Dundee vs Dundee United Predictions

An in-form Dundee side will host their city rivals Dundee United in the hope of beating them for the first time this season and push closer to Ayr United in the table. Can United foil their plans?

After a tough few weeks at the beginning of the season, Dundee seem to have found their feet and have slowly climbed up in the league. They are currently on a good run, winning their last three fixtures heading into this derby.

The Dee haven’t scored an awful lot of goals this season either, averaging 1.5 per game, with 58% of their clashes seeing over 2.5 goals and only one ending goalless. Their defensive line has done better this season too, conceding an average of 1.33 in all games and only 0.83 at Dens Park, albeit they’ve only managed to keep a clean sheet in 33% of matches so far.

Dundee United got their league campaign off to a fiery start and, despite losing twice at the start of October, remain top of the table. They are, however, in danger of losing top spot should they fail to pick up any points on Friday.

Just like their rivals, United are on a three-game winning streak but have performed far better than the Dee. Lawrence Shankland has proven week in, week out why he’s the best in the division by scoring 16 and assisting twice in his side’s league tally of 28 goals. Robbie Neilson’s side has netted an average of 2.33 goals – the highest in the division.­ Moreover, United have the joint-best defence in the Championship, averaging just one goal per game conceded.

While it’s highly unlikely Dundee United will be able to repeat their 6-2 thrashing of Dundee earlier on in the season, the visitors are still clear favourites to take all three points. Their rivals certainly won’t make it easy. The Dee have scored at least once in 83% of their home games but have only kept a clean sheet in 50% of them, while Dundee United score in 50% of their away days and also concede in 67% of their games on the road. This is why we believe the Arabs will take the three points but with both teams to score. Moreover, we believe a 2-1 win for the visitors seems likely, as United have scored a mere 1.17 goals on their travels.