Hibs: Horrendous form of top six clubs going into 2022 laid bare

Coming back from the winter break there existed a nine-gap gap between Hearts in third and Aberdeen in sixth as things promised to ramp up in the second half of the cinch Premiership season.

Six games later Hearts now have a ten-point gap on their closest challengers in fourth, Dundee United, who weren't even in the top half of the table going into the new year. They have achieved this despite suffering three defeats and one draw.

That’s because Motherwell, Hibs and the aforementioned Dons – the fourth-through-six clubs when the league resumed – have seen their form completely crater.

Combined, the trio have played 17 times (Aberdeen had one postponed). They have zero victories. There have been six draws and a staggering 11 defeats. There has been one meeting between any of them: a 0-0 draw between Motherwell and Hibs at Fir Park.

The Hibs players leave the Fir Park pitch during their 0-0 draw with Motherwell. Picture: SNS

There have been nine goals scored and 28 conceded.

Motherwell’s issues stem from the decision to sell Tony Watt to Dundee United after he agreed a pre-contractdeal to move to Tannadice in the summer. Graham Alexander’s attack has been anemic ever since.

Aberdeen have continued to struggle badly on their travels, losing to St Mirren and Livingston and drawing with Ross County, while their only two home games have been against Celtic and Rangers.

Hibs, meanwhile, are striving, but struggling, to find their feet under the stewardship of Shaun Maloney and sold talisman Martin Boyle in the January window.

Motherwell are the only one of the three to remain in the top six, dropping one place to fifth. Hibs sit in seventh while Aberdeen have slipped to ninth.

Message from the editor

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.