Kilmarnock vs Dundee United Match Analysis and Prediction

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Newly-promoted Kilmarnock will mark their return to the Scottish Premiership this weekend when they host Dundee United at Rugby Park in their 2022/23 season opener on Saturday evening with kickoff at 17:00.

Kilmarnock had an impressive campaign in the Scottish Championship from start to finish and ended up winning the second-tier title and thus securing an automatic promotion to the top tier this season.

Their target this season is to stay in the division, although this campaign is certainly going to be a much harder task for them. But they have built a good momentum heading into the opener having only lost once in their League Cup group campaign and preseason warm-ups.

They played two preseason friendlies winning both, before opening their Group B Scottish League Cup campaign where they lost just one of the four matches in a penalty shootout. That saw them secure a place in the knockout stages of the competition, which is a crucial confidence-booster heading into their Premiership opener.

Meanwhile, Dundee United had an impressive campaign in the Premiership last season, managing a fourth-placed finish on 48 points from 38 matches, 13 points behind Hearts in third.

They will be gunning for a repeat this season as they attempt to close the gap between themselves and the top three throughout the campaign, which will need a perfect start.

However, Jack Ross’ side have had poor preparations ahead of the opener losing out in both of their preseason friendlies against Sunderland and Fleetwood, and thus will have to be on top of the game to take something home from the tie.

Kilmarnock vs Dundee United head to head

Both sides have met in 78 encounters since 1994 with Kilmarnock claiming 27 victories, while Dundee United have claimed 26 victories and there have been 25 draws.