Relegation candidates Dundee FC welcome European hopefuls Hearts to Dens Park on Friday night as they bid to continue their promising run of home form.
The hosts may well be one of the chief protagonists in the battle to stay in the division, but, when playing at home, their form has certainly taken an upturn in recent weeks and the side from Scotland’s fourth largest city might fancy their chances. However, the visit of Hearts will prove to be no easy task and it’s fancied that Paul Hartley’s men will see their unbeaten run, which currently stands at three, come to an end here.
At odds of 11/10, the visitors look a good bet to send their travelling fans into the Christmas weekend on a high.
Having claimed seven victories, including an impressive win over Rangers, Hearts have enjoyed a decent campaign so far and currently sit 4th in the division, level on points with Aberdeen in 3rd. While they might have been slightly suspect defensively at times, especially against the better attacking teams, they’ve looked strong going forward, scoring goals with regularity – second highest scorers in the division with 32 goals to their name.
Against a team who’ve struggled in the final third, Ian Cathro’s men really should be getting the job done here. As mentioned above, defence hasn’t exactly been the visitors’ strong point, but considering Dundee have scored just eight goals at home this season (averaging just 2.89 shots on target), it’s easy to see Hearts enjoying a better time of things defensively in this match.
If the visitors can keep a tepid looking attack fairly quiet then they should have the tools to create create sufficient scoring opportunities at the other end and thus it’s hard to see them not coming out on top. After all, Hearts are averaging both 13 shots and 1.44 goals per game on the road. Couple this with the fact that Dundee have conceded both 15 shots and 1.44 goals on average this season and this certainly begins to look like a fixture that is there for the taking from the visitors’ perspective.
Admittedly, neither team comes this match in great form, but, nevertheless, this remains a good-looking opportunity for Hearts to take three points and maintain the pressure on Aberdeen as the SPL approaches a busy festive period.
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