Preview: Hibernian vs. Motherwell

Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Scottish Premiership clash between Hibernian and Motherwell, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Hibernian will look to bounce back from an Edinburgh derby defeat when they welcome Motherwell to Easter Road for Tuesday’s Scottish Premiership fixture.

The visitors, meanwhile, will have the chance to claim consecutive victories after beating Livingston in their final match of 2023.

Match preview
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Hibernian experienced a disappointing ending to 2023, as they followed a 1-0 loss to St Johnstone with another narrow defeat in last Wednesday’s Edinburgh derby against bitter rivals Hearts.

The contest looked destined to finish in a goalless draw after both teams spurned chances to score from the penalty spot, but Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland ultimately landed the decisive blow, firing past David Marshall in stoppage time to condemn Hibs to their third defeat in four games.

Having experienced a poor spell of form, Hibernian are left sitting in sixth place and just two points above the bottom half of the Scottish Premiership table.

After failing to score more than one goal in any of their last four matches, Hibs boss Nick Montgomery will be keen to see an improved attacking display in his side’s first outing of 2024.

The 42-year-old will also be looking for his team to strike first, as Hibernian have lost seven of the eight league matches where they have conceded the opening goal this season.

Motherwell will head into the new year with a renewed sense of belief after they ended a 15-game winless run in their final match of 2023 against basement side Livington.

Stuart Kettlwell’s charges made a quick start to Saturday’s encounter, with Blair Spittal and Thelonius Bair grabbing a goal apiece in the opening 20 minutes, before Scott Pittman pulled a goal back in the midway point of the first period.

Bair restored Motherwell’s two-goal advantage with his second effort of the game in the 35th minute, and with Livingston unable to produce a response in the second half, the Well saw out the remainder of the contest to celebrate their first victory since September 3.

Although that win moved Motherwell out of the bottom two, they still have work to do if they want to move away from danger, especially on their travels, having won just one of their nine away league games this season (D4, L4).

While that record may not inspire optimism, they can take confidence from the fact they have won their last two meetings with Hibernian, including a 2-1 success when the two sides faced off at Fir Park in August.

Hibernian Scottish Premiership form:

Motherwell Scottish Premiership form:

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Team News
Hibernian are still unable to call upon the services of Adam Le Fondre, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Harry McKirdy and Chris Cadden.

Martin Boyle and Lewis Miller have joined up with the Australia squad to prepare for the upcoming Asian Cup.

Rocky Bushiri and Jojo Wollacott have linked up with DR Congo and Ghana respectively ahead of the African Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast.

As for the visitors, they remain without the injured trio of Lennon Miller, Dan Casey and Pape Souare, but Calum Butcher will be available after he returned to the bench for Saturday’s win over Livingston.

After dropping down to the bench at the weekend, Bevis Mugabi could come back into the side to feature in a back three.

Buoyed from netting a brace against Livington, Bair is expected to make his second straight start for the visitors.

Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Miller, Fish, Hanlon, Obita; Youan, Newell, Levitt, Tavares; Vente, Boyle

Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Kelly; O’Donnell, McGinn, Mugabi; Spencer, Zdravkovski, Spittal, Gent; Bair, Shaw, Biereth

We say: Hibernian 2-0 Motherwell
Although Motherwell would have been buoyed by Saturday’s win on home turf, they are currently winless in seven away matches.

We think Hibernian will take advantage of Motherwell’s poor away form to return to winning ways following consecutive defeats.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data

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