Following on from European success on Thursday night, Hibs and Motherwell begin their Premiership campaigns at Easter Road on Sunday afternoon.
After finishing in fifth place in the Premiership table last term, Hibs qualified for the second round of the Conference League, but suffered an embarrassing 2-0 defeat in Kosovo against KF Malisheva in the first leg.
However, David Gray’s men sealed an impressive comeback, as they won the second leg 4-1 – on an evening all three of my selections landed – setting up a tie with FK Shkendija of North Macedonia in the next qualifying round.
Motherwell finished one place and four points better off than their hosts in the Premiership table last season, and also entered the Conference League at the second qualifying round.
Things were much more straightforward for the Steelmen, as they followed up a 2-0 victory at a packed Fir Park in the first leg against HB Torshavn by going to the Faroes and winning the second leg 0-3 – on an evening I landed a 17/20 winner.
That comprehensive victory for Alfred Johansson’s new side sets up a tie with record Finnish champions HJK in the third qualifying round of the Conference League.
How the bookies view it: Hibs favourites
Hibs are favourites to follow up their big European win at Easter Road on Thursday night, with bet365 pricing a home success at 5/4.
Motherwell are 21/10 to make it three wins from three under new boss Alfred Johansson, whilst the draw is 12/5.
Head to head: Four unbeaten for the Steelmen
You could argue Motherwell finished above Hibs in the Premiership table courtesy of their unbeaten record against the Hibees last season, with the Steelmen winning two and drawing two of their four clashes with the Edinburgh club (W2-D2-L0), including a 0-1 success at Easter Road in their most recent meeting in May.
Players to watch: Look to Lukas
Lukas Fadinger has already had an impressive start to the campaign, as he scored the second goal in their first-leg success over HB in the second round of qualifying in the Conference League, before his penalty opened the scoring in Torshavn seven days later.
The Austrian has also scored twice and provided an assist across his last five Premiership appearances – including scoring the only goal when these sides last met at Easter Road in May – and is an appealing 10/3 at bet365 to Score or Assist in the capital on Sunday.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Hibernian: Sallinger, O’Hora, Kerr, Obita, Passlack, Mulligan, Chaiwa, Mayor, Boyle, Elding, Lowe
Motherwell: Paulsen, Sparrow, Girdwood-Reich, Moormann, Williams, Vogt, Priestman, Fadinger, Said, Charles-Cook, Booth
Anything else catch the eye?
Matches between these two sides last season were tight and surprisingly low-scoring, with their four meetings producing just five goals, with Under 2.5 Goals landing on each occasion.
However, it is worth noting that two sides are far better going forward than they are defensively, meaning I am happy to swerve betting the unders.
The Steelmen were involved in 13 draws in the Premiership last campaign, whilst Hibs saw 12 – and given that two of the last three meetings have resulted in a stalemate – I’m happy to back the draw in Leith on Sunday.
GambleAware