Trips to Tynecastle are rarely without tension and even against poor Hearts teams, we have struggled in the past at one of Scottish football’s more difficult venues.
Robbie Neilson’s side are yet to lose at home in the league this season which in itself gives an idea of how tough a game it will be against the team currently sitting in third place in the Premiership but it must be remembered that at Ibrox earlier in the season we should have been out of sight before Allan McGregor’s last minute howler cost us two points.
Leon Balogun, Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe will probably all join Filip Helander on the sidelines for this one but we will still be able to name a strong line-up after Giovanni van Bronckhorst rested a few regulars in mid-week against Lyon.
The big decision will be upfront, and this is the team that I think he will go with in the first of three massive away games before the winter break:
The defence picks itself with James Tavernier coming back in at right-back for Nathan Patterson and our most effective recent midfield pairing of Glen Kamara and Scott Arfield being restored.
Fashion Sakala looked very dangerous against Dundee, happy to shoot with either foot, attack the byline or cut-inside, he did everything but score. Ianis Hagi has created a series of big chances since Van Bronckhorst took over but Sakala’s pace and ability to create something out of nothing could be a huge asset on a tight park – space and time will be limited for Hagi to wave his magic wand.
With Roofe being a doubt, Alfredo Morelos, with three goals in four games under the new manager, will resume his central role and will be dying to prove that he is still number one, Ryan Kent and Sakala operating either side of him and Joe Aribo in the ten role should mean that he has plenty of opportunities to add to his goal tally, it’s a front four with plenty of endeavour, pace and creativity.
As with Easter Road, how pretty it is doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things but with Celtic playing later in the day, three points and a seven point lead would really apply some early festive pressure.