Livingston v Hibs preview: Scottish Premiership team news, referee, starting XI, how to watch, match odds

Hibs make the short trip to West Lothian this weekend looking to take a step further in their quest to finish third.

Hibs travel to Livingston tomorrow

The Easter Road side have already beaten Livingston at Almondvale this season, recording a 4-1 win back in August with Kevin Nisbet netting a hat-trick and Christian Doidge also on the scoresheet.

David Martindale’s side have won just one of their last six matches; last week’s 2-1 win against Hamilton, but having taken four points from their previous two meetings with Aberdeen, Livi may fancy their chances of beating the Dons in the race for fourth and three points against Hibs could be a huge boost.

The hosts secured a place in the top six with their victory last weekend and while Martindale is relieved to avoid the bottom-six battle, he has urged his team to push on against Hibs.

He also confirmed Scott Robinson continues to be unavailable for selection but Alan Lithgow has an outside chance of involvement after returning from a long-term injury lay-off.

Hibs came from behind last time out to win 2-1 at Ross County, ending a run of two consecutive defeats, and will be eager to at least maintain their six-point lead over the Pittodrie side, who are on the road at Dundee United tomorrow afternoon.

Team news: At the time of writing Jack Ross has no new injury concerns, which will be a boost going into the final game before the split. Kevin Nisbet came off the bench to score the winner last weekend and after receiving a Scotland call-up mid-week, could be pushing for a return to the starting line-up. Jamie Murphy missed the trip to Dingwall and may sit out the trip to West Lothian, while Sean Mackie continues to be sidelined. Beyond that, however, Ross has a full squad to pick from.

Possible line-up (3-4-1-2): Marciano; P McGinn, Porteous, Hanlon; Cadden, Irvine, Gogic, Newell, Doig; Doidge, Boyle. Subs from: Macey, Gray, Stevenson, McGregor, Magennis, Hallberg, Wright, Allan, Nisbet, Bradley.

Match details: Saturday March 20; kick-off 3.00pm, Tony Macaroni Arena, Livingston

How to watch: Livi are offering a pay-per-view option on their in-house TV channel – details here.

Key stat: Hibs have on three occasions this season, won two consecutive away games. In August they defeated Livingston before winning at Dundee United three days later; in December they defeated Motherwell 3-0 and a week later beat Hamilton 4-0, and earlier this year a 2-0 win at Tannadice was followed up by a 2-1 at St Mirren three days later.

Referee: Nick Walsh takes charge of this encounter, backed up by Dougie Potter and Callum Spence, with Alan Newlands named fourth official.

The 30-year-old has overseen 17 Scottish Premiership fixtures this season, booking 46 players, sending off six, and awarding six penalties. As well as being the man in the middle for Hibs’ Betfred Cup semi-final defeat by St Johnstone, Walsh handled Hibs’ loss to Aberdeen in August, as well as the goalless draw with Ross County in October, and 1-1 draw with Celtic in January.

Match odds: Livingston 11/5 Draw 23/10 Hibs 13/10 (odds supplied by McBookie).

A 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.