Hearts vs Hibernian Prediction: Both teams will find the back of the net

In an Edinburgh derby, high-flying Hearts will host old rivals Hibernian at Tynecastle. This will be a very competitive game between the two clubs. Hearts defeated St. Johnstone in the middle of the week to take the lead in the battle for second place in the Scottish Premiership behind the Old Firm clubs; Hibs, meanwhile, lost to Celtic and are now five points behind their rivals.

After letting a two-goal lead slip, Hearts rallied to beat St. Johnstone 3-2 on Wednesday at McDiarmid Park. With the win, Hearts improved to 7 points out of 9 after returning from the World Cup break. It looked like victory was secured after in-form captain Lawrence Shankland put the Jambos up from the penalty spot and Alan Forrest scored in the 33rd minute, but it took an intervention from replacement Barrie McKay to seal the deal and give the Jambos the win. As a result, Robbie Neilson's squad is currently third in the Scottish Premiership league, with a three-point lead over Aberdeen in fourth place. Due to Hearts' early elimination from the Europa Conference League, finishing in third place behind Celtic and Rangers would assure European football for next season. A win against their most hated rivals to kick off the New Year would do more than just help them get back on track after a disappointing loss in August's rematch between the clubs from the nation's capital.

Johnson's job security at Hibernian has become increasingly uncertain over the past few weeks due to the team's dismal run of form, which has seen them lose eight of their last ten league matches. The 4-0 victory on Christmas Eve provided a brief glimmer of hope, but it was quickly extinguished by a rampaging Celtic side on Wednesday. Hibs' stunning win against Livingston was nullified when the champions scored twice in each half to defeat them. Leith are tenth in the Premiership heading into 2023, and they haven't won the derby in seven tries. Priority number one for Johnson could be avoiding another humiliating loss on Monday, but they are already five points behind their bitter rivals and have played a game more. Because of this, the 3,000 Hibees fans who have tickets to the game will be rooting for their club to win. Even though the former Sunderland manager's first Edinburgh derby finished in a draw owing to Boyle's late heroics, his team has won only twice on the road this season and will be facing one of their toughest tests of the season with low confidence.

This season, neither team has shown the ability to keep the back door closed for an extended period of time, which means that a high-scoring Edinburgh derby is likely to end with goals from both teams. However, given that they are playing at home and have been in better form as of late, it appears that Hearts will come out on top, increasing their lead in the standings over Hibs.