SlipsTips Tips: Hearts vs Kilmarnock Bet Builder

SlipsTips is back to cast his eye over the Bet Builder market ahead of Hearts' clash with Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.

Heart of Midlothian vs Kilmarnock (Saturday, 15:00)

Heart of Midlothian will resume their Scottish Premiership campaign with a home match against Kilmarnock at Tynecastle on Saturday.

After cruising to a third place finish last season, Robbie Neilson's fifth-placed side have thus far struggled to demonstrate the same level of consistency this time around.

As for Kilmarnock, they snapped a three-game losing streak in the league with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Hibernian ahead of the Scottish top-flight going into hibernation.

Despite that much-needed victory, Derek McInnes’ men remain 11th in the table, and the bookies’ odds deem a capital double to be beyond them, with Hearts general 4/5 shots to prevail this weekend.

However, Killie have become something of a bogey team for Hearts, particularly at this venue in recent years, so much so that I’m going to steer clear of the 1×2 market and instead combine 5+ Hearts Corners and 20+Kilmarnock Booking Points at even-money (SkyBet).

While Hearts are averaging just 4.33 corners per-game this season – a figure that rises to 5.00 when operating at their capital headquarters – they have racked up a towering 22 flag kicks across their last three league fixtures.

Given the likelihood of Killie looking to keep things as tight as possible here, Hearts may have to adopt a patient approach, and I fancy to earn a minimum of five corners in the process – something they have managed in three of their last four league games on home turf, one of which was against Rangers.

To round off the Bet Builder, I’ll also go with a minimum of 20 Kilmarnock Booking Points – the Ayrshire outfit have averaged a sizeable 2.63 cards per 90 on their travels this term, breaking the 20+ Booking Points barrier in six of their eight Scottish Premiership road trips so far.

What’s more, referee Willie Collum is averaging a shade under 50+ Booking Points per-game in the top-flight this season, with the Scottish whistler dishing out two cards to Derek McInnes’ men during the one and only match he has taken charge of involving the Rugby Park side this term to date.

It’s also worth noting that the above-mentioned Bet Builder would have paid out when the pair crossed paths in the Premier Sports Cup at Tynecastle earlier on this season and that only adds to the appeal of siding with the same even-money (SkyBet) combination in the capital on Saturday.