Hearts and Motherwell are set to clash at Tynecastle Park on Saturday afternoon in the third matchday of the post-split Scottish Premiership season.
The hosts are eighth in the table with 43 points from 35 games, while the visitors are seventh in the league standings with 45 points from 35 fixtures.
Match preview
Hearts had established themselves as arguably the ‘best of the rest’ in the Scottish Premiership by securing two third and one fourth-placed finishes in the last three seasons.
The Jambos would have been aiming for another finish in the European places this season, but Hearts have instead experienced an extremely turbulent campaign.
Hearts went winless in their first 10 games across all competitions, resulting in Steven Naismith‘s dismissal, and although his successor, Neil Critchley, initially improved the Jambos’ fortunes, the former Blackpool manager has also been sacked this season.
Critchley lifted Hearts into sixth place with just one game of the regular season remaining, but two defeats and a draw in the final three matches allowed St Mirren to snatch the final top-half spot.
Their struggles continued with a 2-1 loss to Aberdeen in the Scottish FA Cup semi-final, followed by a 1-0 loss to Dundee in the first post-split fixture – results that culminated in Critchley’s dismissal.
Liam Fox has been appointed interim manager for the second time this season, and he guided Hearts to a 3-1 victory over Ross County in his first match last weekend, and the Jambos will now aim to build on that result on Saturday.
Their opponents, Motherwell, are two points above Hearts in the Scottish Premiership table, sitting seventh in the standings with 45 points from 35 fixtures, after 13 wins, six draws and 16 defeats.
The Steelmen similarly failed to qualify for the top half of the post-split season, missing out by two points as they finished eighth, largely due to a lacklustre run of one league win in 11 matches between December and February.
That run also saw Stuart Kettlewell depart the club after receiving intense criticism from the fans, with Michael Wimmer eventually appointed as his permanent successor.
Wimmer largely failed to improve their form, winning only two of their final seven regular season fixtures as they ultimately failed to secure a top-half finish, but the Steelmen have now won each of their two post-split matches.
Looking to maintain that winning momentum in order to build a foundation ahead of the next campaign, Wimmer will be eager for his side to secure all three points once again on Saturday.
Team News
Hearts will be without Gerald Taylor until later this month due to a knee injury that the defender sustained in early April, while the remainder of the squad should be available for selection.
Lawrence Shankland has endured a relatively underwhelming season by his standards, scoring just seven goals in 40 appearances after netting 59 in 94 matches over the previous two campaigns, however, with three goals in his last two games, the forward will be looking to extend his scoring streak on Saturday.
As for the visitors, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, Archie Mair, Jack Vale, Kofi Balmer, Liam Gordon, Paul McGinn, Ross Callachan, Sam Nicholson, Shane Blaney and Zach Robinson are all ruled out with injury problems.
Johnny Koutroumbis will also be unavailable for selection after the full-back received a straight red card in the 80th-minute of Motherwell’s 2-1 win against Dundee last weekend.
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Forrester, Kent, Halkett, Penrice; Grant, Baningime, Spittal; Vargas, Shankland, Forrest
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Oxborough; O’Donnell, Casey, Thompson; Sparrow, Halliday, Miller, Paton; Slattery; Watt, Maswanhise
We say: Hearts 2-1 Motherwell
Motherwell may be in greater form than their hosts, but the Jambos have defeated the Steelmen in five of the last six meetings at Tynecastle Park, leading us to expect a home victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
