[Beanie]

Mostly just taken from last weeks previews with a little update, as not much has changed.

Dunfermline v Hibs

I've kept stakes a little smaller than if this had been a Saturday match, but nevertheless the evens and better on offer was a little too good to pass up on.

Dunfermline

Rooted in 11th place and looking nervously over their shoulder at Livingston, the Pars are in danger of becoming detatched with the West Lothian side at the bottom.

The 1-0 loss to Falkirk was a bitter blow, not least as Falkirk offered little during the game, were reduced to 10 men, and relied heavily on a superb performance by keeper Matt Glennon. Nevertheless, a defeat is a defeat, and it leaves them with just 5 points so far this season.

At home Dunfermline have scored just 2 goals, both against Dundee United, while failing to register in their 4 other matches, and those weren't against the highest quality opposition either.

The opening day encounter with Hibs saw the home side reduced to ten men yet still come back to level the game, and were unlucky not to then go on and take all three points.

Their problems appear to stem from both a lack of firepower, and too many mistakes at the back. Burchill hasn't performed as Leishman would have hoped, while Taratchulski, Young and Hunt aren't about to score 20 goals in a season. At the back, defenders like Scott Thompson tend to be prone to individual errors or simply being caught out by pace on long balls over the top, and Hearts will look to take advantage tomorrow.

On Saturday, they didn't play too badly, but nor did they play too well. In order to win games against the big sides, like Livingston they will need to find some sort of creative spark somewhere in the team, and hope the defence has a decent day. Even though they can hope for the latter tonight, I doubt they will find the former in order to take anything from an electric Hibs side.

Hibs

This last fortnight has shown Hibs at their very best. Last week coming from 2:0 down to beat Kilmarnock 4:2, and on Saturday turning in a very solid defensive performance to take all three points from a tricky tie at Pittodrie.

The Killie game was typical of their attacking brand of football which they have been playing since Mowbray took over at Easter Road, and with Sproule, O Connor and particularly Riordan all in great form at the moment, now is the time when Hibs can really compete with the best in the league.

And against Aberdeen they restricted the Dons to just a handful of efforts from the edge of the box, and while the goal relied on a terrible defensive blunder from Zander Diamond, Hibs were the better side on the day.

Away from home this season they have been just as good as at Easter Road. Barring the 4:0 loss to Hearts, and the win in Aberdeen, they have beaten Motherwell, Rangers and Falkirk all by atleast 2 goals, and deserved every one of those results.

It is likely that Mowbray will employ a 4-5-1 tonight, but that isn't to say Hibs will approach the game defensively. I don't see how Mowbray can leave out Sproule or Riordan after two good performances on Saturday, which might just lend itself to Sproule down the right, and Riordan down the left, and both will provide a lot of support for O Connor in the middle. So while slightly cautious and geared towards keeping a clean sheet, I don't think its possible for any system to stifle Hibs attacking tendencies, and I'm not convinced its possible for Dunfermline to do so either.

3pts Hibs @ 2.00 with Paddy Power

(Paddy Power go 1.83 now )