Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer deliver verdict on Scottish Premiership title race - 'It’s good to see'
Aberdeen have been tipped to challenge for the Scottish Premiership title by former footballers and popular pundits, Micah Richards and Gary Lineker.
The Dons have begun the 2024/25 campaign in perfect style, winning all five league games and making it to the semi-finals of the Premier Sports Cup. Jimmy Thelin's side are currently joint-top of the table alongside current champions Celtic, with both teams five points clear of third-placed Rangers.
One fan sent in a question to The Rest is Football podcast, asking Lineker, Richards and co-host Alan Shearer what they make of Aberdeen's current run of form, and their potential chances at the title.
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Lineker said: "We'll move onto a football question, a Scottish football question from Dan - 'What do you make of Aberdeen's start of the season under Jimmy Thelin? They've won 11 out of 11, joint top of the league and in a cup semi-final, can you remember any other manager's having a start like this?'
"Well, they're absolutely flying, Aberdeen, aren't they, since they've brought him [Thelin] in. They've got Pape Gueye, I think it is, who’s their top scorer. Can they maintain it? We'll have to wait and see. They like playing a high press, I've caught a couple of their games."
Shearer noted: "Interesting though, isn't it? At least there's some other team that's challenging other than the big two, so that's good to see."
Richards then compared the winning form of Thelin's side to that of Leicester City's Premier League triumph in 2015/16 and Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten season last term. He also added that going on a run of winning games can build confidence, and make it more difficult for the team to drop points against other teams on worse runs of form.
He said: "I'll be totally honest, I've only seen highlights of the games, I did a bit of research and, like you said Gary, he [Thelin] wants to play attacking football. He takes risks at the right times, free-flowing football, that is sort of his ethos and I haven't seen them play live this season so I don't want to lie to people. I eventually watched an hour of their football and they do look impressive. Whether they can keep it going for the whole season, I'm not entirely sure but it's a great start.
"You know what happens? It's like the Leicester thing, isn't it – once you win that many games, you get that confidence, you think it's sort of like Leverkusen last season, where they just go on a run and you start to believe. Good luck to them because, it'd be nice up in Scotland if they could shake it up a little bit, you know?"
The former Manchester City star also claimed that adding Aberdeen into the league title conversation is "nice", given that the two Glasgow teams are constantly pipped to win the league. He added: "We're always talking about Rangers and Celtic, so you know, it'd be nice for Aberdeen [to win the league]."
Lineker then joked: "It would be refreshing. The only thing is I can't ever remember Aberdeen producing a great manager before. I'm being ironic there, obviously that's where Sir Alex Ferguson started his epic, epic rise in the managerial world."
The Dons will aim to continue their winning form with a win over seventh-placed Dundee at Dens Park. Then, a top-of-the-table battle against Celtic awaits Aberdeen after the October international break.