The Away Leg || Aberdeen vs Motherwell Scottish Cup 5th Round Preview
- Ruaraidh Blackwood
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
A familiar foe. A ground we’ll have visited more than any other so far this season by the end of Wednesday. And just the slightest dose of déjà vu.
Motherwell, once again, go face to face with Aberdeen. With both teams knowing who awaits them in the quarter finals - mid-table Championship Dunfermline away, if you somehow missed the draw - it is a game that presents serious opportunities. Regardless, I can’t help but feel that we’ve been here before…
The Form Guide…
Two sets of results, two conflicting stories.
For Motherwell, after another comprehensive victory in the end against our next opponents, there is cause for optimism. 1 loss in 17 games, and 19 clean sheets, is a simply sensational stat, but there requires more context here. Saturday’s match was the first time Motherwell had under 50% of the ball since the 2-0 win over Celtic in late December. Now, as we mentioned in our analysis of that game, this is no cause for alarm. Motherwell seemed placed to allow Aberdeen more of the ball in their half, and sat slightly deeper in our shape. What this did was minimise Aberdeen’s attacking options, allowing lightning quick transitions and fast build-up play.
This is a yet another dimension of play we’ve not seen much of from Jens Askou’s golden playbook. A far cry indeed from the game plan against Rangers, in which we absolutely dominated possession and most creative metrics (despite having a man down for the last 20 minutes or so), and yet we still outplayed Aberdeen on almost all fronts.
To compound this, it is once again 13 points from 15 in the last five league games. With the addition of a cup win over Ross County in January, it has been a near perfect start to the year for the Steelmen.
By contrast, it’s been anything but for the Dons. The Reds have picked up just three points since the beginning of 2026, but alongside there has been a narrow victory over Raith Rovers in the last round, but that’s all that has been positive for the club. Tumultuous times indeed.
I’ve mentioned in previous posts but I’ll say again how much potential is in that Aberdeen squad, I believe. Players that, should the right appointment be made, can flourish and provide real threat to any side. But it just hasn’t seemed to have clicked for them this term.
This story is…wild. On the one hand, you have them losing 3-0 to one of the poorest Kilmarnock sides I’ve seen in a while (tatters and remains of a Kettlewell side), but also seen them put 6 past Livingston, and look the better sides for large parts of some games where they’ve come out with nothing to show for it.
All this to say, I think we should still be cautious of their threats, and Leven will have them fired up to make sure the Steelmen don’t get an easy canter to the 6th Round.
The Teams…
Motherwell lined up in our usual 4-2-3-1, making two changes from the previous game. In came Sparrow and Priestman for O’Donnell and the suspended Fadinger. I’d be surprised if we saw the same starting 11 during this game - especially since Stephen Welsh is cup-tied having played for Celtic against Auchinleck Talbot, annoyingly - but it’s once again fantastic to see how much depth we have in our squad.
Aberdeen, on the other hand, changed over half of the team from that started against Kilmarnock, with debuts for four of their January signings as well as Toyosi Olusanya and Alexander Jensen coming in. With so many changes to the Aberdeen squad over the transfer window, and a hectic schedule incoming given their pitch troubles, I also anticipate them to make significant changes again for the cup game.
What JBA Had To Say...
The Tactics...
Reflecting on the last game, it was one of the games in which Motherwell held the smallest amount of the ball they have thus far.
As we mentioned, this should be no cause for alarm. We just seemed to want to force Aberdeen to try and play, and break us down. While teams are usually setting up in that way against us, it was interesting to see a slightly lower line, and a more compact shape, from the Steelmen in the last game.
We could then break with fluidity and pace, and build from a less"stretched" shape in transition.
While we don't anticipate either side to lineup with the same 11 players as the game last weekend, I'd be intrigued to see whether or not Askou goes to Pittodrie with a similar game plan, or if he allows his team to be more expressive and free-flowing - as we've seen all season.
For Aberdeen, this last run of games under Leven has resulted in their switch to a 4-1-4-1 system. While being relatively productive on the offensive, with overloads available on both wings and through the half channels, it does leave you susceptible in the gaps between midfield and back 4. If the defensive midfielder isn’t mobile, player like Just or Slattery could easily slip in between the lines and find space on the turn.
Enjoying it so far? There’s more to come!
What Liam Gordon Had To Say...
To Sum Up…
We have seen all this before. This is the fifth time we're playing tonight's opponents and we're hoping to maintain the unbeaten record. Regardless, it has all the ingredients for a midweek humdinger, and hopefully on to the next round.
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