Rangers go to Tynecastle with Celtic's four-point lead in view
A preview of all six Scottish Premiership matches on Wednesday 28 October, from the top three to the three clubs at the bottom, plus PLZ Predictor picks.
By Harvey Watkins,
Celtic go into the midweek round four points clear of Rangers, and the two matches that bear on that gap are very different evenings. Celtic are at home to fourth-placed Dundee United at 19:45. Fifteen minutes later Rangers kick off at Tynecastle against Hearts, who sit third. Nothing on Wednesday can take Rangers top. Even a Rangers win alongside a Celtic defeat would leave them a point behind. What the round can do is stretch the lead to seven or squeeze it to one.
The top three in action
Celtic have won four of their last five, scoring 13 and conceding three. Celtic v Dundee United is not a mismatch on form, though. United are unbeaten in five, with three wins and two draws, and have conceded four in that run. They are the only side outside the top three without a defeat in their last five, and a draw at Celtic Park would not be out of keeping with that.
Rangers' run is the steadier of the two leaders': four wins and a draw, 11 scored and three conceded. Hearts have been harder to read, with two wins, a draw and two defeats and ten goals at each end. They are four points behind Rangers, so Hearts v Rangers matters as much to them as to the pair above. A home win would bring them within a point of second place. A defeat would leave them seven adrift. The record leans towards Rangers, but Hearts score often enough to make it a contest.
Four points cover six clubs
Below the top three, Dundee United on 15 and Aberdeen on 11 bracket a group of six, so one round can reorder a lot of it. Aberdeen v Falkirk is the clearest example. Falkirk are seventh, a point ahead of Aberdeen in ninth. They have three wins from their last five, scoring nine and conceding five. Aberdeen's two wins, a draw and two defeats look ordinary, but ten scored and six conceded suggests the results have been a little harsh.
Dundee FC and Kilmarnock have identical recent records, two wins, a draw and two defeats each, yet sit six points apart. Dundee FC are fifth on 14, with eight scored and eight conceded over five matches. Kilmarnock are 11th, and their goal difference of minus 13 is the worst in the division.
The bottom three are all away
Hibernian, Motherwell and Kilmarnock are all on the road. Motherwell's position is the starkest. They have lost five in a row, scoring three and conceding 13, and they visit St Johnstone. The hosts offer little margin themselves, with one win in five and three goals scored.
At St Mirren v Hibernian, two sides who have each scored three in their last five meet. St Mirren are sixth on 13 despite one win in that run and 13 goals conceded. Hibernian are bottom on seven without a win in five. A Hibernian victory would take them to ten and, depending on results elsewhere, off the foot of the table.
What PLZ members predict
These are predictions from PLZ Soccer members in the PLZ Predictor, with 19 or 20 entries per match. They are a snapshot of opinion, not a forecast.
- Celtic v Dundee United: 95 per cent picked a home win and nobody chose United.
- Hearts v Rangers: 58 per cent went for Rangers, with 1-2 the most common score.
- St Johnstone v Motherwell: the only match where a draw was the most popular pick, at 47 per cent, with nine members choosing 1-1.
- St Mirren v Hibernian: the closest split of the round, 42 per cent home and 37 per cent away.