HEARTS were handed another European lesson in midweek by Fiorentina and need to focus on domestic action when they face a tricky trip to Ayrshire on Sunday.
Robbie Neilson's side were blown away in the Europa Conference League game at Tynecastle in a one-sided defeat against the Serie A side.
And they've been a major disappointment in the league too having lost at Livingston and been comprehensively outplayed by both halves of the Old Firm despite manager Robbie Neilson predicting they would beat Rangers last week.
It seems they don't have the squad capable of playing the busy schedule that European group stage football brings.
Kilmarnock would have taken plenty of confidence from a morale-boosting midweek win over St Johnstone and they needed that.
They lost three games on the road at Hibs, Livingston and Aberdeen, but they seem a different animal on the artificial surface at Rugby Park.
Killie have beaten Saints and Motherwell there and will be targeting three points against a Hearts side whose confidence would have been rocked by that midweek mauling.
How the bookies view it
Hearts are th favourites here and can be backed by SBK at 21/17 with SBK.
Killie are available to win at 9/4 with bet365 and the draw is 23/10 with William Hill.
Recent head to heads
Kilmarnock have already stunned Hearts this season by winning at Tynecastle in the League Cup in a 1-0 shock.
In fact, Killie have an excellent recent record against Hearts – when they were last in the league, Killie won all three games.
Killie have actually won the last five meetings.
Players to watch
Daniel Armstrong scored a double to dump St Johnstone in midweek in a much-needed 2-1 win at Rugny Park. He is an attractive 5/1 to net with bet365.
Lawrence Shankland is Hearts' go-to guy for goals and has netted six so far this season. He is 6/4 to score at Rugby Park with UniBet
Anything else catch the eye?
Killie look too big against a Hearts side who are a shadow of themselves from last season's comfortable third placed finish. Derek McInnes' men have already defeated the Jambos in the League Cup this season and that was at Tynecastle.
Their survival depends on collecting points on their controversial home surface and they will have a go here. They are a big price to score two goals or more – something they managed against St Johnstone and Motherwell – and with Hearts defence looking fragile, they should be backed to do that at 2/1 with UniBet.
Hearts don't do both teams scoring – that hasn't happened in their last seven games and in nine of their last ten games only one team has scored.
It's 23/20 with BetVictor for only one team to score on Sunday.
This Scottish Premiership match between Kilmarnock and Hearts will be played on Oct 9, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Kilmarnock vs Hearts prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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