Having been dumped out of the Scottish Cup by sixth-tier side Darvel earlier this week, Aberdeen will be desperate to make amends when they face Hibernian at Easter Road on Saturday.
The Dons find themselves one place and two points above Hibs in the Scottish Premiership table, while both sides have suffered 11 defeats and conceded 37 goals in the league this season.
Match preview
© Reuters
Hibernian made a strong start to the 2022-23 campaign, winning five of their opening nine Premiership matches, but they have only managed to pick up three victories in 13 league outings since then, suffering nine defeats along the way.
That said, Lee Johnson's men have upped their game in recent weeks – taking seven points from their past five league matches – with victories against Livingston and Motherwell coming in that time.
Thanks to Kevin Nisbet's stoppage-time equaliser, the Edinburgh outfit drew 2-2 with Dundee United in their most recent Premiership clash, but they will be disappointed to have dropped two points after dominating the game on home soil.
Hibs can have no complaints about their previous result, though, as they were beaten 3-0 by rivals Hearts in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, despite racking up more than 20 shots at Easter Road last weekend.
Only three teams have suffered more Premiership defeats than Hibernian's 11 this season, but Johnson's men will be confident of achieving a positive result on Saturday, having claimed a 3-1 home victory over Aberdeen back in September.
© Reuters
It is no exaggeration to say that Aberdeen's defeat to Darvel is one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Scottish Cup, as the sixth-tier side humiliated the seven-time winners to produce an unthinkable shock.
Although the Dons edged the possession at Recreation Park, both teams recorded three shots on target, with Jordan Kirkpatrick scoring the only goal of the game midway through the first half to earn hero status in Darvel.
Following Monday's shock, Aberdeen will head to Easter Road on a three-game winless run in all competitions, having been knocked out of the Scottish League Cup by Rangers before suffering a 5-0 league thrashing at the hands of Hearts.
It is worth noting that Jim Goodwin's side hold the third-worst away record in the Premiership, as two wins, one draw and eight losses have seen them take just seven points from a possible 33 on the road this season.
Worse still, the Dons have lost each of their previous five away league outings – conceding 16 goals in the process – and no team has conceded more goals on their travels this term.
Team News
© Reuters
Hibernian look set to be without Rocky Bushiri for an extended period after the Belgian centre-back sustained a nasty-looking leg injury in last weekend's defeat to Hearts.
Paul Hanlon is likely to replace Bushiri in the starting XI on Saturday, with Ryan Porteous expected to partner Hanlon at the centre of Hibs' backline.
The hosts will also be without Martin Boyle and Mykola Kukharevych this weekend, as both players continue to recover from injury setbacks.
As for Aberdeen, Goodwin is destined to ring the changes after the humiliating loss to Darvel, with top scorer Bojan Miovski – who has netted 13 goals in all competitions this season – ready to return to the starting lineup.
With no fresh injuries to report, Goodwin will be looking for a big response from his chosen XI following a series of disappointing results.
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Cadden, Hanlon, Porteous, Cabraja; Campbell, Jeggo, Stevenson; McGeady, Nisbet, Youan
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Kennedy, McCrorie, Scales, Coulson; Ramadani, Shinnie; Hayes, Clarkson, Lopes; Miovski
We say: Hibernian 2-1 Aberdeen
Given Aberdeen's dismal record on the road this season, Hibernian will be confident of inflicting a sixth successive away league defeat on the Dons, piling more pressure on Goodwin and his players.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
