THE early-season optimism at Heart of Midlothian has evaporated amidst a dismal run of results and pressure will start to mount on Robbie Neilson if his side lose at Rigas FS in their second UEFA Europa Conference League clash.
I thought the bookies had blundered by making Istanbul Basaksehir odds-against for a Tynecastle win last week and I'm sure I wasn't the only punter who cashed in by backing the Turks.
But the manner of the defeat surprised me as the Jambos crashed to a 4-0 humbling and it's now six losses in seven games for Neilson's side.
They desperately need a victory to get them back on track and when the draw for the group stage was made, Hearts would have been targeting three points against RFS on the road.
The Latvians looked to be the weakest team in the group after only just scraping past Linfield on penalties in the play-offs but claimed a shock 1-1 draw away to Italian giants Fiorentina last week.
The stats suggest RFS are a tough team to beat, having lost just three of their 20 games so far this season, so if Hearts don't get back to their best it could be another dark night for Scottish football in Europe.
How the bookies view it
It's a tricky one to call but Heart of Midlothian are the slight favourites at a best 11/8 with Betfred. Rigas FS are 25/11 with VBet while the draw pays 13/5 at Bet365.
Head to head
These teams have never faced off before but Hearts will be hoping to avoid following in the footsteps of Aberdeen, who crashed to a embarrassing defeat against Skonto Riga back in 1994.
Players to watch
Andrej Ilic scored for RFS in that draw with Fiorentina and presents their biggest goal threat here. The Serbian striker is 5/2 with Betway for anytime scorer which looks a bit generous.
Hearts have gone three games without scoring but netted in Zurich on their last European away day. It was Lawrence Shankland who scored from the spot that night and he's 13/8 with Betfair for another goal in Riga.
Anything else catch the eye?
RFS have been pretty free-scoring all season and have netted in their last 11 games. BTTS has come up in six of their seven European ties and that bet pays 5/6 with McBookie here. Over 2.5 goals offers a bit more value and it's priced 11/10 with Ladbrokes.
Four cards were flashed to Rigas FS players in Florence and they picked up five yellows away to Linfield. That suggests we could see a busy night for the ref, although I've yet to see a market for total cards. But individual prices are available and Ziga Lipuscek appeals for a card at 11/5 with Bet365 given he's collected four yellows already in Europe this season.
I'd expect Hearts to have most of the ball and to go on the offensive so the 11/10 on offer at Bet365 for the Jambos to win most corners looks good.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between RFS and Heart of Midlothian will be played on Sep 15, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best RFS vs Heart of Midlothian prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
