Aberdeen, founded in 1903 and still based at Pittodrie Stadium, remain one of Scottish football’s more familiar measuring sticks. Their 2024/25 Scottish Cup win gives this side a recent piece of substance, with that competition standing as their listed major honour.
The current Premiership campaign has opened unevenly. After seven matches they sit seventh with eight points, having followed defeats to Dundee, Rangers and Celtic with a goalless draw against Kilmarnock, a 4-0 win at Motherwell and a 1-1 draw at Hibernian.
Their squad is valued at around £13.5m by Transfermarkt, with 32 players and an average age of 26. Kevin Nisbet has carried the scoring load with 12 goals; behind him, the returns are much thinner, with Dan Happe, Kjartan Már Kjartansson, Brad Lyons and Lewis Mayo each on one.
At Pittodrie, Aberdeen have been tight rather than expansive, averaging 0.7 goals scored and 0.7 conceded per match. Away from home they have offered more going forward, at 1.3 goals per game, but have also been easier to get at, conceding 1.5 on average.
For Celtic supporters, Aberdeen are a known domestic opponent rather than an unknown quantity. Their league position is modest, their League Cup run reached the semi-finals, and their season so far suggests a side capable of awkward resistance at home but less secure on the road.
📈 Key stats and insights
⚔️ How they compare to Celtic
Compared with Celtic, Aberdeen are a markedly different proposition: Celtic lead the league with a significantly more potent attack and a tighter defence, while Aberdeen's strength is being organised at the back rather than outscoring opponents; in short, Celtic have the edge in chance creation and defensive compression, and Aberdeen look unlikely to match Celtic's consistency unless their attack improves.
