The City of Discovery Awaits | Dundee vs Motherwell

The postponed fixture of Dundee vs Motherwell now takes place on the 7th March. Motherwell will be seeking to win four matches in a row for the first time since 2019. Dundee will be looking to put some space between themselves and the likes of Aberdeen, St Mirren, and Livingston.

Standings

A lot has been made of Motherwell being in a title race if they win their game in hand. Well, that game in hand has arrived - the postponed fixture of Dundee vs Well was originally postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

A win for Dundee would allow for some much wanted breathing space from the rest of the relegation pack, which in my view is a straight toss up between Kilmarnock and St Mirren. Though top six is outwith the Dark Blues reach, they'll certainly be aiming to pip their city rivals to 7th place come the end of the season for some modest bragging rights.

We're trying to refrain from too much title talk at this stage, but what we would say, is that a win would really help that conversation going and keep the pressure on, at a minimum, Celtic and Rangers.

Form

The only bad patch on an outstanding run of form for the Steelmen was the regrettable lose to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup, though there were certainly some mitigating factors for that. Wins against St Mirren, Aberdeen, and Dundee United helped keep Motherwell's 4th position safe.

Dundee this season have been an exceptionally curious team. Despite a new-found way of scoring goals, keeping them out still seems to elude Dundee. In the past 5 matches, Dundee have conceded 10 goals, whereas Motherwell have only conceded once in the past 5.

Despite a slow start to the season, Dundee have managed to keep themselves ahead of the relegation pack. They were extremely unlucky not to see out what would've been a famous 1-0 victory at Celtic Park against a lethargic Celtic side. They have, however, recorded an extremely impressive win over Aberdeen (their first victory at Pittodrie in over 20 years).

Head-to-head

Last time we met

This season, Motherwell have drawn with Dundee once and beat Dundee once, with the latter being the last fixture between the two sides. Dundee had a clear game plan to strangle the game and play extremely compact. Many Motherwell fans criticised this, but given our defensive record - particularly at home - it's hard to argue against it. It also almost worked, they came close to a point, where it not for a Callum Slattery header guided into the corner. The issue the Dees have mostly had is when they score they concede and conversely when they don't concede they don't score.

Motherwell 1 - 0 Dundee | 20th December 2025

Metric	Motherwell	Dundee
xG	1.82	0.35
Possession	59.8	40.2
Field tilt	63.1	36.9
Passes in opponent's half	285	170
PPDA	8.3	14.7
High recovery	5	5
Crosses	17	16
Corners	2	3
Fouls	12	13

Expected style of play

One would largely suspect Dundee will aim to play a more defensive, compact shape, given the 'Well's recent form and lust for goals. Though, I suspect it won't be quite as strangling as Jim Goodwin's man-for-man defence.

One opposition analysis could not complete without talking about Ethan Hamilton. Arguably the most Barclaysman SPFL player there is, he is no stranger to a screamer. Hamilton scored a thunderous shot into the top corner against Celtic and also scored the outrageous winner against Aberdeen. Ethan Hamilton is very much in a goal of the season contest with Ethan Hamilton.

Players like this are an increasingly rare breed in an age of xG - but Hamilton is very much showing speculative shots still have their place in the beautiful game. I just sincerely hope if he gets the ball on the edge of the box someone is immediately pressing otherwise a travelling Well support will be simultaneously impressed and distraught.

A little shorter article this time, which I hope you can forgive with the recent publication of Issue 3. Post-match should be back to its usual in-depth nature with a full stats breakdown.

Safe travels to all travelling to the City of Discovery!