Livingston v Hibs: Match preview, possible teams, key battle

Hibs make the relatively short journey to West Lothian tomorrow to face Livingston for the first time on league duty since both teams were in the Scottish Championship.

Jamie Maclaren and Martin Boyle could start in attack tomorrow. Picture: SNS Group

Neil Lennon’s will be hoping for three points to lift them into second spot, albeit temporarily with Celtic and Rangers going toe-to-toe on Sunday afternoon, while Livi will be aiming to build on last week’s away win over St Mirren.

The capital club are without the services of Marvin Bartley, Flo Kamberi, Ofir Marciano and Darren McGregor, while Scott Martin has joined Hamilton on a two-year deal.

Lennon is likely to stick with more or less the same starting team that lined up against Aberdeen, but Jamie Maclaren could be restored to the attack at the expense of Oli Shaw after the Australian’s equaliser last week.

Livingston have no injury worries going into the match and know a win would catapult them into second spot - provided Aberdeen and Kilmarnock draw and St Johnstone fail to beat Hamilton.

Magic number

17 - Number of league games Hibs have won against Livingston, out of 25. Only two have ended in draws, with the Lions having six wins.

Key battle

Craig Halkett could be tasked with stopping Jamie Maclaren, who received a call-up to the Australia training camp in Turkey next month. Maclaren got off the mark with a late equaliser against Aberdeen last weekend and will be looking to add to his tally at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Referee

Steven McLean will be on duty for tomorrow’s clash. He’s taken charge of 35 matches involving Hibs, with the Easter Road side winning 13 of them - including last season’s 2-1 win over Celtic at Easter Road and the 2016 Scottish Cup win over Rangers.

Possible teams

Livingston: Kelly; Gallagher, Lithgow, Halkett; Byrne; Lawless, Robinson, Pittman, Lamie; Lawson, Hamilton. Subs from: Stewart, Saunders, McMillan, Crane, Burns, Blues, Jacobs, Cadden, Kaja, Menga, Miller.

Hibs: Bogdan; Gray, Ambrose, Porteous, Hanlon, Stevenson; Whittaker, Horgan, Mallan; Boyle, Maclaren. Subs from: Laidlaw, Mackie, Hyndman, Slivka, Agyepong, Swanson, F Murray, Shaw, Gullan.

Kick-off: 3.00pm