The pick of the games this weekend in the Scottish Premiership sees Rangers welcome Hearts to Ibrox in a clash between the two most in-form sides in the division.
Rangers were handed a huge boost in the title race with Celtic dropping points last weekend, but they will face a stern test against Steven Naismith's men here.
Match preview
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In a pivotal shift of momentum last week, Rangers took advantage of Celtic's slip by overtaking them at the Premiership summit.
A draw at home to Kilmarnock allowed Philippe Clement's side the opportunity to move clear, and they took that chance by beating St Johnstone 3-0 almost 24 hours later.
It means Rangers have now won all nine games since their defeat in the previous Old Firm derby back in late December, and with the gap at just two points, a healthy margin of victory also saw the new leaders move ahead in terms of goal difference too.
Rangers now face five huge encounters in the league that they must win before facing Celtic again in the penultimate fixture of the regular season, and none is likely to be tougher than this.
While they are unbeaten in their last 12 meetings with Hearts, the visitors have not seen this kind of form from their side in a very long time.
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Naismith's side are essentially in a league of their own, below the top two, but a long way clear of the rest.
Remarkably, considering how dominant the Old Firm clubs are, the gap to Rangers at the top (13 points) is actually shorter than the one between themselves and Kilmarnock a place below them (14 points).
Eight successive victories is the reason for that gulf opening up, as Hearts have taken more points across the last 10 games than any other team in the division - 28.
A win away on their last trip to Glasgow kickstarted that run, as a 2-0 success over Celtic spurred Hearts into life after a mixed start to the campaign.
Just one point is required for Hearts to mathematically confirm their place in the Championship Group later this campaign, with six games left of the regular season.
Team News
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Injuries in attack continue to restrict Clement in who he can select up front, as Rangers remain without Danilo, Rabbi Matondo, Kemar Roofe and top scorer Abdallah Sima, who is out for the season.
That leaves Cyriel Dessers and Fabio Silva available to the manager, and after the latter led the line well at St Johnstone, he may get the nod again.
Ross McCausland was left on the bench for a league match for just the second time this year last weekend, so the promising youngster could make a return to the starting XI here.
Hearts also have a number of attacking injuries to contend with, as Liam Boyce, Kyosuke Tagawa and Barrie McKay are all absent.
However, with the form Lawrence Shankland is in, he has been carrying the side on his own in the final third, with 14 goals in his last 12 games.
After opening the scoring in the win over Motherwell last weekend, Shankland now has 25 goals for the season and is just four short of matching his tally from the last campaign.
Rangers possible starting lineup:
Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Barisic; Diomande, Lundstram, Cantwell; McCausland, Fabio Silva, Cortes
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Clark; Kingsley, Kent, Rowles; Atkinson, Nieuwenhof, Fraser, Baningime, Cochrane; Shankland, Forrest
We say: Rangers 2-1 Hearts
Despite coming into the game as big favourites, nobody is in any doubt that this will be an incredibly difficult task for Rangers against a Hearts side that have been formidable for almost three months.
However, nine wins in a row speaks volumes about how well Rangers are doing themselves of late, and that additional strength in depth may see the hosts edge this extremely intriguing encounter.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
