Preview: Hearts vs. Livingston - prediction, team news, lineups

Hearts will be hoping to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they face Livingston in the Scottish FA Cup, with a place in the quarter-finals on the line for the victor.

The Lions are undefeated in their previous two matches and did progress past this round last season, which they shall be hoping to repeat this time around.

Match preview

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Hearts are undergoing a difficult spell at the moment, having only won a single game within their previous five outings, which took place against Motherwell at the end of January.

Since that point the Jambos have only scored a single goal, which took place in their most recent outing when they were defeated by Dundee, who sat bottom of the league prior to kick off.

Ellis Simms had given his team the lead in that match, but an own goal from Toby Sibbick opened up the game, and the Dark Blues followed that up with a 78th-minute finish by Danny Mullen to win the game 2-0.

The distraction of the Scottish Cup might be a welcome one for Robbie Neilson, with his team dominating in the fourth round when they entered the competition, defeating Auchinleck Talbot 5-0.

That victory saw Hearts go one step further than they managed last year, but they will now be hoping to progress again and make it into the final eight.

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Livingston are in stronger form at the moment, even though they are lower in the Scottish Premiership table, as the Lions are undefeated in their previous two performances.

David Martindale's squad defeated Aberdeen at the start of the month, but they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw on Wednesday against Ross County, with a 93rd-minute goal from Kayne Ramsay bringing them back into the game at the last second.

In the fourth round, Livingston beat the Staggies, with a first-half penalty from Ayo Obileye being enough to keep them in the competition, and they shall be attempting to reach the quarter-final, which they failed to do in the 2020-21 tournament.

Last year, the Lions were beaten in the fourth round last year via a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw with Aberdeen, and they shall be pushing to make history given they have never won the Scottish Cup.

However, they will need to improve upon their previous appearances against Hearts, as the Jambos have won both times they have met in the league, with Livingston having failed to score a goal against them.

Team News

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Simms marked his return to the Hearts starting lineup by finding the back of the net in midweek, and that should warrant him retaining his place in the team this weekend.

Meanwhile, Neilson also brought Peter Haring and Andy Halliday into his team once again for the defeat against Dundee, which will put them in contention for this fixture.

Caleb Chukwuemeka was only given seven minutes last weekend, and then he did not feature during the midweek match, with this possibly being a chance to provide him some minutes again.

The back four for Livingston rarely changes, and that is something that will likely be the case, with Martindale continuing to stick with what works for him.

Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Souttar, Sibbick, Kingsley; Moore, Haring, Baningime, Halliday; McKay, Boyce; Simms

Livingston possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Penrice; Omeonga, Holt, Pittman; Bailey, Forrest, Nouble

We say: Hearts 2-0 Livingston

Even though Livingston are in slightly improved form heading into this match, the hosts should be able to find passage into the next round.

Their previous encounters against the Lions are in their favour, proving that Hearts are more than capable of getting a result against them, which they shall be hoping to do here.

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