Hearts will look to move seven points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table on Saturday afternoon as they face a tricky trip to Fir Park to take on Motherwell.
Hearts made a fantastic start to the season, with their 3-1 win over champions Celtic at the end of October, making it eight wins from a possible nine (W8-D1-L0).
However, Derek McInnes’s men have gone on to win just one of their next four Premiership matches (W1-D2-L1), seeing their lead cut to four points, with The Hoops having a game in hand.
The Jambos suffered their first defeat of the campaign at Pittodrie on Sunday, as they were beaten 1-0 by Aberdeen on an afternoon in which both of my active selections landed.
Motherwell began the campaign having won just one of their opening eight Scottish Premiership matches (W1-D5-L2), with the Steelmen struggling to turn draws into wins.
However, Jens Berthel Askou’s men have changed that in recent weeks, as they have gone on to win four of their next five (W4-D1-L0).
The latest of those victories came on Tuesday night, as they comfortably dispatched the other half of Edinburgh 2-0 at Fir Park, with that result moving them up to fourth, level on points with both Hibs and Rangers.
How the bookies view it: Hearts favourites
Despite winning just one of their last four Premiership matches, Hearts travel to North Lanarkshire as favourites, with bet365 pricing an away win at 11/10.
The same firm has Motherwell at 5/2 to make it five wins from their last six Premiership outings, whilst the draw is 23/10.
Head to head: Jambos with the recent advantage
Hearts have won four and lost just one of their last seven meetings with Motherwell (W4-D2-L1), but have failed to win on each of their previous two visits to Fir Park (W0-D1-L1).
These two clubs met at Tynecastle in August and played out a six-goal thriller, with Hearts coming from 0-3 down to draw 3-3.
Players to watch: More Maswanhise magic?
Tawanda Maswanhise has been in fine form for Motherwell this season, as he has scored eight goals in his previous 11 appearances, with the first of those coming when these two sides last met at Tynecastle back in August.
Three of those eight strikes have come in Motherwell’s last two matches – including the opener against Hibs in midweek – and I like the 6/4 on offer at bet365 for him to Score or Assist on Saturday.
Predicted line-ups:
Motherwell look to be without Aston Oxborough, Jordan McGhee, Stephen O’Donnell, Apostolos Stamatelopolous and Zach Robinson.
Hearts will be missing Calem Nieuwenhof, Finlay Pollock, Ageu and Beni Baningime, but Stuart Findlay, Craig Halkett and Lawrence Shankland should all be available.
Motherwell: Ward, McGinn, Gordon, Welsh, Priestman, Sparrow, Watt, Just, Koutroumbis, Charles-Cook, Maswanhise
Hearts: Schwolow, McEntee, Halkett, Findlay, Milne, Magnusson, Devlin, Braga, Kyzridis, Kabore, Shankland
Anything else catch the eye?
Hearts have been stuttering in recent weeks, with Derek McInnes’s men winning just one of their last four Premiership meetings (W1-D2-L1), with that coming in a 4-0 thrashing at home to second-from-bottom Dundee.
The Jambos have dropped points in their past two away games at St Mirren and Aberdeen, and I’m predicting them to drop more against an in-form Motherwell side.
Motherwell +0.25 Asian Handicap is priced at 21/20 at bet365, meaning we profit if they avoid defeat, and that appeals to me.
Fancy backing a team with a goal advantage or underdog status? Take a look at our Masterclass on Handicap Betting to understand how the margins shift.
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