Preview: Hibernian vs Dundee United - prediction, team news, lineups

Third faces fourth in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday evening as Hibernian welcome Dundee United to Easter Road.

A total of 32 goals (16 each) have been scored across the last 10 meetings between these two teams, with the Hibees winning three times and the Tangerines coming out on top on four occasions (D3).

Match preview

Hibernian were unable to conclude the month of August on a positive note, as they suffered a 5-4 aggregate defeat to Legia Warsaw in the Conference League playoff round, before settling for a 1-1 draw at home to St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership a fortnight ago.

Nevertheless, Rocky Bushiri’s second-half equaliser ensured that the Cabbage remain unbeaten after three Premiership fixtures in the new season (W1 D2), while they have only lost two of their last 25 top-flight matches (W14 D9) and are unbeaten in five (W1 D4) since a 3-1 loss to Celtic in May.

Head coach David Gray was left “frustrated” after the draw with St Mirren and rued the missed opportunities from his team, who currently sit third in the Premiership table and five points behind the top two, Celtic and Hearts, who have played a game more.

Hibs will fancy their chances of returning to winning ways this weekend, as they have won their last two league encounters with Dundee United, though this is their longest top-flight winning run over the Tangerines since December 2006 (three in a row).

Dundee United also have reason to be optimistic on Saturday, as they have only suffered defeat in two of their last 15 top-flight trips to Easter Road, (W5 D8), but one of those was their most recent (3-1) in May.

Like Hibs, Dundee United were knocked out in Conference League playoff round before the international break, losing on penalties to Rapid Wien after a 4-4 aggregate draw, and they also suffered a 2-1 loss to Kilmarnock in the second round of the Scottish League Cup.

However, the Tangerines bounced back with a much-needed victory over city rivals Dundee, winning 2-1 on the road a fortnight ago - their first win in the Premiership this season to help them climb to fourth in the table and just one point behind Hibs.

Head coach Jim Goodwin signed a new 12-month rolling contract at Dundee United earlier this week and he ‘truly believes’ that the club are “only scratching the surface of what we can achieve”, with the 43-year-old aiming to “emulate and better the exploits of last year”.

Dundee United head into this weekend’s fixture with Hibs having scored exactly two goals in each of their last four league games; they have not scored two or more goals in five successive top-flight matches since September 2014 (five in a row).

Hibernian Scottish Premiership form:

W D D

Hibernian form (all competitions):

D L W L D D

Dundee United Scottish Premiership form:

D L W

Dundee United form (all competitions):

D D L L L W

Team News

A total of 12 Hibernian players were away on international duty and the fitness of each player will be monitored ahead of kickoff. One player who remains sidelined, though, is Joe Newell as he continues to recover from a groin injury that has kept him out of action since February.

Midfielder Dan Barlaser and defender Zach Mitchell both joined the Hibees in the closing stages of the summer transfer window and they are in contention to make their debuts this weekend.

As for Dundee United, Max Watters, Ryan Strain and Kristijan Trapanovski all remain sidelined with hamstring injuries, while Zachary Sapsford (ankle) and Isaac Pappoe (knee) are also in the treatment room.

Ivan Dolcek has scored a team-high four goals in just three Premiership fixtures and the Croatian winger could be joined in attack by Nikolaj Moller and Amar Fatah.

Hibernian possible starting lineup:

Smith; Bushiri, Hanley, Iredale; C. Cadden, Chaiwa, Levitt, N. Cadden; Hoilett; Boyle, Klidje

Dundee United possible starting lineup:

Kucherenko; Iovu, Esselink, Keresztes; Stephenson, Sevelj, Camara, Ferry; Fatah, Moller, Dolcek

We say: Hibernian 1-1 Dundee United

Hibernian have made themselves difficult to beat on the domestic front for some time and they can be considered as slight favourites on home soil for this weekend’s contest.

Dundee United have the credentials in the final third to cause the Hibees a few problems, though, so we are backing the Tangerines to come away with a point from a closely-contested battle.

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