Just 500 fans will be permitted to attend Tannadice Stadium on Boxing Day when Dundee United host Hibernian in a Scottish Premiership clash.
The festive round of fixtures on Sunday will be the final matchday ahead of a rescheduled winter break, with this particular encounter pitting two sides on differing runs of form heading into it against one another.
Match preview
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Dundee United's slide down the Scottish Premiership table continued when they fell 1-0 to Rangers at Ibrox last weekend, with a James Tavernier penalty midway through the second half proving to be the match winner.
Tam Courts's side were second best throughout so could have no arguments regarding the outcome, but will be frustrated nonetheless considering that only a penalty could separate them and the reigning champions.
However, the defeat was a fourth in a row, as well as the fourth consecutive game in which Courts's men have failed to find the back of the net.
Those troubles in front of goal, which leaves Sunday's hosts with the second-worst attack across the division as things stand, have been the primary reason for the Tangerines' slide down into sixth place ahead of matchday 20.
The initial strong start to the campaign has long been forgotten, and with one win across their last nine fixtures, Dundee United could find themselves in the bottom half of the table during the winter break should they fail to record three points on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Hibernian will be without an away following of supporters at Tannadice, with new restrictions in Scotland meaning no visiting fans are allowed to attend.
The Hibs faithful will have been delighted with the result in midweek though, with Sunday's visitors bouncing back from their League Cup heartache last weekend by defeating Aberdeen 1-0 at Easter Road.
Ryan Porteous netted the only goal of the game just after the hour mark, in what was Shaun Maloney's first game in charge following his appointment at the beginning of the week.
Three points in the former Belgium assistant manager's debut match as boss lifted Hibs above Aberdeen and Sunday's opponents into fifth place in the table.
Back-to-back wins could lift Maloney and his side into fourth ahead of the winter break that follows the game, and would provide the new man with a strong platform to take into the new year.
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Team News
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The hosts look set to have the same squad available to them as they did at Ibrox last weekend when they welcome Hibs on Sunday.
As a result, some of the squad's youngsters are likely to be given an opportunity once more, which saw four teenagers handed starts against Rangers last time out.
Calum Butcher and Jeando Fuchs serve the final game of their respective suspensions, whilst Liam Smith and Marc McNulty are expected to return from their injuries in the new year.
As for the visitors, the injury picked up by Jake Doyle-Hayes in the first half of their midweek win will be assessed ahead of their Boxing Day trip.
Alexander Gogic would be the likely replacement should Hayes miss out, in what could be an otherwise unchanged starting lineup following the impressive victory in Maloney's first game in charge.
Sean Mackie, Kyle Magennis, Daniel MacKay and Melker Hallberg are all doubts for the trip, although there are no confirmed absentees as things stand.
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Carson; Edwards, Mulgrew, McMann; Watson, Mochrie, Glass, Meekison, Sporle; Appere, Clark
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Macey; McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon; Cadden, Gogic, Campbell, Doig; Allan; Boyle, Nisbet
We say: Dundee United 0-1 Hibernian
On paper this encounter appears as though it could be a tight clash between two sides who score and concede very few goals at both ends of the pitch.
As a result of the lift in confidence at Hibs following their win in midweek, we are predicting a narrow victory for them at Dundee United on Sunday.
Top tip
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 52.91%. A draw had a probability of 26% and a win for Dundee United had a probability of 21.11%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hibernian win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.2%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.76%) and 1-2 (9.17%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.09%), while for a Dundee United win it was 1-0 (7.98%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 4.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Hibernian would win this match.
