HEARTS have made a near-perfect start to life back in the Scottish Premiership and have even been talked up as possible title challengers.
And they will get the perfect chance to walk the walk when they visit Ibrox to play Rangers on Saturday.
Robbie Neilson's side have been in terrific form and look strong all over the pitch. They have arguably the best keeper in the country, John Souttar has been superb at the back, Beni Baningime and Cammy Devlin are a great combination in midfielder and the predatory instincts of Liam Boyce has seen him bang in the goals.
In contrast, Rangers have been nowhere near the all=conquering force of last season and appear not to have clicked so far.
However, they are still top of the league despite being nowhere near their best.
Hearts' rivals Hibs went to Ibrox before the international break and were a goal up before that controversial Ryan Porteous red card. The question will be do Hearts have the bottle to do better?
It's a hugely intriguing encounter and it promises to be a cracker in Govan.
How the bookies view it
Rangers are always going to be strong favourites and they can be backed at 8/13 at BoyleSports. The Jambos are 11/2 with bet365 and SBK has the draw at 33/10.
Recent head to heads
Hearts have actually won the last two clashes between the teams, but they were both at Tynecastle.
Hearts have a dreadful record at Ibrox though – they've lost on their last six visits and haven't won there since 2014 when both clubs were in the Championships.
Here's their last meeting in the Scottish Cup last year
Players to watch
With Kemar Roofe an injury doubt, Steven Gerrard may use Ianis Hagi and he consistently comes up with the goods in big games. He scored for Romania in Germany last week and is 15/8 to score anytime with McBookie.com
Liam Boyce is on an outstanding ten goals in 13 games for Hearts already this season and there could be value in McBookie.com#s 2/1 on him to score.
Anything else catch the eye?
Hearts will fancy their chances of at least scoring in Glasgow and bet365's market of the visitors scoring before the 72nd minute at 10/11 looks to be a good price.
It's not just how decent Hearts have looked in their first XI, it's the options Neilson has off the bench which really impresses. In their last game, he could turn to the likes of Gary Mackay-Steven, Peter Haring, Jamie Walker and Josh Ginnelly – all of whom would walk into most Scottish top flight teams.
With that in mind, the double chance of 29/20 with McBookie.com of Hearts and the draw looks to have a great chance as long as they don't freeze and there's been no sign of that so far.
This Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Hearts will be played on Oct 16, 2021 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Rangers vs Hearts prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.