Scottish Premiership match previews, team news and live on Sky Sports
Hearts vs Hibernian will live on Sunday; kick-off 12pm; watch free highlights of every Scottish Premiership game on our website
Sunday 12 September 2021 12:38, UK
Team news for Hearts vs Hibernian with the game live on Sky Sports.
Hearts vs Hibernian - Sunday, 12pm, live on Sky Sports Football
Team news
Hearts wing-back Michael Smith is expected to be fit despite going off injured for Northern Ireland against Switzerland in midweek.
Stephen Kingsley is back after his recent injury lay-off meaning Robbie Neilson has a near-full-strength squad to choose from, with only Cammy Logan still out of contention.
New recruits Barrie McKay and Cammy Devlin are in the squad and could make their debuts, although Neilson is unlikely to make many changes from the side that won so impressively at Tannadice in their last match.
Hibs winger Jamie Murphy has joined Melker Hallberg, Sean Mackie and Christian Doidge on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring injury against Livingston a fortnight ago.
Jack Ross has a couple of other players who are carrying niggles but is hopeful they will be fit for Sunday.
Martin Boyle is expected to be available after missing Australia's World Cup qualifier against Vietnam as a precaution in midweek but it remains to be seen if any of Joe Newell, Paul Hanlon or Chris Cadden will be ready to return after their recent lay-offs.
Opta stats
- This will be the first league meeting between Hearts and Hibernian since a 3-1 Hearts victory in March 2020; the last side to win back-to-back Edinburgh derbies in the Scottish Premiership were Hearts in April 2014 under Gary Locke.
- Hibernian have won both of their last two away league visits to Hearts, this after having only managed one win in their previous 12 away trips in the top-flight before this (D4 L7).
- Hearts have won three of their opening four league matches this season (D1); they had only won three of their final 24 matches in their last season in the Scottish Premiership in 2019-20 (D9 L12).
- Hibernian are unbeaten in six league matches (W4 D2), last having a longer such run without defeat in November 2019 (nine games).
- Martin Boyle has scored in all four of his Scottish Premiership matches this season; the last Hibernian player to score in five consecutive appearances in the competition was Christian Doidge in December 2019. Boyle scored both goals for Hibs in his last league appearance at Tynecastle in a 2-0 win in December 2019.
Live SPFL
How to follow: Watch Hearts vs Hibernian live on Sky Sports Football from 11am; kick-off 12pm. Free match highlights will be published on the Sky Sports website, app and YouTube channel later that evening.
Key dates in the Scottish Premiership 2021/22 season
The top-flight will once again take a winter break from Monday January 3 until Wednesday January 26.
After 33 games, the league splits into two sections of six teams, with each team playing each other in that section.
The 2021/22 Scottish Premiership season with Sky Sports
- Up to 48 live matches from the Scottish Premiership, including every Old Firm encounter.
- Live coverage presented by Eilidh Barbour with analysis from Kris Boyd and Andy Walker, and more.
- Round-the-clock coverage on Sky Sports News, on skysports.com and across our Sky Sports social channels.
- Dedicated Scottish Premiership highlights show every week and free-to-watch highlights of every Scottish Premiership game on our website.
- Insight and analysis from our Scottish Football Podcast.
