Given that the form book favours Aberdeen ahead of this Scottish Cup semi-final showdown, backing Jimmy Thelin’s team to avoid defeat inside 90 minutes looks a touch too big at the odds on offer. After a sticky patch between November and February, the Dons would appear to have gotten their act together again as they now find themselves enjoying a six-match unbeaten run. Aberdeen can also draw confidence from their head-to-head record against Hearts this season, having avoided defeat in each of the three Scottish Premiership showdowns between the pair this term.

The Jam Tarts have not been as convincing of late, drawing one and losing two of their last three matches. The capital club’s failure to clinch a place in the top six of the Scottish Premiership at Motherwell last weekend has cranked up the pressure on manager Neil Critchley ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final clash.

This semi-final tie has the makings of an entertaining encounter, with both teams to score an appealing angle of attack. Last week’s 2-2 draw with Rangers means Aberdeen have now paid out for both teams to score backers in 19 of their 33 Scottish Premiership matches this season, including four of their last six topflight tussles.

Similarly, each team has obliged in 18 of Hearts’ opening 33 Scottish Premiership assignments of the campaign. That 18-game sample includes two of Hearts’ three meetings with Aberdeen in the top flight this term. It’s also worth noting that both teams have scored in each of Hearts’ three outings in this season’s Scottish Cup, while Aberdeen failed to keep a clean sheet when seeing off second-tier strugglers Queen’s Park in the previous round.

With plenty of goalmouth action expected to be on the agenda at Hampden on Saturday, it also makes sense to side with over 2.5 goals at an attractive price. Aberdeen have been involved in a number of goal-heavy games of late, with seven of their last 10 matches across all competitions breaking the over 2.5 goal barrier. Drill a little deeper and it can be seen that five of the Dons’ last seven outings have produced a minimum of four match goals, including last week’s 2-2 draw with Rangers.

As for Hearts, nine of their last 13 matches in league and cup competition have featured over 2.5 goals, including two of the three Scottish Cup ties that they successfully navigated en route to this stage of the tournament. It’s also worth pointing out that Hearts and Aberdeen shared five goals between them in a Scottish Premiership thriller earlier this season.

Kevin Nisbet has been in a rich vein of form in recent weeks and, therefore, looks underrated and undervalued in the anytime goalscorer market. The in-form Aberdeen forward has made the net bulge seven times across his last 10 appearances in all competitions, with five of those goals arriving across his last six outings.

As such, Nisbet will be rubbing his hands at the prospect of going up against a Hearts side that have struggled defensively this season. In fact, the capital club have failed to keep the back door shut in 13 of their 17 Scottish Premiership away games this season, as well as each of their three Scottish Cup ties to date, making Aberdeen ace Nisbet the prime candidate to exploit that defensive vulnerability.