DomainJava.com – Hearts vs Motherwell prediction in the Scottish Premier, Motherwell return to action after two very difficult post-Christmas encounters when they travel to Tynecastle to face Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Thursday.
Stuart Kettlewell's side were given the unenviable task of facing both Old Firm clubs in the space of three days, but now face a Hearts side who ended the year in dismal fashion.
A dreadful December for Hearts culminated in another late defeat at home to Ross County at the weekend.
Leading 2-0 going into the 97th minute, Neil Critchley's men inexplicably conspired to throw away two points, only to draw 2-2 after two County goals in stoppage time.
It came just days after losing the Edinburgh derby at home to arch-rivals Hibernian on Boxing Day, not long after a humiliating European exit.
A late equalizer saw them drop points to Petrocub in the Conference League and knock them out of Europe, meaning Hearts' sole focus is now on surviving relegation, with the points gap on the top six teams now standing at 10 points.
Shortly before Christmas, Hearts managed a win over St Johnstone, but it was only one of two wins Critchley's men had managed in 12 games in all competitions, and worse still, they had to watch rivals Hibs storm away from them in the table after five wins in a row. six games.
Hearts are fortunate that St Johnstone were equally disappointing, but they are still only three points clear of the team currently at the top of the table.
Motherwell will no doubt fear a poor end to 2024, having been paired with Celtic and Rangers for their final two games of the year, and although they were hammered by the league leaders, they made up for it with a creditable performance against Philippe Clement's side at the weekend.
Kettlewell's men will feel as though they should have won too, given they were 2-0 up at half-time, and had to accept a dubious decision when Jack Butland had an own goal disallowed.
Ultimately, Rangers recovered and drew 2-2, but it meant Celtic's result was Motherwell's only defeat in five games, keeping them in the top six at the start of the new year.
With Hearts and Aberdeen the two most demoralized teams in the division, the visitors will be hoping to pick up results in both, especially considering they have Hibs keeping an eye on them.
Hearts will have Cammy Devlin back after suspension, but remain without injured defensive trio Frankie Kent, Stephen Kingsley and Gerald Taylor.
The extent of Hearts' decline since last season is most apparent in the fact that they now often rely on 17-year-old James Wilson to provide the attacking power.
Wilson has scored four goals in the Premier League this season despite only starting four times after scoring twice at the weekend, and he also scored a very important goal against Petrocub, although the result was not in their favor.
Motherwell's top scorer, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, was able to shake off minor injury concerns to start and score again at the weekend against Rangers, scoring his fourth goal in six games.
Liam Gordon was also able to start after missing the defeat at Celtic, and captain Paul McGinn returned to the squad at the weekend, but Ross Callachan, Jack Vale, Callum Slattery, Zach Robinson and Steve Seddon are all still absent.
Summer signing Tom Sparrow made his first appearance on the bench at the weekend, shaking off the injury that has kept him out of action since the start of the season following his move from Stoke City. (ed)
(source: Sportsmole)
Hearts vs Motherwell Player Predictions
Hearts : C Gordon; Forrester, Oyegoke, Rowles, Penrice; Devlin, Baningime; Drammeh, Shankland, Spittal; J Wilson
Motherwell : Oxborough; L Gordon, McGinn, Blaney; Kaleta, Paton, Halliday, E Wilson; Miller, Stamatelopoulos, Maswanhise
Hearts vs Motherwell Score Prediction: 1-2
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