to their squad, but there’s still plenty in their starting XI as a recent 3-match winning streak in the league shows.

Edinburgh City continue to be dramatically underrated by the bookmakers and that is no different when they host an injury-hit Elgin City side in the capital.

Michael McIndoe’s side have pieced together an impressive run of form that has seen them lose only 1 of their last 7 matches across all competitions. Wins have been claimed in 5 of these, including against playoff-chasing sides Peterhead and Stirling, while they also pushed Championship side Dunfermline very hard in the Scottish Cup.

With Connor Young, scorer of 14 league goals this season, they will continue to pose a real threat, although the prospect of losing the former Clyde striker in January could change the complexion for the team. But that is for City to worry about later.

Edinburgh have 4 wins in 5 league matches, making them one of the form teams in the league while Elgin have struggled of late, despite overcoming a depleted Clyde side 4-2 at home in midweek.

Hit by injury problems, particularly in defence, the Black and Whites have only won 3 of 8 away from home and will do well to enhance that record in this game.