Motherwell

• A Dundee player leads the 2026-27 Scottish Premiership for tackles (Ryan Finnigan, 23), interceptions (Owen Bevan, 12) and possession won (Ethan Hamilton, 38).

• Motherwell have lost their past two league games by an aggregate score of 5-0. The Steelmen could lose three in a row for the first time since February 2025 (5), and could do so without scoring for the first time since December 2018 (3).

• Dundee have scored in their past 11 home league games, last finding the net in more successive top-flight matches at Dens Park between April 2013 and April 2015 (20).

• Motherwell are looking to avoid losing back-to-back league visits to Dundee for the first time since October 2015.

• Since losing four consecutive Premiership home games against Motherwell from 2017 to 2019, Dundee have now lost just two of their latest seven (W3 D2).

We asked for your views after Motherwell were thumped 4-0 at home by Aberdeen.

Here's what some of you said:

Eddie: Poor performance, didn't look like they had a gameplan. Defensively we are very poor and we get overpowered in midfield. Top six is a long way off with that performance.

John: Probably the worst performance at Fir Park in the last couple of years. There was no penetration, no focal point up front, just players running in patterns but creating little or no chances. The defence appeared slow and unorganised, especially when defending long balls. The tippy-tappy system is fine when it works, but playing blind passes in midfield only invites trouble.

Adam: What a shambles the team were against Aberdeen. No structure and no defence. I hope that this is not the future due this season.

Colin: Woeful performance, a repeat of the Ibrox game with a scoreline that should have happened there. Started well with good possession but yet again no cutting edge up front, far too many slack passes and a porous defence. Current starting line-up don't appear able to gel. I feel this could be a relegation fight season after what appeared a promising start.

James: As bad as I've seen. Too many non contributors. Didn't seem up for the fight, whereas Aberdeen were. Some players needing benched, and the break/training week together certainly didn't look like it worked. A vast improvement required, and some players who are missing are needed to steady the ship.

Graeme: So 10 days' rest and that is what we produce? So slow on the ball and far too easy to play against. Very worrying performance.

Watch the pick of the Fir Park action as Aberdeen thrash Motherwell 4-0. (Available to UK users only)

Aberdeen secured their second Scottish Premiership win of the season - and their first at Motherwell since March 2024 - with a terrific four-goal victory at Fir Park.

Read our match report here

Have your say here

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Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson tells BBC Scotland: "It's a mixture of getting punished hard from our opponents, together with the fact we had a lot of good scenarios that we like very much [but didn't make the most of].

"We found our 10s and wingers in behind, but we didn't manage to use those spaces enough. That led to unnecessary ball losses.

"The biggest mistake tonight, we start to stress, we lose our structure, we didn't remember the points we went over at half-time, we didn't look confident in our possession, and that led to ball losses again.

"We learn from it, we look forward. We know we can do so much better than this. It's a speedbump, a bump in the road. We will learn, all of us, and try to do better and make sure we're ready for Saturday."

Jenna Thomson
Fan writer

Will a weekend off prove a help or hindrance to Motherwell?

We return to action tonight against Aberdeen then make the trip to Dundee on Saturday.

Both games are winnable and I am hopeful the recent rest will enable the team to come out firing.

One player who will be keen to maintain his fine form is Alex Lowry. I'll be honest, at first when he was finding his feet in the team I wasn't impressed.

However, the on-loan Wycombe midfielder has come on leaps and looks a great addition.

After this weekend's fixtures, we don't play again until the middle of October. If we can go into the break with as much confidence as possible, we won't have anything to fear when Celtic come to visit.

Finally, a word of praise for the Women of Steel, who for the eighth time in a row have proved we are the pride of Lanarkshire.

Thanks to a 2-0 win over Hamilton on Sunday, Motherwell are through to the third round of the SWPL Cup.

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Motherwell remain without Johnny Koutroumbis, Oscar Priestman, Paul McGinn, Callum Hendry and Jordan McGhee for Tuesday's Scottish Premiership visit by Aberdeen.

The visitors remain without Brad Lyons, Emmanuel Gyamfi and Kristers Tobers.

Image source, Getty Images

Aberdeen midfielder Alexander Briedl has delayed hooking up with former team-mate Martin Moormann, telling the Motherwell centre-back they will have to meet first on Tuesday "but not as friends".

The Austrian pair played together for Blau-Weiss Linz but left this summer after they were relegated after finishing bottom of their homeland's Bundesliga.

