Having both made winning starts to the second phase of the Scottish top-flight season, Livingston and Hibernian will square off at Almondvale on Saturday.
Having both dropped into the bottom half of the league after the split, the two sides find themselves in a battle for seventh place with only goal difference separating them at this stage.
Match preview
© Reuters
In the battle for a place in the Scottish Premiership Championship group, Livingston gained a major advantage with consecutive wins over Dundee United and Dundee, briefly putting them fourth in the top flight.
That form did not last though, as they went on to suffer three straight defeats, firstly falling short against Celtic and Hearts before a disappointing loss to strugglers St Johnstone sent them down to eighth place, with a final-day win over Motherwell the only chance of breaking into the top six for the second phase.
David Martindale's side looked set to do that, as they took a two-goal lead through Odin Bailey and Alan Forrest, only for Callum Slattery to pull one back for the visitors in the 73rd minute and Ricki Lamie to equalise in injury time, remaining ahead of the Livi and condemning them to the relegation group as a result.
They began the second phase with a trip to Aberdeen and enjoyed a winning start, with Nicky Devlin and Jason Holt on the scoresheet in a 2-1 triumph.
That result means Martindale's side remain level on points with Hibernian, and, only trailing on goal difference, they will aim to put a home win on the board at the weekend to leapfrog their opponents and climb to seventh place - the best possible finish after the split.
© Reuters
Hibernian, meanwhile, arrive looking to put distance between themselves and the hosts in the race to top the group.
The Edinburgh outfit looked set to earn a top-six place with 34 points from 27 matches, but a failure to pick up a win from any of the last six first-phase games triggered a drop into the relegation group.
A defeat to a struggling Aberdeen side and a draw with Dundee United put their place in jeopardy heading into the final game, and they were officially put into the second group by rivals Hearts, who handed Hibs a 3-1 defeat at Tynecastle despite the visitors initially taking a lead through Drey Wright.
The two teams then met for a second consecutive time, doing battle in a Scottish Cup semi-final tie, and, after a second straight derby defeat to the Jambos, manager Shaun Maloney departed.
Caretaker boss David Gray oversaw a winning start to the second phase in his first game in charge last weekend, as Ewan Henderson netted the only goal of the game away at St Mirren, and with Hibs currently holding seventh place, they will look to gain a cushion with a win over the team only trailing on goal difference on Saturday.
- W
- L
- L
- L
- D
- W
- D
- D
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- L
- D
- L
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Livingston remain without Tom Parkes through injury and goalkeeper Max Stryjek, who will serve a suspension.
However, attacker Bruce Anderson was fit to make the bench last time out following an injury scare, and he will be pushing for a return to the starting XI on Saturday after hitting 11 goals in the first phase of the season.
Jason Holt will support the front line from midfield after his goal against Aberdeen, while Andrew Shinnie should continue to feature in attack.
Hibernian have an unenviable list of injuries to deal with, as the likes of Kevin Nisbet, Drey Wright, Christian Doidge and Demetri Mitchell remain out of action.
Key defender Ryan Porteous will also miss out again due to a suspension, with Paul McGinn, Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson set to line up as a back three in his absence.
The losses in attack come after top scorer Martin Boyle's January departure, leaving Gray with limited options to choose up front, with Elias Melkersen likely to again lead the line alongside James Scott with support from Ewan Henderson.
Livingston possible starting lineup:
Konovalov; Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Lewis; Holt, Kelly, Pittman; Bailey, Anderson, Shinnie
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Macey; McGinn, Hanlon, Stevenson; Cadden, Doyle-Hayes, Newell, Clarke; Henderson; Melkersen, Scott
We say: Livingston 1-1 Hibernian
Hibernian boast a strong squad, but one badly hit by injuries, and they may have to settle for a point on their travels against a Livingston side who can be particularly resilient.
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 38.07%. A win for Livingston had a probability of 34.4% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hibernian win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.11%) and 0-2 (6.93%). The likeliest Livingston win was 1-0 (10.44%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.01%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.4% likelihood.
