SCOTTISH football aficionado Gerry Taylor (@thefurlongpole) shares his verdict on Tuesday night's televised Premiership showdown from Tannadice.
Dundee United vs Hibernian | Tuesday 11th August 2020, 18:00 | Sky Sports
Tannadice hosts Tuesday’s early evening kick-off, in what should be a really good game, with two in-form teams. Both sides will be high in confidence – United having picked up four points in their first two matches following promotion, whilst Hibs boast a 100% record after MD2.
Micky Mellon's hosts fought out a 1-1 draw in their opening match at home, albeit St Johnstone were reduced to 10 men for half of the match. In this one the Tangerines produced an Expected Goals (xG) output of 1.24 to the Saints 0.40.
The more eye-catching result though for United was the 1-0 away win at Motherwell on Saturday. Without talisman Lawrence Shankland, it was left to veteran central defender Mark Reynolds to grab the winner. Third-place-last-season Motherwell have admittedly started the new season a bit out of sorts, but nonetheless, to win at Fir Park at any time is a great scalp.
Attacking options
Hibs won their first match 2-1 at Easter Road, despite their xG 0.96 being usurped by Kilmarnock’s 1.79. This defeat of Killie looks even better now, given the Rugby Park men’s strong performance against Celtic last time out.
However, the real marker Hibs put down came in their 4-1 triumph at Livingston on Saturday. Livvy have presided over a fortress home record over the last couple of seasons, only having lost twice in front of their home supporters last season, getting results against both Celtic and Rangers.
Whilst it was Martin Boyle doing the damage against Kilmarnock in the opening game – it was the turn of Christian Doidge and Kevin Nisbet to put Livingston to the sword. Nisbet was particularly impressive, helping himself to a hat-trick against the normally-mean Livvy home defence.
Nisbet was prolific in the lower divisions, so this early haul of goals for the Easter Road men, can only augur well for the rest of the season.
Whilst Jack Ross must be delighted with the goalscoring exploits so far of his front men, there is no doubt that overall Hibs are looking more difficult to beat. The signing of Cypriot Alex Gogic from Hamilton has given the defence more cover, adding a bit of steel the midfield area.
The betting angles
Understandably, since the demolition of Livvy, the Edinburgh men’s price has been consistently nibbled away at. With so many goal threats in the squad and no shortage of flair with Scott Allan, Daryl Horgan etc, the 9/5 William Hills are offering on Hibs in the Race To 2 Goals is too tempting to turn down.
I think ultimately the Easter Road men will have too much firepower and pace for United to cope with, and more significantly, they have been very fast starters in those previous two wins, being two goals ahead by the 37th minute in both matches.
Elsewhere, referee Don Robertson oversees this clash. Here are some stats for the whistleblower:
- In 29 matches in all competitions last season, he brandished red eight times.
- In 15 Premiership matches last season, he averaged 3.5 yellow cards.
- His last couple of Premiership matches have produced five yellow cards in each.
SkyBet are offering evens on 40+ Bookings Points in this match, and I think this is a price worth taking. It should be a really competitive match and this referee isn't afraid to show a card or two.
Best Bets
Dundee United vs Hibernian – Hibernian Race To 2 Goals (9/5 William Hill)
Dundee United vs Hibernian – 40+ Bookings Points (1/1 SkyBet)
