SCOTTISH football aficionado Gerry Taylor (@thefurlongpole) shares his verdict on Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final between Edinburgh rivals Hearts and Hibs.
Hearts vs Hibs | Saturday 16th April 2022, 12:15 | Premier Sports
The first of two mouth-watering semi-finals takes place this Saturday lunchtime at Hampden Park. The two Edinburgh rivals faced off in Gorgie last weekend, with the Jambos coming out on top comfortably 3-1.
That victory consigned The Hibees to the bottom half of the league for the rest of the season, with the Tynecastle side now booked for third place in the league on their return to the top tier.
Recent Head-to-Heads:
- 22/09/19 Hibs 1 Hearts 2
- 26/12/19 Hearts 0 Hibs 2
- 03/03/20 Hibs 1 Hearts 3
- 31/10/20 Hearts2* Hibs 1
- 12/09/21 Hearts 0 Hibs 0
- 01/02/22 Hibs 0 Hearts 0
- 16/04/22 Hearts 3 Hibs 1
*after extra-time
So, the Easter Road men can only boast 1 win in their 7 clashes with the Jam Tarts in recent seasons.
The last time the two teams from Auld Reekie clashed at Hampden in October ’20, the victorious Hearts line up had players like Ollie Lee, Craig Wighton, Jamie Walker, Jordon Roberts and Mihai Popescu in it.
In the last 18 months Robbie Neilson has upgraded his squad from the Championship to include guys like Beni Baningime, Barrie McKay, Nathan Atkinson, Alex Cochrane, Cammy Devlin, Ben Woodburn and Ellis Simms.
Yes, the Tynecastle recruitment team have done their job very well, the league table will tell you that.
Hibs on the other hand have also backed new boss Shaun Maloney, but other than Harry Clarke who looks a real good player, most of the others have yet to really set the heather on fire.
The sale of Martin Boyle at Christmas time and the long-term injury of Kevin Nisbet have undoubtedly affected the Leith outfits goal return.
1/12 wins recently in the league tell you the kind of form that The Hibees are in, and their confidence going into a semi final against their fierce rivals must be fragile.
With Hearts having the stronger season by far, and the greater momentum, the 5/4 currently available on the Jambos to win, looks a nice price to me at William Hill.
Best Bets
Hearts vs Hibs – Hearts to win (6/5 William Hill)
