Hibernian square off against Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon looking to extend their unbeaten start in the Scottish Premiership to six matches.
However, since returning to action after members of their squad breached coronavirus regulations, the Dons have put together a three-game winning streak in all competitions.
Match preview
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When eight of his players breached government-imposed restrictions earlier this month, Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes was left to stew over his side's poor showing in the opening-day defeat to Rangers.
However, the enforced 19-day break has only benefitted the Dons, who have responded with victories over St Johnstone, Livingston and NSI Runavik.
Although making headway up the league table will be McInnes's priority, there will be a feeling that a run in the Europa League can only build momentum on the domestic front.
Ryan Hedges has been the star of the show in recent weeks, following a goal and an assist in the top flight with a hat-trick against the club's Faroese opponents on Thursday night.
Adding Ross McCrorie to an already well-stocked backline has helped matters at the other end of the pitch, and Aberdeen have still only conceded two goals from their opening four matches in all competitions.
Hibs boast an equally-impressive return over the first month of the campaign with no goals having been shipped in their last 300 minutes of football.
While Jack Ross will be disappointed with just three strikes coming over the same period, he will be satisfied that solid foundations have been laid at the back.
With Rangers and Celtic to come before the end of September, forming effective partnerships at that end of the pitch is more important at this stage of the season as they bid to remain in contention for the title.
Whether keeping pace with the Glasgow pair on a long-term basis may prove difficult, Ross will want his squad to now take the next step after winning over half of his 27 matches in charge since his appointment last November.
Hibernian Scottish Premiership form: WWWDW
Aberdeen Scottish Premiership form: LWW
Aberdeen form (all competitions): LWWW
Team News
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Ross is unlikely to be able to call upon Kevin Nisbet, who suffered a hamstring issue last weekend.
That will likely see Stephen Mallan drafted into the starting lineup, playing in an attacking midfield role behind Christian Doidge.
After their victory on the European front, McInnes will feel that there is strong competition for places in all areas of the pitch.
Having served his domestic suspension, Andrew Considine could return in a back three alongside McCrorie and Scott McKenna.
Curtis Main, Scott Wright and Marley Watkins are competing for a maximum of two places in attack.
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Marciano; McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Doig; Gogic, Newell; Boyle, Mallan, Horgan; Doidge
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; McCrorie, McKenna, Considine; Kennedy, Ferguson, McGeouch, Hedges, Hayes; Watkins, Main
We say: Hibernian 1-1 Aberdeen
Given the respective form, both clubs will fancy their chances of adding another victory to their name at the weekend. However, with Aberdeen having improved significantly over the past 10 days, we feel that a low-scoring draw is the most likely result.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win 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.Home Win:dataData 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 Aberdeen win with a probability of 40.81%. A win for Hibernian had a probability of 32.69% and a draw had a probability of 26.5%.
The most likely scoreline for an Aberdeen win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.55%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.62%) and 0-2 (7.21%). The likeliest Hibernian win was 1-0 (9.22%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.6%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 10.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Aberdeen in this match.
