Both in search of a first victory of the Scottish Premiership season, Motherwell and Hearts will do battle at Fir Park on Sunday.
The two teams have each managed a single point from their first two top-flight outings, while the visitors suffered a narrow away defeat in continental qualifying on Sunday.
Match preview
![Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell during the Premier Sports Cup Group G match at Fir Park against Partick Thistle on 28/07/2024[on August 1, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/31/stuart-kettlewell.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell during the Premier Sports Cup Group G match at Fir Park against Partick Thistle on 28/07/2024[on August 1, 2024]")
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Motherwell return to Scottish Premiership action on Sunday aiming to put a first three-point haul of the season on the board, having had a tricky start to the new term after their ninth-placed finish last time around.
Following a successful Scottish League Cup group campaign in July, the Well kicked off their latest top-flight campaign at home to Ross County and had to settle for a share of the spoils as the contest ended goalless, before they faced a tricky test to title-chasing Rangers in their most recent league outing.
Stuart Kettlewell's men fought bravely at Hampden Park and drew level at 1-1 in the 17th minute through a Robin Propper own goal, but after Vaclav Cerny restored the hosts' lead, the Well were unable to find a leveller and succumbed to a narrow defeat.
They were then able to bounce back last weekend, though, hosting Kilmarnock in the Scottish League Cup second round and punching their ticket to the quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory after 120 minutes as Moses Ebiye eventually broke the deadlock early in extra time.
Motherwell will now aim to build on that result and get their Premiership campaign up and running with a home victory at Fir Park on Sunday.
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Their visitors will also aim to put a first notch in their wins column at the weekend and bounce back from three consecutive defeats across all competitions.
Following an impressive season last time around, culminating in a third-placed Scottish Premiership finish with a 12-point lead over fourth spot, Hearts kicked off their new campaign at home to Rangers and took a creditable point from a goalless stalemate, but they would go on to suffer a a pair of disappointing defeats in their next two outings.
A trip to Dundee followed in the top flight and the Edinburgh outfit suffered a 3-1 defeat, having trailed by three goals at the interval and only pulled one back through Frankie Kent on the hour mark, before meeting second-tier Falkirk in the Scottish League Cup second round last weekend and crashing out following a 2-0 defeat as Ethan Ross and Dylan Tait netted second-half goals for the hosts.
Steven Naismith's men then most recently visited Czech side Viktoria Plzen on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League playoff tie with a spot in the league phase of Europe's secondary competition on the line, and after looking set to play out a goalless stalemate prior to their home leg, they eventually fell behind following a Daniel Oyegoke own goal in the 96th minute.
With more positives to take from that display than the prior two domestic defeats, Hearts will now be desperate to kickstart their season with a first win at Fir Park before heading back into continental qualifying at Tynecastle Park next week.
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Team News
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Stuart Kettlewell may field an unchanged Motherwell starting XI from last week's Scottish League Cup win on Sunday, with Sam Nicholson, Harry Paton, John Koutroumbis, Filip Stuparevic and Callum Slattery all set to remain confined to the treatment room.
Moses Ebiye and Tony Watt do have claims to come into the attack from the start, though, with Zach Robinson having led the line following the summer departures of last season's three top scorers for the Well - Theo Bair, Blair Spittal and Mika Biereth.
Lennon Miller and Ewan Wilson should again line up either side of a lone striker, while Davor Zdravkovski and former Hearts man Andy Halliday are bound to continue in the engine room in front of a back three.
Facing a quick turnaround from Thursday night's defeat in Plzen, Steven Naismith may opt to make several changes to his Hearts starting XI on Sunday, with midfielders Calem Nieuwenhof and Beni Baningime remaining sidelined alongside goalkeeper Zander Clark.
In his absence, veteran Craig Gordon will continue between the sticks, while Jorge Grant and Cammy Devlin should get the nod to start in the midfield, with Stephen Kingsley set to join Kye Rowles and Frankie Kent in a back three.
Lawrence Shankland is bound to lead the line and don the captain's armband, having notched up 48 goals and nine assists over the last two Scottish Premiership seasons, while Blair Spittal, who arrived from Motherwell over the summer, Yutaro Oda, Liam Boyce, Alan Forrest and Barrie McKay will all compete to come in in attacking roles.
Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Oxborough; McGinn, Gordon, Casey; O'Donnell, Halliday, Zdravkovski, Seddon; Miller, Ebiye, Wilson
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Kent, Rowles, Kingsley; Taylor, Devlin, Grant, Penrice; McKay, Shankland, Spittal
We say: Motherwell 1-1 Hearts
While Hearts boast more quality throughout their ranks than their hosts, they certainly face a tough test away at a rejuvenated Motherwell side on the back of a taxing midweek effort on the continent, and we see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome at Fir Park as a result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
