It's fair to say our record at Tannadice is not much to write home about. We have a habit of losing in bizarre circumstance there - witness our 3-2 defeat having been 2-1 up with 10 minutes left last year - and often lose late goals. The one exception was in May 2007 when we somehow recovered from losing a crucial game against Dunfermline by taking a 2-0 win. Andy Dorman used to be quite handy in the City of Discovery in midweek games, scoring twice in them in 2008 in the space of a few weeks, but aside from that we've lost every time there. Usually it's involved Barry Robson or Noel Hunt in some way, although the fact they are long departed hasn't helped our fortunes.
It's important we take something from tomorrow's game as we're in the middle of a horrendous run of fixtures. The game against United is sandwiched between home matches with the Old Firm - and they will be followed by another home game, this time against Motherwell. There's a fair chance we could come out of that with no points and while there's no shame in losing games to these sides, a second run of four defeats in a row this early in the season would have the alarm bells ringing even louder than they already are. However, the omens are not good. Aside from our shocking record at Tannadice, United are going well, while we have yet to pick up an away point this season - and haven't won away from home since last October. Hmmm.
It's hard to know what to do with the team after the decent first half display against Rangers on Sunday. On the basis of the second half Marc McAusland will be dropped but, as Lee Mair is injured, that would mean abandoning the 3-5-2 that served us well for a game and a half. As such, expect to see him and most other players keep their places. The only likely change is up front, where Michael Higdon will come back in to give us an extra forward. Either Aaron Mooy or Hugh Murray will make way and I'd imagine it'll be the former as it's an away game. Mair isn't the only injury as we will be without (takes deep breath) David Barron, Steven Thomson, Steven Robb, Sean Lynch, Nick Hegarty, Craig Dargo and Paul Gallacher as well. The options really are limited and the first team players that have been involved in the last few weeks really are the only fit ones.
Many people expected United to really push the Old Firm this season, yet they are already more than 10 points behind both Rangers and Celtic - and we've only had 11 games. They came into this season on a real high after winning the Scottish Cup and finishing third last year and I'm not quite sure what has gone wrong. Their form has been rather patchy as they've beaten the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen but been hammered by Caley Thistle and Rangers and needed a last minute winner to avoid a defeat to us on the opening day of the season. Despite all this weird form, the league is so tight that they are still just a win away from moving into third - although their chances of even challenging the Old Firm are already out the window.
United have plenty of players that will be able to hurt us tomorrow night, with David Goodwillie chief among them. He may have had a brush with the law recently, but the striker has been in good form, picking up where he left off last season. Jon Daly hasn't been quite as prolific, but then he does have his golf game to work on, while Craig Conway has been exceptional in midfield. I was really impressed with him when we played United earlier in the season and was rather surprised, and relieved, when they took him of! Morgaro Gomis and Prince Bauben are also good midfielders, while Danny Swanson and Scott Robertson are capable of getting forward when required.
They're also fairly solid at the back, despite the departure of Andy Webster over the summer. Garry Kenneth was linked with a move to Blackpool in the summer and is a big, uncompromising defender. Playing alongside an experienced player like Darren Dods will have helped him no end. Sean Dillon and Paul Dixon are two great fullbacks, while Dusan Pernis is a decent goalkeeper with a mildly amusing name and a pretty funny internet video thanks to the BBC's Jim Spence.
On paper, this should be easy for United as their squad is far better than ours. There is no disgrace in losing to a team of their calibre, but if we want to start getting some points on the board we need to start springing a surprise or two against teams like the Arabs.