Hibs host St Johnstone in Scottish Premiership action on Saturday looking to cement their position in 3rd place in the table. Hibs have been in imperious form under David Gray after a slow start to the season, and haven't lost a league game since a trip to Celtic Park in early December. St Johnstone have stuck to their principles of playing possession based football after the arrival of Simo Valakari in October and have been in excellent form in 2025 considering they are bottom of the table. They have tasted defeat in just 2 of their last 7 league games as they look to extend their record 16-year stay in the Scottish top flight. A trip to Easter Road to play Hibs is however one of the most daunting tasks for a Scottish team currently.

The Hibees have had some morale boosting wins lately, running out victors in the Edinburgh derby at the start of March, which followed wins over runaway leaders Celtic and a big 3-1 win at Dundee United. Just before the break, they had the dreaded trip to Kilmarnock to play against a physical McInnes side on the top flight's only plastic pitch. Hibs dominated the game, creating 2.01 xG and creating a lot of issues for Killie's defence. They remained resolute though, which allowed Killie to grab a last minute equaliser to draw 1-1. This was a rare setback for Hibs, although the side have struggled to convert performances into wins at the trickier venues where the weather, pitch and playing conditions are poor.

Over Hibs' last 8 league matches, they've notched 1.75 goals per game from 1.21 xG on average. They have conceded just 0.75 goals per game from an average xG concession of 0.88. They have remained strong at the back with Iredale, Bushiri and Miller turning in regular performances across the backline. The only team to prevent Hibs from winning at Easter Road since November has been Rangers, who were perhaps fortunate to escape with a 3-3 draw after Hamza Igamane scored a perfect hat-trick to drag Rangers to a result.

St Johnstone played out a low-key draw away against strugglers Aberdeen before the international break, with neither side creating many opportunities in a match that produced just 1.22 total xG and 5 shots on target. Before this, St Johnstone fired their way to a Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden thanks to a wonder goal from range against Championship side Livingston. Livingston is a tough venue to go to, as they break up play and use the poor plastic surface to their advantage. Even still, Valakari will know his side were fortunate to leave Livi with the win after conceding 14 shots and 1.77 xG to lower league opponents.

Looking at St Johnstone's last 8 league games, they have averaged 1 goal per game from 0.95 xG. Their goal and chance concession has been good for the bottom side, sitting at 1.25 per game from 1.31 xG concession. However, they have struggled against form sides and on trickier away days. They conceded three within 25 minutes at Rangers, went 3-0 down at Kilmarnock within an hour and were on the ropes in a 1-1 draw at struggling Dundee a few weeks back. St Johnstone did manage to edge a tight 1-0 win at St Mirren on a muddy pitch, but outside of this have really struggled on the road in 2025.

Hibs lost their best player Nicky Cadden to a hamstring injury in their cup defeat to Celtic at the start of March, and he will miss a couple more matches still. Captain Joe Newell is in line to make his comeback in the centre of the pitch, but Hibs will be in no major rush given the form of Triantis, Levitt, Moriah-Welsh and Campbell in the middle. St Johnstone were rocked in February as their key defender Mikulic was ruled out for the season, while Ikpeazu and McClelland remain out long term.

The international break has seen both sides have players covering huge distances, and both should be equally impacted. Hibs had three important players in the Australia team, Bushiri and Manneh playing in Africa, Moriah-Welsh in the Americas and a couple of backup players in youth squads. St Johnstone were also heavily impacted however, as CB Balodis played two full matches for Latvia over the break, winger Duke-McKenna was playing in the Americas, vital forward Kirk was involved with Northern Ireland U21s, and rotation utility man Aaron Essel was away with Ghana U21s. Given both teams have had important players away, the effects of the international break should balance themselves out.

Looking at the sides' performances after international breaks, Hibs beat Saturday's opponents St Johnstone in a 2-0 win in September before managing a draw in the Edinburgh Derby. They came out the traps flying after the third break with a second minute goal at Dundee, but a 12th minute Obita red card led to Hibs losing 4-1 that day. St Johnstone won their other two matches following breaks with a 3-0 victory over Ross County and a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock, although both games were at home. In this previous match at Easter Road, St Johnstone managed just 5 shots and 0.24 xG as Hibs controlled the game with ease.

We are backing Hibs to do the same again on Saturday and they look excellent value on a -0.75 handicap line.

Best odds can be found at Bet365.