Hibernian will look to continue their impressive league form under Paul Heckingbottom this Sunday when Celtic come to Easter Road.
The Hoops, led by former Hibs boss Neil Lennon, are the only side to beat a Heckingbottom Hibs team. They defeated the Hibees in Scottish Cup action 2-0 in March.
Hibernian fell to defeat against Celtic last time out. (photo by Alan Rennie/Action Plus via Getty Images)
The men from Leith haven’t lost since, regaining their mojo they had last season under the current Celtic boss. In saying that, Hibs will need to turn in their best performance under Heckingbottom if they want anything out of this clash.
NTOF has predicted what the former Leeds manager will go for against the champions on Sunday.
The starting XI
Consistency has been key for the Hibees recently, so it’s unlikely their Edinburgh derby side will change drastically, if at all.
The Hibees boss is unlikely to make drastic changes. (photo by Alan Rennie/Action Plus via Getty Images)
I believe Heckingbottom will go with the tried and trusted 4-1-3-2. In goals will be Ofir Marciano. The back four has been a major factor in Hibs’ recent revival. It will be a blow and a shock if David Gray, Darren McGregor, Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson aren’t starting at the back.
Mark Milligan will guard the midfield, with Stephane Omeonga and Daryl Horgan on the flanks. The one change I foresee in midfield from the Edinburgh derby is Vykintas Slivka coming in for Stevie Mallan.
The Lithuanian offers a more defensive performance than Mallan, which may be useful for Hibs. They will be under pressure for large parts of the game and his extra physicality in the middle may be useful.
Slivka is more physical than Mallan. (photo by Alan Rennie/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Marc McNulty and Florian Kamberi will link up once more in attack. Don’t be surprised to see the latter move out wide as the game progresses though, with Heckingbottom deploying him on the flanks on a few occasions already.
Here’s our full starting XI in list form.