Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dunfermline v Airdrieonians: What are fellow table-toppers’ strengths and where are they vulnerable?

Dunfermline have shown their dominance in the air this season.
Dunfermline have shown their dominance in the air this season.

It’s still early in the season but League 1 has already thrown up some twists and turns.

Right now it is Dunfermline Athletic and Airdrieonians who lead the way, though neither without flaw.

They meet on Saturday at the newly renamed KDM Group East End Park, the away side ahead on goal difference.

The teams haven’t faced each other since the Pars were last in League 1 in 2016.

The Diamonds got the better of the fixtures that season, though a 3-0 win for Airdrie came in the penultimate, by which time Dunfermline had won the title.

Now managed by 30-year-old Rhy McCabe – who still also pulls the strings at the heart of their 4-1-4-1 formation – they have carried on from last season.

Airdrie player-manager Rhys McCabe.

Then, under the guidance of Ian Murray, they reached the Championship playoff final where they lost out to Queens Park.

Goals

Only Airdrie have attempted more shots than Dunfermline in League 1, according to Wyscout, finding the net nine times.

Airdrie have attempted more shots than anyone else in the league. Source: Wyscout.

The two teams also lead the league in touches in the opposition penalty area – Airdrie’s 102 to Dunfermline’s 100.

All of which points to an exciting encounter with two sides taking the game to each other.

However, like James McPake, McCabe has challenged his team to be more ruthless in front of goal and finish games off earlier.

He specifically pointed to Conor Sammon’s chance in their previous match versus Alloa, which would have levelled on the day.

Sammon’s chance:

Airdrie hit the target slightly less – 39% to 37%, to the nearest percentage – both below the league average of 40%.

Airdrie and Dunfermline have a similar percentage for shots on target. Source: Wyscout.

Where can Airdrie be got at?

The Diamonds have faced the fourth most shots in League 1 so far, only Peterhead,  Alloa and FC Edinburgh have faced more.

They aren’t as dominant in the air as the Pars, winning 40% of their aerial duels to Dunfermline’s 59% – and that’s with Athletic contesting many, many more.

Airdrie are not the strongest side when it comes to aerial duels. Source: Wyscout.

Furthermore, even though Airdrie have conceded just once, they have given up lots of great opportunities to the opposition – none more so than in the draw with Queen of the South.

According to their expected goals against, Airdrie are lucky not to have conceded five goals.

Across each of their matches so far are examples of one v ones and, perhaps more crucially, free headers.

Big but…

Aside from showing they can score goals, McCabe’s men have shown how good they are at carving out opportunities.

On almost every scoring metric McCabe’s side score high, meaning the Pars defence is likely to face the sternest test it has so far in League 1.

Airdrie know how to knock the ball around. Source: Wyscout.

They may give up lots of chances but, like Dunfermline, they create plenty of their own.

Conversation