Livi welcome Heart of Midlothian to the Tony Macaroni Arena for the first time this season as they look to bounce back from Tuesday night’s agonising defeat to Aberdeen.

After battling out a goalless draw at Tynecastle back in September, the two sides go head-to-head once again in front of the BT Sport cameras in what is the Lions’ first-ever top flight match to be played on a Friday.

The Lions ended Hearts’ 100% start to the season when the two sides last met so Craig Levein’s side will no doubt be looking for revenge as they travel to West Lothian for the first time since 2015.

So with that in mind, let’s look ahead to the big game!

How has the Jambos’ season gone since we last met?

After that goalless draw at Tynecastle, Hearts won four of their next five games but also suffered their first Premiership defeat. They saw off Motherwell 4-2 in the Betfred Cup quarter-finals before claiming a 2-1 win over St Johnstone in the league.

Their unbeaten start was ended by a 3-1 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox but they bounced back from that loss with consecutive wins over Aberdeen (2-1 at home) and a thumping 3-0 win away to Dundee. They then took on Celtic in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Murrayfield but suffered a 3-0 defeat.

That defeat started a run of seven games without a win as a goalless draw in the Edinburgh Derby was followed by four straight defeats to Celtic (5-0), Kilmarnock (1-0), St Mirren (2-0) and Rangers (2-1). They ended that run with a 2-2 draw at St Johnstone before claiming a first win in eight games last Saturday with a 1-0 success over Motherwell at Tynecastle.

Is there any team news ahead of the big game?

Livi are still without long-term absentees Lee Miller and Raffaele De Vita, while Ricki Lamie is a doubt after missing the Aberdeen with a back injury sustained in last weekend’s win over St Mirren. Bobby Burns is also out as he can’t play against his parent club.

Hearts remain without Jimmy Dunne, John Souttar, and Uche Ikpeazu through ankle, hip and foot injuries respectively. Steven Naismith is back in full training after a knee injury but Friday’s match will come too soon for the Scotland international.

What have our opponents had to say about Friday’s match?

Hearts boss Craig Levein was full of admiration for Livi’s performances in the Premiership, saying: “Their story has been remarkable – considering they came out of the division last year that had a lot of big teams in that division, and to get out of it with a relatively small budget in comparable terms with other sides, was a really good achievement.

“They’re solid, no nonsense, aggressive, good at defending. I like that, that’s something to be admired, but we need to try and find a way of scoring.”

Jambos captain Christophe Berra was similarly fulsome in his praise of the Lions, saying: “won’t get a minute’s peace in the game I don’t think. They make you defend as well.

“They put balls in your boxes and for us to get a result on Friday we’re going to have to be right on it and defend for our lives and make sure that we can’t be slack, and we’ve got to be top of our game to do that.”

What are the chances of a Livi win on Friday night?

The Lions have only beaten Hearts twice in the last 16 years but league sponsors Ladbrokes think the outcome on Friday is very much in the balance with Livi priced at 2/1 and Hearts only narrow favourites at 6/4. A draw is also 2/1.

The first-ever top flight meeting between the two sides ended in a 2-1 Livi win and a repeat of that is available at 10/1 while another goalless draw is 13/2. If you’re feeling ambitious and fancy a repeat of the Lions’ last win over the Jambos back in 2014, a 4-1 home win is priced at 90/1.

Can I still get tickets?

There are still tickets available for both sets of supporters and these will be on sale up until kick-off. Home fans can buy tickets from the window next to turnstiles 1 and 2 while visiting fans can purchase their tickets from a sales point behind the East Stand, which is where Hearts fans will be accommodated.

Ticket prices for home games are:

£24 Adults

£16 Concessions*

£10 U16s

* Full time students on production of a current matriculation card, U18s, registered disabled (if with a carer and under 65 full price paid but carer admitted free)

Anything else I should know?

There will be a collection before the match in aid of West Lothian Foodbank. Collection bins will be located at various points around the stadium to allow both sets of fans to make a donation. A list of items which the food bank are most in need of can be found here.

I can’t make the game, how can I keep up to date?

The match is live on BT Sport 1 (Sky channel 413, Virgin 527) with the programme starting at 7:15pm while we will have live text commentary over on our Twitter from around 7.15pm. Highlights can be seen on Sportscene at 6pm on Sunday.

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow night!