Match Preview | Dundee Utd v RCFC

Ross County will travel to Tannadice this weekend to face Dundee United in their antepenultimate fixture of the Scottish Premiership season.

The Staggies will face the Terrors for a fourth and final time this season as John Hughes’s side look to eject themselves from the dreaded Scottish Championship relegation play-off spot.

Opposition Focus

Micky Mellon’s Dundee United are one of the best in-form teams in Scotland right now and have lost just 1 of their last 8 matches. In addition, United have kept a clean sheet in 5 of their last 7 matches and booked themselves a spot in the Scottish Cup semi-finals in the process.

3 consecutive Scottish Cup wins in April saw the Tangerines defeat Partick Thistle, Hamilton Academical and Aberdeen to secure a Scottish Cup semi-final tie against Hibernian at Hampden next weekend.

The most impressive result of the team’s recent resurgence is perhaps their emphatic 3-0 Scottish Cup quarter-final victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie last weekend. A brace from Marc McNulty and a goal from Ryan Edwards completed the scoring as United ran away with the victory in the ‘New Firm’ derby.

Dundee United are currently 8^th in the Scottish Premiership, 1 point behind St Mirren, and are in the envied position that they are guaranteed safety from relegation to the Scottish Championship.

Scotland internationalists Marc McNulty and Lawrence Shankland as well as top goal scorer, Nicky Clark, form United’s fearsome attack who boast 24 goals in all competitions between them this season.

Ross County Focus

After a disappointing midweek defeat to St Mirren, the Staggies have slipped into 11^th place, where they will be required to compete in a relegation play-off match against a Scottish Championship side should they finish in this position come the end of the season.

A win for County could lift them out of the relegation play-off position, but only if Kilmarnock lose to Motherwell on the same afternoon.

Saturday’s opposition have won all 3 matches against Ross County this season and are 1 of only 2 clubs to have a 100% record against the Staggies this season, the other club being the newly crowned league champions Rangers.

John Hughes is fairly accustomed to getting the edge over the Tayside club. He has never won more matches against any other club in his managerial career, having beat them 11 times with 4 different clubs. In fact, Yogi has actually beaten Dundee United with every club he has managed in Scotland before Ross County (Falkirk, Inverness, Hibernian and Raith Rovers).

Last Match

The last time the sides met Dundee United sought off Ross County to win their first match of 2021 in a 2-0 victory at the Global Energy Stadium. Second half goals from Lawrence Shankland and Ryan Edwards shocked County despite a spell of relentless pressure after the interval.