Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Hibs seek revenge in Edinburgh derby – how to follow

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Sunday marks the second meeting of the season between Edinburgh rivals Hearts and Hibernian.

Grant Scott’s Hibs side will be desperate to right the wrongs of the 4-0 loss they suffered at Easter Road earlier this term.

This weekend, it is Hearts’ turn to host.

“Disappointment is the only word I can use,” Hibs boss Scott said when reflecting on that four-goal defeat.

“We strongly believe we didn’t get anywhere close to the level we can and Hearts, to their credit, took full advantage.

“Hopefully we won’t see a repeat of that this weekend.”

Meanwhile, Hearts will be hoping for a repeat of that game, an occasion manager Eva Olid described as “so special”.

“But this time to win here, in our own stadium, would be even more special,” she added.

Prior to that meeting in September, the sides had been pretty closely matched.

Last season, Hibs won three of the four games with scorelines of 2-0, 2-1 and 1-0. Hearts won the other match 2-0.

Since then, the pair have made use of one another’s squads with considerable back and forth transferring during the summer window.

Kathleen McGovern and Ciara Grant moved from Hearts to Hibs, while Naomi Powell moved in the other direction.

Hearts have had the better start to the season, though, and currently sit third in the top flight, joint on points with Rangers and only one off leaders Glasgow City.

Hibs are currently fifth, four points behind their Edinburgh rivals, three behind Celtic and five off top spot.

They have already taken points off last season’s top two having held both Celtic and Rangers to draws so far this season.

They are also in the quarter-finals of the SWPL Cup, where they will face Aberdeen for a spot in the final.

Ones to watch

Eilidh Adams and McGovern have been flying for Hibs in recent games, with the latter netting a hat-trick in a 4-1 cup victory over Partick Thistle.

She was kept pretty quiet last time out, but up against her old club again she is one to keep an eye on.

Hearts have been scoring goals from all over the pitch, but Bayley Hutchison (last season’s SWPL top goalscorer) is one to watch.

How to follow on the BBC

The match kicks off at 16:10 GMT and is live on BBC Alba, as well as the BBC Sport website, app and iPlayer.

There will also be live text of coverage of all six Sunday games from 11:50 on the BBC Sport website and app.

And on Monday night, watch all the goals and best of the weekend SWPL action on Sportscene at 19:00 on the BBC Scotland channel.

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