This may seem far fetched as United are going well at the moment and are pushing for a place in Europe. However, they were beaten during the week by Hamilton - at home - so there is a real possibility of us picking up some points tomorrow. We've already drawn with them at home this season, and we also drew with Hibs while they were going well, so there is no reason to be scared of the Arabs.
However, if we are to get anything from this it's about time our players, in particular our strikers, started scoring. Yes, Billy Mehmet may be able to score in the cups - and he's hopefully saving something special for one of the cup games against Rangers - but it is now exactly two months since one of our strikers managed a league goal. Since then, Chris Innes has chipped in with a couple from set pieces and we've had a few own goals in our favour. It's a pretty poor return and probably explains why we're struggling a bit in the SPL. We've now slipped to third bottom and are just four points above Falkirk. We simply have to pick up our form and start scoring some goals soon, or else we'll find ourselves in real trouble.
There's a fairly good chance the formation will be changed for tomorrow's game. By all accounts, 3-5-2 didn't work against St. Johnstone on Tuesday night, despite working well against Hearts and Rangers. As a result, we'll almost certainly see a return to 4-4-2. Steven Thomson is back from suspension, which is good news, and will probably see Stephen O'Donnell dropping out. Arguably, it's time for Andy Dorman to be given a rest and if that happens it would be nice to see Graham Carey start on the left hand side of midfield. By all accounts, he played well on Wednesday night and his crosses could come in handy, especially if big strikers Billy Mehmet and Michael Higdon start again. If we do return to a back four, one of the centre halfs will be benched - although hopefully not Innes, who can score! Chris Smith and Tom Brighton are still injured.
I expected Dundee United to struggle after Craig Levein left, but they have done well after a sticky start under Peter Houston and he deserves the chance he has been given. He may only be in the job until the end of the season, but early indications are that he's worth sticking with. However, it's maybe something the Tannadice club will be wary of as giving the job to Gordon Chisholm, who had previously been assistant to Ian McCall, didn't work out so well. Nevertheless, Houston has impressed so far and there's a decent chance of the Arabs making it into Europe by the end of the season.
They have plenty of players who can cause us problems, although I suppose that's something that can be said about any club at the moment! Jon Daly is scoring for fun when he's not playing golf, with Danny Swanson and Craig Conway capable of providing them with chances. Swanson is a player who likes to get forward and have a go himself, and over time could prove to be as useful as Barry Robson used to be. Scott Robertson is another talented midfielder, although he is out injured at the moment. At the back, Andy Webster, Darren Dods and Gary Kenneth are all fairly solid, while keeper Dusan Pernis is looking good after gaining fame for an amusing interview with the BBC just after he arrived.