Hibernian will host Motherwell on Saturday in the Scottish Premiership, with both teams going through an inconsistent patch of form of late. Both clubs find themselves in the top half of the table, but with only six points separating them right now.
Hibernian went down to Rangers as Kemar Roofe’s 84th minute late winner won the tie for the table-toppers, while Motherwell earned a victory against Dundee United despite finishing with 10 men. Tony Watt scored an early goal for the Steelmen as they move to a total of 24 points.
Hibernian’s mixed form continued throughout the past week after they went from a victory at the weekend to a defeat in midweek, which truly has been the tale of their season so far. The Hibees defeated St Johnstone, but they followed that up with a loss, when facing the Rangers in midweek.
Hibernian have conceded 18 goals so far in the league, but do not have a very high xG against them. They have been able to suppress their opponent’s attacks, and are not as vulnerable defensively. They have the third-best xGA value in the league and can work hard to keep a clean sheet.
Martin Boyle has been their best performer so far in the season. The above visual shows us his attacking stats from the 2021-22 season. He has put up impressive numbers so far in the season and is far better than the median league value for the same stats. He has a high xG of 0.34 per 90 minutes and this number is better than 99% of the players in the league. Playing as a wide forward, he has also attempted more dribbles per 90 minutes and has won 64.47% of the offensive duels he has attempted. Boyle has scored seven goals for the Hibees in 13 appearances and will be their best source for goals on Saturday.
The Steelmen have also been inconsistent of late, which is something they will wish to recover from, and their midweek victory could have been the start of that. A victory can take Motherwell as high as third in the league, and the squad will be well aware of the potential surrounding this fixture.
Tony Watt has been the star performer for Motherwell, as the Scottish striker is currently leading the goal-scoring charts. He has scored eight goals in 16 appearances. The 27-year-old had attempted a total of 32 shots on goal and has been able to keep 17 shots on target. His goal proved to be the match-winner for the Steelmen and gave them all three points against Dundee United.
Motherwell have won the second-most number of aerial duels in the league and have won an average of 27.82 aerial duels per 90 minutes. They have been able to deal with most of the aerial balls that the opposition plays. Tony Watt has attempted a total of 149 aerial duels in the league, which indicates that he is also a huge threat aerially when he gets into the penalty area.
Hibernian’s inconsistency has resulted in them dropping down to midtable, but given that they have games in hand on all the teams above, they will be confident about climbing up the table. If the Hibees can secure a win at the weekend, they would close the gap between them and Motherwell, which would be beneficial, especially with their extra matches coming up.
Hibernian predicted starting lineup:
Macey, McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon, Cadden, Doyle-Hayes, Newell, Doig, Campbell, Nisbet, Boyle.
Motherwell predicted starting lineup:
Kelly, Mugabi, Johansen, Lamie, McGinley, Slattery, Grimshaw, Goss, Woolery, Watt, Van Veen.
