The 2023-24 Scottish Premiership season gets underway this weekend with Hibernian entertaining St Mirren at Easter Road in Sunday's sole kickoff.
Hibs crushed Andorran side Inter Club d'Escaldes in Europa Conference League qualifying on Thursday, while the Buddies thrashed Forfar Athletic in the Scottish League Cup last time out.
Match preview
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Hibernian head into Sunday's clash on the back of a commanding 6-1 victory over Inter Club d'Escaldes, with Martin Boyle and Josh Campbell both bagging a brace in the rout, while Christian Doidge and Elie Youan completed the scoring.
As a result, Hibs booked their place in the Europa Conference League third qualifying round with a 7-3 aggregate win, setting up another two-legged showdown with Swiss club Luzern later this month.
Lee Johnson's side kicked off their pre-season preparations with comfortable victories over Edinburgh City and Europa FC before suffering a 4-0 defeat to Premier League outfit Bournemouth, but they returned to winning ways with a 2-1 win against Dutch side Groningen.
Although the Hibbies recorded a disappointing 3-0 loss against League One club Blackpool last weekend, Thursday's thrashing of Inter Club d'Escaldes will fill Johnson's men with confidence heading into the Premiership campaign.
Hibs finished fifth in the Premiership last term – six points above sixth-placed St Mirren – after losing just one of their final seven matches, so the Edinburgh outfit will be hopeful of enjoying another successful season.
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St Mirren, meanwhile, claimed a convincing 4-0 victory over Forfar Athletic in the League Cup last weekend, racking up 63% possession and 19 shots while limiting the fourth-tier side to a solitary attempt on target.
All the goals came in the first half at the SMISA Stadium, with French striker Mikael Mandron netting a five-minute double before Mark O'Hara and Alex Gogic completed the scoring before the break.
St Mirren's 2023-24 campaign began on July 15 with a shock 1-0 defeat to third-tier outfit Montrose, but Stephen Robinson's side have claimed three straight victories since then, with a 4-0 triumph against Arbroath and a 1-0 win over Cowdenbeath preceding last weekend's success.
Consequently, the Buddies find themselves atop Scottish League Cup Group H after four matches, having taken nine points from a possible 12, and they have also conceded a solitary goal since the start of the season.
Although St Mirren finished the previous campaign on a sour note – winning only two of their final 12 outings while ending with a seven-game winless run – the Paisley club will be determined to kick off their 2023-24 Premiership campaign in a positive manner.
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Team News
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Hibernian will begin the season without Harry McKirdy after the striker revealed that he will undergo surgery for a heart issue, with the 26-year-old likely to be sidelined for several months.
On top of that, goalkeepers David Marshall and Joseph Wollacott were both injured on Thursday, with the former picking up an injury in the warm up and the latter going off after just 18 minutes, so 20-year-old stopper Maksymilian Boruc is expected to deputise on Sunday.
The hosts will also be without influential forward Kevin Nisbet following his move to Championship side Millwall, but the arrival of players like Dylan Vente, Elie Youan, Adam Le Fondre and Jordan Obita will give the manager more options this season.
Johnson is expected to stick with the 4-3-3 formation that helped dispatch Inter Club d'Escaldes on Thursday, with Christian Doidge joining Elie Youan and Martin Boyle in attack.
As for the visitors, Jonah Ayunga remains sidelined as he continues to recover from a cruciate ligament rupture, having last featured for the club back in January.
Robinson looks set to continue with his favoured 3-4-3 formation this weekend, meaning that Conor McMenamin and Stav Nachmani will operate alongside Mikael Mandron in the Buddies' forward line.
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Boruc; Delferriere, Fish, Hanlon, Stevenson; Doyle-Hayes, Campbell, Newell; Boyle, Doidge, Youan
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Hemming; Fraser, Gogic, Taylor; Strain, O'Hara, Baccus, Tanser; McMenamin, Mandron, Nachmani
We say: Hibernian 1-1 St Mirren
Having both recorded a series of positive results in recent weeks, Hibernian and St Mirren are expected to play out a close-fought battle on Sunday, with a low-scoring draw looking like the most probable outcome.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Morris
