Tuesday, December 17

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Sports Mole previews Saturday's Scottish Premiership clash between Hearts and Rangers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

In the first game of the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership, Hearts are set to host Rangers at Tynecastle Park and both will hope Saturday's match can be the start of a sustained title charge.

The home side finished third last term with 68 points from 38 games, while the visitors finished second with 85 points, eight behind eventual champions Celtic.

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Match preview

© Imago

The hosts will have been delighted with their 2023-24 campaign considering they accumulated 14 more points than they did in 2022-23.

Hearts also conceded 42 goals last term, 15 fewer than in the previous campaign.

Their home record in the league since December 23 has been strong, and they were unbeaten in their last 11 Premiership games at Tynecastle Park.

That run also included a 2-0 win over Celtic on March 3 and a 3-3 draw against Rangers on May 18.

It should be noted though that Hearts' overall record at the end of the season was quite poor, and the club only won once in their last six games in all competitions.

Last term was manager Steven Naismith's first full season in charge of the Jam Tarts, and was in fact his first ever full campaign as head coach at any club.

© Imago

Naismith was briefly forced to take the title of technical director after his permanent appointment in June as he had not yet achieved the necessary UEFA coaching licences to lead his side in European competitions.

The Scotsman was only officially given the position of head coach on September 6 after his side were eliminated from the Europa League, and since then he boasts a record of 23 wins, seven draws and 10 losses.

As for Rangers, while they did finish 17 points clear of the weekend's opponents in 2023-24, they will be disappointed that rivals Celtic were able to beat them to the title by eight points due to the fact they finished only three points behind them in the regular season.

In fact, their overall points total of 85 was seven fewer than they achieved in 2022-23 and was significantly lower than the 102 points they accumulated in their most recent title-winning season, 2020-21.

To manager Philippe Clement's credit, he only took over from Michael Beale on October 15 after the former Queens Park Rangers boss was sacked on October 1.

Clement's side were undefeated in his first 10 top-flight matches, winning nine of these and keeping seven clean sheets.

© Imago

This included a 2-1 home win against Hearts on October 29, when the Gers conceded after just five minutes but eventually won the game due to a 90th minute equaliser from James Tavernier and a 93rd minute winner from Danilo.

Clement's first league loss came against Celtic on December 30, though his side did win their following nine top-flight games.

However, his team only won four of their last 10 Premiership matches and lost the Scottish Cup final 1-0 against Celtic on May 25.

Rangers have also lost three of their four pre-season fixtures, although Hearts have lost all three of theirs.

It should be noted that the visitors have not been defeated on the opening day of a league season since the 2014-15 campaign, while Hearts last lost their opening fixture in 2019-20.

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Team News

© Imago

The hosts will be able to welcome Stephen Kingsley back into the team against Rangers after the defender's recovery from a calf injury.

In fact, Naismith has indicated that the only players who will miss the weekend's game are Calem Nieuwenhof and Beni Baningime.

New signing James Penrice started at left-back in a four-man defence last time out and could be in line for a first competitive start on Saturday.

If Crystal Palace's Malachi Boateng completes his transfer in time for the clash, he could be immediately thrust into midfield.

As for the visitors, they could be without winger Dujon Sterling, who has been struggling with injury.

Rangers have made eight additions to the squad, and the likes of Connor Barron and Vaclav Cerny could make their first competitive starts for the club.

Attacking midfielder Todd Cantwell handed in a transfer request in July and is almost certain to miss out.

Hearts possible starting lineup:
Clark; Taylor, Rowles, Kingsley, Penrice; Devlin, Spittal; Oda, Dhanda, McKay; Shankland

Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Souttar, Balogun, Jefte; Diomande, Barron; Cerny, Lawrence, Cortes; Dessers

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We say: Hearts 1-2 Rangers

Both sides have struggled for form in their pre-season friendlies, but given Rangers' strong record in the opening matchweek of the top flight, they could edge proceedings.

However, Hearts were very competitive against Rangers last season, and Saturday's clash could once again be a close encounter.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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