Motherwell vs Dundee Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Jon Tait Dec 07, 2015 @ 08:31 pm

Dundee boss Paul Hartley will be desperate to get three points of the board when the Dark Blues visit struggling second-bottom Motherwell.

The Dens Park outfit haven’t won a game since they beat the Steelmen at home back in early October – that’s a run of seven games without taking three points and although Dundee have drawn five of those games and sit in seventh spot, Hartley knows that it is wins that count in dragging you up the table.

Although they’ve proved somewhat difficult to beat, they lost 2-0 at home at the hands of high-flying Aberdeen last Saturday but Hartley will most likely stick with the three man attack despite it drawing a blank as they look to penetrate a Motherwell defence that in fact hasn’t been too bad this season.

It’s scoring goals that Mark McGhee’s side struggle with and they’ve put just 13 in the back of their opponents’ net in 16 Ladbrokes SPL starts. That’s just not good enough and they’ve been highly reliant on the finishing of Louis Moult, who joined up from Wrexham in the summer and has a respectable eight returns.

Dundee have a better spread of scorers with Rory Loy, Kane Hemmings and Greg Stewart netting 7,6 and 5 respectively, so they pose the greater attacking threat and they’ll be keen to create chances but may be somewhat stifled by ‘Well’s two banks of four that will take some creative spark to get beyond.

Motherwell’s game at Partick Thistle was another that fell victim to the worst of storm Desmond which lashed Scotland’s west coast, giving McGhee some extra time on the training ground to prepare for the fixture.

His troops were boosted by a 2-2 draw with Hearts in their last run out which put the skids on a poor run of just one win and a draw in six prior to that. But McGhee had a number of players out injured during that time and they’ve subsequently returned to boost his side’s bid to beat the drop so they’ll be reinvigorated and raring to go for the clash.

Hartley’s side were slow to get going against Aberdeen and conceded twice during a lacklustre first half display, but they did improve somewhat after the break without really putting any concerted pressure on the Dons’ goal and the gaffer will be looking to rectify that in a match up that Dundee have won in the last four meetings between the teams.

So historically and statistically you’d go for Dundee to edge it and although the bookmaker’s odds don't reflect this, it is a very narrow call and I don’t think that there will be many goals in the game either.

If Dundee can get a grip and nullify the danger posed by Moult while carving out chances for their own front three then they’ve got a great chance to breath a sigh of relief in the dressing rooms as they get back to winning ways – because let’s face it, it’s been a long time coming and they don't half need it.

Motherwell Stats W4 D3 L9

Recent Form LDWLLD

Dundee Stats W4 D8 L5

Recent Form LDDDDL

Head-to-Head record:

03/10/2015 Dundee 2 Motherwell 1

21/02/2015 Motherwell 0 Dundee 1

10/01/2015 Dundee 4 Motherwell 1

18/10/2014 Motherwell 1 Dundee 3

30/03/2013 Dundee 0 Motherwell 3

Possible Line-ups

Motherwell (4-4-1-1) – Ripley, Law, Kennedy, McManus, Hammell, Grimshaw, Lasley, Taylor, Johnson, McDonald, Moult.

Dundee (4-3-3) – Bain, McGinn, McPake, Etxabeguren, K Holt, Ross, McGowan, Low, Hemmings, Loy, Stewart.

Injuries/ Suspension

Motherwell: Chalmers (inj).

Dundee: none.

League Positions