Hibernian v St Mirren

Hibernian vs St Mirren Preview

The opening weekend of the Scottish top flight season continues on Sunday afternoon when Hibernian play host to St Mirren at Easter Road and the hosts will be eager to start their new domestic campaign with a win after suffering a defeat in the 1st leg of their Europa Conference League last week.

A 2-1 defeat away from home at Andorran outfit Inter Club d'Escaldes handed Hibernian an opening loss of this new season but Hibs had previously posted three wins on the trot in pre-season friendlies with victories gained over Edinburgh City, Europa and Groningen respectively, so they will still be upbeat about their chances against St Mirren.

Hibernian achieved a satisfactory fifth-place finish at the end of both the regular Premiership season and also in the second stage Championship Group as well, so Hibs will be confident that they can get the better of The Saints on Sunday especially as they lost just five of their 16 home games during the regular season.

The home side also lost just once in their final seven games of the last campaign which included picking up three wins with victories over Hearts, St Mirren and most impressive of all, a 4-2 victory against Celtic.

St Mirren finished just one league position lower than their upcoming hosts, Hibernian, but level on points despite failing to win any of their final seven games overall which included being handed no fewer than five defeats in the process.

Losses incurred against Rangers, Kilmarnock, St Mirren (twice, home and away) and Aberdeen do not bode well for this forthcoming trip to Easter Road despite this fixture being the opening game of a new season, while each of these seven matches also saw St Mirren concede two goals or more in each of these games.

The bigger picture shows St Mirren have managed to capture just three wins out of their last 15 matches overall which came in the form of victories over Ross County, Livingston and Hearts while also slipping to eight defeats as well, while results away from home have been even worse where The Saints have been concerned.

St Mirren have captured just two wins from their previous 17 outings on the road in the Scottish top flight and having lost 10 of these games as well, the visitors look set for further disappointment in this season opener at Easter Road.

Hibernian v St Mirren Verdict

Hibernian picked up useful home wins against the likes of Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Hearts, St Mirren and Celtic towards the end of last season and the hosts also hold a good recent record against St Mirren as Hibs have won each of the previous three meetings on the trot, so an opening home win of the season looks to be on the cards for the hosts.

Therefore, our main bet will be Hibernian win @ 1.90

Other side bets worth considering:

Hibernian win & Under 2.5 goals @ 5.00

Correct score: Hibernian 2-0 @ 9.00