The Premiership’s two most out-of-form sides meet in Dingwall on Saturday afternoon as relegation-threatened Ross County hosts Hearts.
Hearts were beaten 0-1 at home to Dundee last weekend, and just a couple of hours after that defeat, they finally decided to part with manager Neil Critchley.
Missing out on the top-six, a Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Aberdeen, an embarrassing European exit and failing to beat their Edinburgh rivals Hibs in three attempts this season – losing each of the last two – ultimately cost the Englishman his job.
The Jambos have not just failed to win, but they have also failed to score in each of their last four Premiership matches, with their last success coming in a 2-0 victory over their hosts at Tynecastle in the middle of March.
Ross County’s poor run of form continued last time out, as they fell to a 2-0 defeat in Ayrshire at Kilmarnock on an afternoon where all three of my selections landed.
That’s now five defeats on the spin and six from their last seven for County – failing to even score in five of those defeats – leaving them only six points clear of rock-bottom St Johnstone and now two behind Dundee, who climbed out of the relegation playoff position at their expense last week.
How the bookies view it: Jambos unconvincing favourites
Despite their poor run of form, Hearts make the trip north as favourites, with BoyleSports pricing them at 5/6 to claim all three points.
County are 14/5 to end their five-match winless run, whilst the stalemate is 5/2.
Head to head: Hearts with the upper hand
Hearts are unbeaten in their three netting with Ross County, drawing each of the opening two before winning 2-0 at Tynecastle a couple of months back.
Players to watch: Kabangu to end his drought?
Ronan Hale is County’s leading scorer with nine in the Premiership this season, with one of those earning County a point at Tynecastle at the end of September.
January signing Elton Kabangu made an immediate impact since signing on loan from Union Saint-Gilloise, with the Belgian bagging eight goals for the Edinburgh club, but is without a goal since scoring the opener in their 2-0 victory over The Staggies in the middle of March.
Predicted line-ups:
Ross County could be once again without the injured Ryan Leak and Aidan Denholm, whilst Noah Chilvers is out for the season with an ACL injury.
Hearts will be missing club captain Lawrence Shankland and defence Gerald Taylor, but youngster James Wilson is available following suspension.
Ross County: Amissah, Campbell, Lopata, Tomkinson, Wroght, Randall, Kenneh, Ashworth, Samuel, White, Hale
Hearts: Gordon, Forrester, Kent, McCart, Penrice, Baningime, Devlin, Spittal, Grant, Wilson, Kabangu
Anything else catch the eye?
I successfully backed against goals in County’s defeat at Kilmarnock last week, and I’m prepared to do the same once again this week.
Ross County’s previous seven Premiership clashes have averaged just 1.86 goals per game, with Under 2.5 Goals paying out in six (86%) of them, whilst both teams have failed to score in six of their last seven and eight of their past 10.
Meanwhile, Hearts’ previous five Premiership matches have averaged just 1.40 goals per game, with Under 2.5 Goals landing in four of them, whilst each of their last five across all venues and seven of their past 10 away from home have seen both teams fail to find the target.
This Scottish Premiership match between Ross County and Hearts will be played on and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Ross County vs Hearts prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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