ABERDEEN and Hibs have had very different seasons so far and they meet at Pittodrie this week.
The Dons started life under Jimmy Thelin like a house on fire and were neck and neck with Cetic up until a recent blip – they are winless in five now.
In fairness, they drew three of them and the two defeats were against St Mirren at their bogey ground in Paisley and at home to Celtic, where they could have easily snatched a point.
So the wheels haven't really come off now, but a few injuries have caused Thelin's revolution to take a rain check.
Hibs have been slaughtered this season for their performances and were bottom of the league for long periods, but two wins in their last three have given them some sort of renewed optimism.
A win at Motherwell and a comeback victory last week against Ross County were split by a defeat at Celtic where they actually missed plenty of chances at Parkhead.
They still seem to have a long way to go to get where they want to be and seem set to stick with under-pressure boss David Gray.
How the bookies view it: Dons favourites in the North East
Aberdeen are 6/5 favourites with McBookie.com with Hibs 9/4 with Betfred. Boylesports are offering 23/10 for the draw.
Recent head to heads: Goal bonanza in the capital
The sides fought out an entertaining 3-3 draw a few weeks ago with Aberdeen scoring in injury time and Hibs going up the park and equalsing.
Last season, the sides played five times in all competitions and there were two wins apiece and a draw.
Players to watch: Nisbet could haunt former side
Kevin Nisbet was a Hibs hero before his move to Millwall, which didn't work out and he was then loaned to Aberdeen. He is 9/5 to score anytime with Betfred.
Veteran striker Dwight Gayle started the Hibs fightback last week with the equaliser and the former Newcastle United striker is 11/5 to score anytime with Betfred.
Predicted line-ups:
Aberdeen have doubts over Jack McKenzie and Jack Milne with Papa Gueye and Vicente Besuijen both out with long-term injuries. Keeper Dimitar Mitov remains crocked.
Hibs are without injured strikers Kieron Bowie and Mykola Kuharevich.
Aberdeen: Doohan, Devlin, Rubezic, Molloy, McGarry, Shinnie, Nielsen, Clarkson, Morris, McGrath, Nisbet.
Hibs: Smith, Miller, O'Hora, Bushiri, Iredale, Obita, Triantis, Newell, N Cadden, Youan, Gayle.
Anything else catch the eye?
There's no reason why this shouldn't be another decent game with plenty of goals and with Hibs improving and Aberdeen regressing slightly, it has draw written all over it.
Neither side's defence can be trusted recently and while a repeat of that 3-3 thriller last month is maybe asking a lot, go for both teams to score and over 2.5 goals at evens with Boylesports.
Aberdeen haven't kept a clean sheet for eight games and Hibs have managed one in seven so it's not too think there should be goals at both ends here.
This Scottish Premiership match between Aberdeen and Hibernian will be played on Dec 21, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Aberdeen vs Hibernian prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
