William Hill Premiership football returns to Pittodrie on Saturday night when Heart of Midlothian visit AB24 to kick off season 2026-27.

Saturday night football

There is still time to join us this weekend, as we look for the perfect start to our league campaign.

For full ticket information, click here.

A busy summer

There has certainly been a lot going on since we wrapped up 2025-26 at Dens Park in May.

Our pre-season campaign brought games in Aberdeen, The Netherlands and Belfast, with the new-look Dons also spending a week in Delden.

There have been eleven signings, starting with Lewis Mayo in May, to the most recent arrival of Marius Müller a fortnight ago.

And then our Premier Sports Cup Group Stage campaign. Four games, four wins, two long away trips to Brora Rangers and Queen of the South.

Opposition watch

Like The Dons, it's been a busy summer for Saturday night's opponents.

Following the departure of Derek McInnes, the Gorgie Club appointed Belgian Wouter Vrancken as their new Head Coach in June.

Before his arrival in Edinburgh, Vrancken enjoyed spells as manager at Mechelen, Genk, Gent, and most recently Sint-Truiden, where they finished third in the Belgian Pro League to secure the club's highest league finish in 60 years.

Like the coaching staff, the playing squad has also undergone significant change, with Lawrence Shankland (Rangers), Cammy Devlin (Rangers), Michael Steinwender (VFL Bochum), Islam Chesnokov (Tobol Kostanay), and Craig Gordon (retired) their most notable departures.

There has been plenty coming the other way, however, including: Malachi Fagan-Walcott (York City), Tom Renaud (FC Versailles), Sabri Guendouz (Beerschot), Cormac Daly (Nottingham Forest), Beau Reus (free agent), and Laurent Mendy (Forest Green Rovers).

The new look side were in Champions League second qualifying round action on Tuesday night, losing 2-0 at home to Sturm Graz, after a 4-0 first leg defeat in Austria.

They will now take on Portuguese giants Benfica, or St Gallen, third in the Swiss Super League, in the Europa League third qualifying round.

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"I think the ambition is higher than the way we performed last year. We need to learn from last year, improve on it, bring better performances, more togetherness, and hopefully results will follow.

"The manager brings a lot of energy, a lot of structure. It is something we needed, to be more organised, and then it is about individual quality shining through." The thoughts of Stuart Armstrong.

League meetings with Hearts at Pittodrie

A famous opening day face-off

We last met on the opening day at Pittodrie back in 2019, with The Dons running out as 3-2 winners.

Two Sam Cosgrove goals were pegged back twice, before Ryan Hedges sensationally won it for Aberdeen in the 85th minute.

Aberdeen: Lewis, Logan, Leigh, Considine, McKenna, Ojo, Ferguson, Gallagher (Anderson 81), Wright (Hedges 61), Wilson (McGinn 68), Cosgrove. Unused Subs: Campbell, May, Černý.

Open Day action from Pittodrie

Lewis Mayo and Brad Lyons spoke to Sky Sports live from Pittodrie during Tuesday's 'Day with The Dons' event.

Thank you to everybody who came down to our open training session.

Follow the action

There is live video coverage for RedTV International subscribers with an audio feed of the programme available for subscribers in GB & Ireland. We’ll have reaction post-match, a full match replay and highlights available from midnight. To find out more about RedTV & to subscribe now please click here. The game is also live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football. You can also follow the matchday build-up and game action through the AFC social media channels and website.