HEARTS need to get their act together in the league and they welcome one of their favourite opponents on Sunday when they host Aberdeen.
There's a sense of bubble bursting with Jimmy Thelin's men after collecting just a point from their last two fixtures at St Mirren and Hibs following their incredible start to the league.
But to be fair to the Dons, they were seconds away from beating Hibs at Easter Road in a thrilling 3-3 draw in midweek after coming a cropper in Paisley before that, despite having the vast majority of possession.
And they now have two big problems – teams have discovered they are vulnerable to high balls through the middle and they have a truly awful record in Gorgie.
However, they remain a remarkable 23 points clear of Hearts and already look absolutely nailed on for a battle with Rangers for second place.
Hearts were in midweek European action and went down to a 2-0 defeat at Cercle Brugge and that usually has a detrimental effect on non-Old Firm teams who always seem to struggle domestically after midweek European exertions.
Last week, they matched Celtic at home for 45 minutes before being blown away in the second half.
How the bookies view it: Hearts good things
Home advantage sees Hibs favourites at 13/10 with bet365 despite the gap in points between the sides. Aberdeen are 2/1 with William Hill and the draw is 13/5 with UniBet.
Recent head to heads: Dons gloom in Gorgie
As a general rule, Hearts always beat Aberdeen at Tynecastle and Aberdeen always beat Hearts at Pittodrie.
Hearts have won the last five capital visits and are unbeaten in the last 13 visits from the Dons stretching back seven years.
Players to watch: Solk it to em
Lawrence Shankland's miserable season plunged to a new new in midweek when the Hearts captain missed a penalty and was booed by his own fans with his tally now one goal in 22 this season for club and country. He is 43/20 to net against his old club at anytime with UniBet.
Ester Solker netted a sensational injury time overhead kick to send Aberdeen into a 3-2 lead at Hibs in midweek, but they couldn't hold on for the win. The Slovenian striker has seven for the season now and is 23/10 to score anytime with UniBet.
Predicted line-ups:
Hearts are without the suspended James Prentice and he's a big loss.
Aberdeen are again missing only Papa Gueye and Thelin has a full squad to choose from.
Hearts: Gordon, Forrester, Kent, Rowles, Penrice, Devlin, Boateng, Spittal, Dhanda, Vargas, Shankland.
Aberdeen: Mitov, Devlin, Mackenzie, Molloy, Rubezic, Shinnie, Nilsen, Duk, Clarkson, Keskinen, Sokler.
Anything else catch the eye?
Normally this would have home win written all over it but the combination of a tiring midweek European game in Belgium and Aberdeen's upturn this season could see the Dons claim their second point from the capital in a few days following their midweek draw at Hibs.
Aberdeen have suddenly seen their defensive fragilities exposed and you would expect Hearts to try and target that, although with only 15 league goals compared with Aberdeen's 28, they have struggled in that department., especially with Shankland wildly off form.
There's usually no love lost when these sides meet and there was a red card in their meeting at Pittodrie this season. Back over 4.5 cards at 4/6 with bet365.
This Scottish Premiership match between Hearts and Aberdeen will be played on Dec 1, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Hearts vs Aberdeen prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
