A mouth-watering encounter takes place in the Scottish Premiership at Easter Road on Wednesday night as Hibernian entertain Rangers.
The Hibees continued their current hot-streak by making light work of Livingston with a 4-1 win at the Tony Macaroni Arena on Saturday.
That victory means Lee Johnson's side have now avoided defeat in each of their last five league games, claiming top honours in four fixtures from that sequence.
Furthermore, Hibs are now just five points behind city rivals Hearts in the race to finish best of the rest behind Celtic and Wednesday night's visitors Rangers.
The Light Blues bounced back from their brusing Scottish League Cup final loss by landing a comfortable 3-1 win over Kilmarnock on Saturday, on an afternoon where I delivered a clean sweep of winners at Ibrox.
While reclaiming the Scottish Premiership title this season isn't mathematically out of reach for Michael Beale's men, they will need a miracle of epic proportions if they are to reel in Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Outright Betting
Hibs held Rangers to a 2-2 draw at Easter Road earlier in the season but the same outcome here is as big as 3/1 with SBK while a home win is trading at 9/2 with William Hill.
Rangers, who have won 15 of their 16 matches under Michael Beale's management, head to the capital as short priced 4/7 (Bet 365) favourites.
Betting Angles
I suspect this clash could be closer than the odds suggest but I’m going to bypass the match result outcome and instead back Both Teams to Score at 4/5 (Bet 365).
As already alluded to, high-flying Hibs are riding the crest of a wave at the moment, and they have the technical tools to create opportunities against a Rangers side that are not quite as watertight as they used to be.
The Hibees have scored in each of their last seven league games, hitting multiple goals in five of those matches since the turn of the year.
Therefore, I suspect the in-form hosts could get some joy when they come up against a Rangers' backline that has been breached in recent matches with the likes of Ross County, Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock.
Having said that, Lee Johnson's side have failed to keep their sheets clean in eight of their 12 matches in all competitions since the winner break, which doesn't bode well ahead of a visit from a Light Blues team whose attacking armoury is filled with goal-threatening talent.
With all that in mind, as well as the fact that this bet would have paid out in each of the previous two meetings between the pair this season, backing each team to oblige at Easter Road stands out at 4/5 (Bet 365).
I'll also dip into the Anytime Goalscorer market where the 9/2 (William Hill ) on Hibernian's Élie Youan to score looks a little too big to ignore.
Having scored five goals in as many games for the capital club – including a brace last time out – the flamboyant Frenchman's purple patch in front of goal is showing no signs of slowing down so he looks worthy of some interest to notch here at a lovely price.
This Scottish Premiership match between Hibernian and Rangers will be played on Mar 8, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Hibernian vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