Now the compatriots will be reunited as the Dons visit Fir Park in the Scottish Premiership on Tuesday.

Briedl said of his friend: "Yeah, I still speak to him sometimes. This week, but not about the game.

"Because we were staying in a hotel close to Glasgow, he asked if we could meet up, but it was difficult on Saturday.

"I said to him, 'we'll see each other on Tuesday. But not as friends'."

Meanwhile, Briedl hopes Sunday's Premier Sports Cup quarter-final, when they defeated Kilmarnock on penalties after drawing 1-1 at Rugby Park despite being down to 10 men, will ease the pressure after ending a three-game wait for a victory.

"It will be a tough game, but I think after Saturday we want to stay in the flow and take this to the next games, for the upcoming games before the international break," the 24-year-old added.

"I think there is no pressure for us. We've got a new team with a lot of new players.

"We have to find each other and I think Saturday's win is also a turnaround for all of us, hopefully. It could be very important."

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The "big positive" of a free week has helped align Motherwell's new-look squad with the club's principles, says assistant coach Max Rogers.

An attempt to qualify for the Conference League meant the Fir Park side were playing three games a week for much of the start of their season.

Despite that, Alfred Johansson's men have still been able to collect eight points from their opening five league matches.

After a 1-0 loss at Rangers last time out, Motherwell have had nine days to recover and train before Tuesday's visit of Aberdeen.

"It was obviously such a hectic start, an enjoyable one with the European games and one that we all wanted," Rogers said. "But with that free week, we had plenty of time to rest and train.

"A lot of the new players hadn't even had a chance to fully train with us, so they weren't really aligned to the principles and how we want to play.

"But now we've been able to introduce that to them, so that's obviously a big positive, and we have prepared really well for this game."

Rogers formed a close working relationship with Jens Berthel Askou last season without previously meeting the Dane and is now striking up a bond with Swede Johansson.

He added: "First and foremost, the club obviously recruited the manager because he had the same philosophy and beliefs as the previous manager.

"So that continuation is relatively straightforward. And then in terms of our work, we know what the style of play is, the principles.

"Obviously, the players who remained from last season help massively as well, especially the senior players. So we've obviously all helped with the process.

"And the manager has been really good in terms of not wanting to change too much and not being sort of insecure, in a sense, of coming in and thinking he needed to stamp his own authority.

"He's been really good at trying to learn from what we did last year, while also adding his beliefs and demands to it as well."

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• Only Benjamin Nygren (21) and Djeidi Gassama (13) have created more chances in the Scottish Premiership this season than Motherwell's Emmanuel Longelo (11), who also ranks joint-third for big chances created (four) and third for expected assists (1.5).

• Aberdeen have failed to score in each of their past four league games. Indeed, since the start of 2025-26, the Dons have drawn a blank in a Scottish Premiership-high 20 matches.

• Motherwell, who are yet to concede at home in the Scottish Premiership this season, have kept 14 clean sheets at Fir Park since the start of last season in the competition - the most at home of any side.

• Aberdeen have lost three of their past five Scottish Premiership games against Motherwell and could lose successive league meetings with the Steelmen for the first time since November 2021.

• Motherwell have won each of their past three home league games against Aberdeen, as many as across their previous 16 beforehand.

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Striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos has left Motherwell by mutual consent to "pursue opportunities elsewhere".

The Australian forward arrived at Fir Park two years ago from Newcastle Jets and scored 12 goals in 45 games during an injury-hit stint in Scotland.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank the fans," said the 27-year-old striker, who spent the second half of last term on loan with Sydney FC in his homeland.

"Everyone associated with the club welcomed me with open arms and made me feel at home. The fans, staff and players have all been amazing during my stay in Scotland.

"This is football, and it's the right time for me to move on."

Former Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou has refused to be drawn on whether he was offered the Celtic job before joining Toulouse in May. (Open Goal, external via Scottish Sun, external)

Read the rest of Monday's Scottish gossip.

Watch all the highlights as Ryan Naderi helped Rangers to a narrow victory at home to Motherwell. Available to UK users only.

Motherwell fans, we asked for your opinions on the 1-0 loss to Rangers on Saturday. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

David: All that dominant possession at Ibrox, against a poor Rangers team, but very few attempts on goal. Ultimately something has to give.

