Aberdeen analysis: Killie dominate the Dons in the best performance of the season
It's been a frustrating campaign so far, but it all clicked on Boxing Day
One of the key frustrations of the season so far has been the fact we know this Killie team can be very good but they’ve very rarely shown it for 90 minutes and almost never for two games in a row.
The win over Rangers was a Derek McInnes masterclass and they deserved to beat Celtic, never mind take a point, at Rugby Park but outside of those games it’s been spells in games rather than complete performances.
Killie, at their best, are solid defensively and a constant threat going forward, never likely to be compared to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side but a team that wins its battles and keeps the opposition on its toes.
The 4-0 win over Aberdeen on Boxing Day is the first time this term that it’s all come together, and we’ve broken down the best performance of the season so far.
While the teamsheet suggested a 3-5-2, with Brad Lyons, David Watson and Liam Polworth in the centre of midfield, the formation proved to be more fluid.
At times the defence did operate as a three.
In the above picture, with Wales tracking back, Lyons, Watson and Polworth are forming a central three.
However, in other situations Lyons took up a right-back role to form a back-four.
In either case, with Armstrong looking to come inside on his left foot, Lyons was tasked with providing width on the right.