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Recommended bets
[RECOMMENDED_BETS]
Hearts are unbeaten in five meetings with Hibs, including a 3-1 victory at Tynecastle just last Saturday. All five Edinburgh derbies on neutral territory have been won by the Jambos, including a semi-final tie played as recently as Halloween 2020.
Heart of Midlothian to qualify is 8/15.
Heart of Midlothian to win in 90 minutes is 21/20.
Over 2.5 goals is 11/10.
Hearts to win and over 2.5 goals is 13/5.
Liam Boyce is 9/2 to break the deadlock and 6/4 to score anytime.
Match preview
For the first time in the Scottish Cup’s rich 150 year history, the semi-finals are comprised of Glasgow’s big two and Edinburgh’s big two.
The Old Firm will get going at Hampden in 26 hours time but, first up, 50,000 will make the journey west down the M8 for an equally big occasion.
Heart of Midlothian certainly come into this tie as favourites, underlined by the fact they beat their city rivals just last Saturday.
Andy Halliday scored his first brace for anyone since 2009, with Stephen Kingsley also on target in a come from behind 3-1 victory at Tynecastle.
So, despite the fact there’s five Premiership games to go, Robbie Neilson’s side are guaranteed to finish no higher or indeed lower than third.
This is crucial because that position secures European group stage football for next season, something Hearts have never previously enjoyed.
That is unless Hibs win the Scottish Cup so, not only can Hearts book their place in the final, they’ll rubber stamp eight European games next season in the process.
So far in the cup, the Jambos have hammered minnows Auchinleck Talbot before back-to-back, hard-fought home victories.
First, they needed a penalty shootout to oust Livingston before a thrilling 4-2 win over St Mirren at the quarter-final stage.
Now, will the 2019 and 2020 Scottish Cup finalists be returning to Hampden on 21 May for another showpiece occasion?
As for Hibernian, they finished third in the Premiership last season, but things aren’t going as swimmingly just now.
That defeat in Gorgie on Saturday means Hibs are now winless in six league games, only claiming victory once in 13 matches since the winter break.
As a result, Shaun Maloney’s men are rooted in the bottom half following the split and are just looking to steer clear of relegation with five games to go.
Thus, the Scottish Cup has proved to be a great distract with this run actually continuing Hibs’ fantastic recent record in domestic cups.
First, they needed extra time to edge out Cove Rangers at Easter Road, before impressive away victories at Arbroath and then Motherwell.
So, this is the sixth consecutive cup run in which they’ve reached the semi-finals, which is impressive consistency.
However, they were beaten in last year’s Scottish Cup Final by St Johnstone and this season’s League Cup Final by Celtic, so are still without silverware since 2016.
Who will claim capital city bragging rights and a ticket to the final with victory at Hampden?
Heart of Midlothian team news
Given Hearts’ form, and the fact they beat Hibs just last weekend, there’s no reason for Robbie Neilson to change anything.
John Souttar, Michael Smith, Beni Baningime, who scored his first goal for the club in the quarter-final, and Cameron Devlin are all injured.
As a result of this, Neilson switched to a back three last weekend, with Stephen Kingsley and Alex Cochrane taking care of the left side.
39 year old goalkeeper Craig Gordon has so far won four Scottish Cups in his career, the first of which was with Hearts 16 years ago.
At the other end of the pitch, Liam Boyce could continue in a more withdrawn role, alongside Barrie McKay, in support of Ellis Simms.
Hibernian team news
Hibs have already recorded a famous semi-final win at Hampden this season, beating Rangers 3-1 back in November.
That win was inspired by Martin Boyle’s first half treble, becoming the first Hibs player to score a Hampden hat-trick since Joe Harper in the 1974 League Cup Final.
However, despite the fact Boyle left for Al-Faisaly in January, he remains their top scorer with second on that list, Kevin Nisbet, out long term due to a Cruciate Ligament injured.
It’s pretty obvious why scoring goals is a problem, meaning they’ll turn to Elias Hoff Melkersen again; both his goals came in the previous round at Fir Park.
At the back, Ryan Porteous is currently in the midst of a four-match Premiership ban, but crucially can play in this tie.
So, he’ll return alongside Rocky Bushiri and Paul Hanlon with Josh Doig shifting over to left-wing-back.
Matt Macey has been injured recently but should be fit to start in goal with back-up Kevin Dabrowski on the bench.
Scottish Premiership table:
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