Edward: Rangers were there for the taking. For whatever reason we didn't turn up. Such a chance wasted.

Colin: A poor performance today, we did not deserve anything from the game and really were lucky with the low scoreline. No cutting edge. Every forward who started or came on were poor. We definitely have a problem coping with cross balls into the box, too.

Roberts: Poor. Having seen us go to Ibrox recently and take wins, this was frustrating. I'm not saying we're a bad team, but there's just something about our performances, compared to last season, that's not good.

There's a vulnerability now, and Stenny were able to exploit it, never mind Rangers. An up-and-down season beckons.

Rangers made it three Scottish Premiership wins in a row as Ryan Naderi pounced on a mistake by Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen to score the only goal of the game at Ibrox.

MATCH REPORT

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson: "They were better than us today, they deserved the three points.

"The main reason for the result today is two things - we have a very, very, very, very good keeper that keeps the scored down today, that's one; the second is that we don't play up to our best today.

"If you want to come to Ibrox and get a result, you need to perform at your best and we need to learn from that.

"You never want to concede a goal, it doesn't matter how it happens. The fact that it's only 1-0, is thanks to Alex Paulsen. It doesn't matter if you're a keeper, centre-back, full-back six, 10 winger or nine, you're going to make mistakes because it's not easy to play in that way always.

"We have 150, 180 passes more than Rangers today. The chance of making a mistake in that passing situation is higher for us. Obviously, that can happen."

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Deadline-day signings Venezuela striker Kevin Kelsy and Algeria winger Badredine Bouanani go straight into the Rangers squad.

Midfielder Dan Neil and defender Dujon Sterling return after missing the midweek win at Falkirk.

Left-back Tuur Rommens will return to full training in between the two upcoming Celtic games after recovering from a groin problem, while striker Youssef Chermiti is out long term with an ACL injury.

Motherwell remain without Johnny Koutroumbis, Oscar Priestman (calf), Paul McGinn, Callum Hendry (both knee) and Jordan McGhee (hamstring).

Image source, SNS

• Rangers' Lawrence Shankland has scored 10 Scottish Premiership goals against Motherwell, his most against a single opponent. Shankland has three goals in his last two league appearances, including a brace against Falkirk last time out.

• Motherwell have scored eight goals in four Scottish Premiership games this season, their most at this stage of a campaign since 2019-20 (also eight), last scoring more after four league games in 2005-06 (10).

• Rangers have lost each of their last three home league games, including one against Motherwell in April (2-3). Never in their history have the Gers suffered four successive home league defeats.

• After their 3-2 win at Ibrox in April, Motherwell could enjoy successive league victories over Rangers for the first time since April 1960. The Steelmen have won three of their last five away league games at Rangers (L2), as many as their previous 59 beforehand (W3 D7 L49), and could win successive visits for the first time in their league history at the 143rd attempt.

• Rangers have only won one of their last six league meetings with Motherwell (D3 L2), a 1-0 victory in December 2025.

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Being "humble" and "confident" is Motherwell's mantra as they had to Ibrox on Saturday hoping for a unique quadruple.

The Steelmen go to Govan aiming to get a victory there for the fourth season on the spin, quite the feat considering their previous league win prior to that run came in 1997.

Now under the stewardship of Alfred Johansson, the Swede's side actually sit above Rangers in the Scottish Premiership standings at this early stage, having played one game less.

"I think it's a big task for us, it's a massive task to go there, last year I believe it's one victory and one loss, but two good performances last year there," he said.

"I think we played well away against Hibss, but we could have lost anyways, this is football right?

"So I think what I expect is that we go there with a strong mentality and with a big confidence, humble, humble as ever before, but confident, and if we focus on doing what we have to do in the pitch then we're going to have to see after when we shake hands how the result is ending right?

"But I want to try to keep on maintaining and developing the style of play and building on the relationships and doing it with being humble and confident."

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson has been speaking to the media at Fir Park on Friday as his team prepares to go to Ibrox to face Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

Here's the key points from him:

• Delighted with a quiet end to the transfer window and not to lose any players

• The squad now has depth to it, but there could also be some young players still to go out on loan for more minutes

• Motherwell will go to Ibrox with "a big confidence" but will also be humble

• When asked about the Scottish FA's summit at St Andrews on Friday, Johansson said he does not feel Scottish football brings through the amount of talent to first teams that it should have

• The squad will be the same as it was for the 3-0 victory over Dundee United from midweek