Rangers will be looking to continue setting the pace in the Scottish Premiership when they make a trip to Tynecastle Park to take on the third placed Hearts in a crucial league on Sunday afternoon with kickoff at 15:00.
Hearts have been one of the surprise packages of the season on their return to the Scottish top-tier and they find themselves in the title race as they currently occupy the third spot with 30 points, nine points behind the league leaders Rangers. Hearts have only suffered three defeats this season, while have won in eight matches and picked up six draws from their 17 matches so far this season.
However, the hosts have been in an inconsistent form lately as they have won three and lost three from the last six league matches and were alternating from a defeat to a win. They are coming off a 1-0 win against Livingston in their last Premiership match, which saw them bounce back from 1-0 defeat at Celtic and therefor they will be looking to build some consistency.
Robbie Neilson’s side are in a good home form as they are unbeaten in their last eight home matches in the top-flight and Rangers should know as they have not won in their last three visits to Tynecastle Park.
Rangers have been red-hot this season and have had no problem when it comes to securing results this season as the club has only lost one of their 16 Premiership matches this campaign, while claiming 12 victories and three draws in the process. They currently sit at the top of the standings on 39 points, four points ahead of Celtic who are in the second place.
A mid-season change of manager seemingly has no negative impact on Rangers strong campaign as Giovanni Bronckhorts has enjoyed an excellent start to his Ibrox tenure and he guided his side to a respectable draw in France in the Europa League final game against Lyon. Rangers managed to earn a playoff spot in Group A as they finished in the second-place on eight points.
Back to the Premiership Rangers have been a brilliant form and will be looking to extend their winning streak to six matches now as they aim at staying ahead on the race to retain their Premiership title. Rangers are also in a fine away form as they have won seven of their eight matches on the road and we expect this to be close fight and explosive fixture.
Hearts vs Rangers head to head
Rangers have been dominated in this fixture as they have claimed 63 victories from their last 95 meetings since 1994, there have been 16 draws while Hearts have only managed 17 victories.
- Rangers 1-1 Hearts 16/10/21
- Hearts 1-0 Rangers 29/02/20
- Hearts 2-1 Rangers 26/01/20
- Rangers 5-0 Hearts 01/12/19
- Rangers 3-0 Hearts 03/11/19
Home
- Livingston 0-1 Hearts
- Celtic 1-0 Hearts
- Hearts 2-0 St Mirren
- Motherwell 2-0 Hearts
- Hearts 5-2 Dundee United
Away
- Lyon 1-1 Rangers
- Rangers 3-0 Dundee
- Hibernian 0-1 Rangers
- Livingston 1-3 Rangers
- Rangers 2-0 Sparta Prague
Hearts team news
Hearts will be without Beni Baningime and Jamie Brandon due to injuries.
Rangers team news
Rangers will be without Leon Balogun, Ryan Jack and Filip Helander due to injuries while Nnamdi Ofborh is unavailable due to heart problems.
Prediction and odds
- Rangers win
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5