Hibernian host Livingston in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday evening, hoping to claim their first top-flight victory on home soil against the Lions since February 2006.
Meanwhile, David Martindale's side have won just once in their last eight league games, conceding 18 goals in the process.
Match preview
© Reuters
Hibernian cruised into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup last weekend, after beating League Two side Stranraer 4-0 away from home.
A brace from Martin Boyle as well as strikes from Christian Doidge and Kevin Nisbet sealed a comfortable win for Jack Ross's side, who will now face Motherwell in the next round on Saturday.
Before they can dream of progressing to their fourth semi-final in two years, Hibs turn their attention back to the Scottish Premiership, welcoming a Livingston outfit who they have failed to beat in their last four meetings at Easter Road.
Their home form in the top flight this campaign has been below par, dropping points in 10 of their 16 matches in the capital, including a 3-0 loss to the Lions in January.
With a 16-point gap separating Hibs in third from Celtic in second, Ross's men cannot finish any higher than where they are now, but with Aberdeen just four points behind them in fourth, failing to win on Wednesday could see this gap shrink if the Dons were to beat Celtic in midweek.
© Reuters
Livingston's hopes of reaching another cup final this campaign are now over, after losing 5-3 on penalties to Aberdeen in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup last weekend.
After the match finished 1-1 in 90 minutes, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas fired the Lions into the lead for the second time just three minutes into extra time, before Florian Kamberi equalised for the Dons two minutes later.
Penalties were eventually forced upon both teams, who could not be separated after an entertaining 2-2 draw in 120 minutes. After Jason Holt's effort from 12 yards hit the crossbar, Ross McCrorie then converted Aberdeen's fifth successful spot kick, eliminating the Lions at this stage of the competition for the 10th time in the last 11 years.
Livingston now look to get back on track in the league and it is still mathematically possible for them to better last season's fifth-place finish. They have already claimed five more points than they did last year with four matches still left to play.
Victories on Wednesday – and on Saturday when they face Aberdeen once again – could see the Lions move to within two points of the Dons in fourth, if they were to lose against Celtic in midweek.
The Lions head to Easter Road, having lost only one of their last six Scottish Premiership meetings with Hibs, a 4-1 defeat in August earlier this season.
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- D
- W
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Ross has no injury or suspension concerns heading into Wednesday's game and is unlikely to make many changes from the starting XI that won against Stranraer last weekend.
Israeli goalkeeper Ofir Marciano is expected to come in for Matt Macey, while midfielder Alex Gogic could start at the expense of Kyle Magennis.
Livingston could name the same 10 outfield players as they have done for the last six matches in all competitions but Martindale may decide to recall goalkeeper Robby McCrorie at the expense of Max Stryjek.
Emmanuel-Thomas was back in the goals last weekend and is set to keep his place in the side up front ahead of Matej Poplatnik.
Defender Alan Lithgow will be hoping to make his first start in over 15 months after recovering from a hip injury.
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Marciano; McGinn, Hanlon, Porteous; Boyle, Gogic, Newell, Irvine, Doig; Doidge, Nisbet
Livingston possible starting lineup:
McCrorie; Devlin, Fitzwater, Guthrie, Longridge; Bartley, Holt; Sibbald, Pittman, Forrest; Emmanuel-Thomas
We say: Hibernian 2-2 Livingston
In recent weeks, neither Hibs nor Livingston have looked strong defensively, which means there could be plenty of goalmouth action on Wednesday.
With little to separate the two teams, who have claimed four points from each other so far this season, we can see an entertaining score draw played out at Easter Road.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Hibernian win with a probability of 46.87%. A draw had a probability of 27% and a win for Livingston had a probability of 26.12%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hibernian win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.14%) and 2-1 (8.9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.68%), while for a Livingston win it was 0-1 (9.03%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Hibernian would win this match.
