Hearts' mixologist has fans tipsy but Hibs have potential to sober them up

The first Edinburgh derby of last season was contested in October 2024 when both teams were at the wrong end of the Premiership having won a solitary match each. Hearts’ teenage striker James Wilson levelled late at Easter Road to force a 1-1 draw and keep Hibs in bottom spot. At that point serious questions were being asked of their head coach David Gray. The Jambos had already dispensed with theirs, replacing Steven Naismith with Neil Critchley.

This time around, it’s different. Very different. Six games into the 2025/26 campaign and Hearts are two points clear at the top of the league with five wins and a draw. Already there is chatter of a sustained title charge under current manager Derek McInnes, backed by Brighton owner Tony Bloom’s millions and his Jamestown Analytics player database.

Hibs are also undefeated. They’ve won once and posted five draws, the most recent a goalless stalemate at Celtic Park. They have only lost two league matches this calendar year. Hibs’ ascent from where they were a year ago is seriously impressive, hauling themselves off the floor to finish third last season.

That meeting a year ago was also the last time Hearts took something off Hibs. Derby bragging rights are currently in green-and-white hands, having won the past two 2-1 at Tynecastle and Easter Road. It is rare for Hibs to be this dominant in this fixture. You have to go back to December 27, 2023, when Lawrence Shankland scored an iconic stoppage-time winner in Leith, for a Hearts win.

Shankland is still front and centre of Hearts. He is a rejuvenated talisman, shrugging off last season’s struggles. He has netted seven times across all competitions and recently bagged a double at Ibrox to slay Rangers. But he is not the only poster boy in Gorgie, even if earlier this week McInnes quipped that he walks around Tynecastle “like he owns the place”.

Hearts’ potent mix

Unlike last season, Hearts have goals. They’ve scored 15 in the league so far - more than anyone else. If Shankland is not on target, it is Portuguese forward Claudio Braga, Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis or one of their many aerial threats from corners and free-kicks. The Jambos have a bespoke set-piece coach and that appointment is paying off handsomely.

Blended together by mixologist McInnes, this potent concoction has some Hearts fans tipsy on notions of winning the title. They have been egged on by Bloom, whose arrival was greeted with his bold claims of landing the league in the next decade - and even splitting the Old Firm this season. Those who cheekily suggested he may have been making those comments under the influence are looking slightly concerned. Bloom has form for upsetting the applecart with Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise.

Hearts have momentum right now. McInnes reckons everyone in Scotland wants them to lose, for fear of the runaway train. Wins over Aberdeen, Dundee United, Livingston, Rangers and Falkirk - plus coming back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Motherwell - are proof of their power. Tynecastle is frothing with expectation.

Nevertheless, McInnes and his players have been trying to play down the idea of Hearts winning the league. So much water is still to flow under the bridge - and the visit of Hibs carries real threat.

Previous teams from across the city have wilted rapidly in the heat of Tynecastle. Under Gray, Hibs have resilience. Already this season they have gone to Midtjylland, Partizan Belgrade, Legia Warsaw and Celtic Park, avoiding defeat and in some cases winning. A 2-0 win in the white-hot surroundings of Serbia must go down in the pantheon of away wins for Scottish clubs in Europe.

The painful failure of falling at the last hurdle in the Conference League in Poland left its mark on Hibs, a slight hangover. They have not won since, and chucked away a two-goal lead at Falkirk, raising fresh questions about their defence. The response? A 0-0 draw at Celtic last weekend.

This will be Hearts’ sternest test of the season. Hibs carry a threat at the other end too, with Kieron Bowie and Martin Boyle - a slayer of Hearts in the past - in attack. Eight points separate the two teams, but the gap between them is closer.

Gray’s big call in defence

One of Gray’s big calls will be whether to reinstate cult hero Rocky Bushiri into the team. He missed the Celtic match due to personal reasons and Grant Hanley deputised in the heart of a back three magnificently, flanked by Warren O’Hora and Jack Iredale. Bushiri is a popular figure at Easter Road but he has not been as convincing this season as last. Removing Hanley from his current position feels like a mistake - especially when you recall his performance for Scotland in Denmark last month.

Hibs will need to stand firm. Hearts are likely to come at them right from the off. This is McInnes’ first taste of the Edinburgh derby and tactically, he is set to stick with his 4-4-2 formation that has gleaned so many attacking rewards. Hibs prefer to play 3-5-2 and could dominate the midfield, although there are injury doubts over their Zambian internationalist Miguel Chaiwa, a rangy, powerful operator who would be missed in such an encounter.

A Hearts win - and the bookies have them odds-on favourites - would move them provisionally five points clear of Celtic ahead of their match with Motherwell. Given the frailties they and Rangers are both showing, such an outcome would merely heighten the excitement at Hearts.

A word of caution, though: the last time Hearts were talked up as title contenders in 2005, when Vladimir Romanov was in power, they went 13 games unbeaten before their run was ended by ... Hibs.

The Jambos did finish second that year, to much acclaim, and also won the Scottish Cup. Inflict defeat on this obdurate and dangerous Hibs team and it will be hard to silence the hype.