Aberdeen’s meeting with Hibernian at Easter Road on Saturday will be a much-changed affair from their last meeting.
A quick glance back at the starting XIs from when these sides last met on May 7 makes for interesting viewing.
Just five players are expected to still be in the starting line-up of the home side from the 1-1 draw at Easter Road in Ryan Porteous, Paul Hanlon, Joe Newell, Ewan Henderson and Josh Campbell.
The Dons, for their part, will have only three players from their starting line-up in the team which takes to the pitch at Easter Road in Vicente Besuijen, Jonny Hayes and Ross McCrorie.
Even then, McCrorie will be in midfield rather than the right-back role he occupied four months ago.
With 17 signings in total Lee Johnson has been one of if not the busiest manager in the top flight. Already, one of those new arrivals, Kyle McClelland, has joined Cove Rangers on loan.
Dons boss Jim Goodwin seems almost meagre in comparison with 11 new faces on board at Pittodrie.
Boyle a familiar foe
Aberdeen’s biggest transformation has been defensively and the new back four and goalkeeper will face a new if familiar foe this weekend in Martin Boyle.
Boyle, of course, could have been lining up for his hometown club Aberdeen rather than against them had the Dons been successful in their bid to bring Boyle back to the Granite City in August 2021.
Hibs moved quickly to fend up Aberdeen’s interest by securing Boyle on a new deal and that enabled them to command a seven-figure fee when Saudi Arabian side Al-Faisaly came calling for his services in January.
However, relegation from the top flight in Saudi meant Boyle was on his way back to Scotland and Hibs moved quickly to bring the Australian international back to Easter Road last month.
With two goals, the first a stoppage-time equaliser in the Edinburgh derby on his debut, the 29-year-old has wasted little time in showing why the Hibees were so keen to have him back in their ranks.
Is right-wing role getting the best out of Boyle?
It is no secret Boyle offers blistering pace to his team but what often goes unnoticed is the versatility he can provide too.
Those aspects make Hibs boss Johnson’s desire to play him as a right winger all the more surprising.
He has made five appearances since returning to Scotland, the first two coming off the bench.
He has started the last three games for his club, playing as centre forward in the 2-2 draw against Rangers at Easter Road, where he scored, and featured on the right wing in the last two games, a 1-0 defeat at St Mirren and a 1-0 win against Kilmarnock.
His last two appearances have come as a right winger and it’s fair to say the jury is out on whether that is his best position.
There are precious few passes into the box to suggest it is the way to get the most out of Boyle.
It will be interesting to see whether the two-week break from football has led to a change of approach from Hibs in terms of how to utilise Boyle.
But with the deadline day signings of Mykola Kukharevych and Harry McKirdy it seems Johnson has a different role in mind for the fans’ favourite Boyle.
But if he is going to feature for the third game in a row on the ring wing then the responsibility for keeping him in check this weekend will fall to Hayden Coulson at left back and left central defender Liam Scales.
We’ve focused on the balance Coulson brings to the side already this season but it is his defensive qualities which will be needed on this occasion.
St Mirren tactics show how Boyle’s influence can be restricted
As this touch map shows, Boyle is a predominant feature down the right.
Hibs have looked to get him involved as much as possible and stopping the supply will be crucial for the tandem of Coulson and Scales – and in all likelihood Jonny Hayes further up the pitch.
If you can stop Boyle from pushing forward then he can be nullified. Restricting the supply is even better.
St Mirren did both to great effect in Paisley when the sides met on August 27.
Hibs had 70% possession against the hosts and more passes and accurate crosses, but they had no end product at all.
Richard Tait was the man tasked with keeping Boyle quiet and he performed admirably on the day against his opponent.
Tait stayed deep for the game in Paisley and Boyle was not involved in the game as a result.
The Hibs man was so restricted he had one touch of the ball in the Saints box, was successful with just three of his nine crosses and did not complete a successful dribble in the game.
Boyle can hurt you if given space
St Mirren succeeded in nullifying Boyle but Kilmarnock struggled in the next fixture on September 3.
The difference was space. Hibs were able to exploit it after former Don Ash Taylor was sent-off in the 11th minute.
In fact, just 70 seconds passed between Taylor’s dismissal and Joe Newell scoring the only goal of the game for Johnson’s side.
The absence of Taylor led to Boyle producing a much more influential day’s work.
With six touches in the Killie box, three successful dribbles from four attempts, eight crosses and five chances created, Boyle was a key figure in the win.
Discipline will be key from Coulson like that shown by Tait if he is to ensure Boyle has less of an impact on Saturday.
