Preview: Falkirk vs Hearts - prediction, team news, lineups

Striving to build on last weekend's crucial win over Celtic, Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts travel to face Falkirk on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts are seventh in the standings with 21 points, while the visitors are top of the table with 35 points - narrowly three points above the second-placed Bhoys.

Match preview

After a long 15-year stay in the lower divisions, Falkirk finally secured their return to the Scottish Premiership for the first time since 2009-10 by lifting the Scottish Championship title last term.

The Bairns endured a difficult opening to the campaign, drawing 2-2 with Dundee United and losing 3-1 to fellow promoted Livingston in their first two league games, followed by a crushing 4-1 loss to Celtic in the Scottish League Cup second round.

John McGlynn's side did manage to respond with a 1-0 win against Aberdeen on matchday three, but they initially failed to build on that result as they lost two and drew two of their next four fixtures.

However, Falkirk subsequently enjoyed a stunning run of results, winning four, drawing three and losing two of their next nine, although they are without a win in their last three matches heading into Saturday's encounter.

Regardless of their recent faltering, Falkirk will be delighted with their current seventh-placed standing - joint-on 21 points with sixth-placed Aberdeen - but they will be eager to get back to winning ways and avoid a slump in the coming weeks.

Claiming three points will certainly prove to be a challenging task on Saturday though, as Falkirk welcome league-leading Hearts to the Falkirk Stadium.

The Jambos have undoubtedly been the standout performers in the Scottish Premiership so far this season, with Derek McInnes' side accumulating a fantastic 35 points from 16 league fixtures - a run that has included just one defeat.

A sensational start to the campaign saw new manager McInnes lead Hearts to a 12-game unbeaten run in the league, with nine wins and three draws marking an utterly fantastic opening to the term.

However, results slowly started to become concerning towards the end of that run, with disappointing draws against both St Mirren and Dundee United, followed by their first loss of the campaign to Aberdeen (1-0) on matchday 13.

Hearts failed to respond to that loss as they went on to drop a further four points with back-to-back draws against Motherwell and Kilmarnock, a lacklustre run of results that allowed Celtic to quickly close the gap at the top of the standings.

As a result, Hearts and Celtic went into their matchday 16 encounter level on 32 points, but the Jambos restored their lead at the top of the table with a superb 2-1 win over Celtic in Wilfried Nancy's first match in charge at Celtic Park.

While the Jambos are back on the top of the standings with a three-point lead over the Bhoys, Celtic do boast a game in hand over Hearts, meaning they could move back on level terms.

With that in mind, McInnes will be eager for his side to avoid dropping any further points in the coming weeks and to see his team build on last weekend's triumph with another victory on Saturday.

History certainly points to a Hearts win on Saturday, as the Jambos have won four and drawn two of the last six league meetings with Falkirk, including a run of three straight wins heading into this clash.

Falkirk Scottish Premiership form:

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Falkirk form (all competitions):

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Hearts Scottish Premiership form:

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Hearts form (all competitions):

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Team News

Falkirk are contending with a number of injuries heading into Saturday's fixture, with Aidan Nesbitt, Coll Donaldson, Gary Oliver, Jamie Sneddon, Lewis Neilson, Ross MacIver and Thomas Lang all unavailable.

The Bairns were heavily defeated 3-0 by Hibernian last weekend, and manager McGlynn may decide to make several changes in search of a response from his team on Saturday.

As a result, players such as Kyrell Wilson, Scott Arfield, Alfie Agyeman could be awarded with starts.

Meanwhile, Hearts are still without the likes of Beni Baningime, Calem Nieuwenhof, Ageu and Finlay Pollock due to injury issues.

Off the back of their much-needed and superb 2-1 victory over Celtic, McInnes could name an unchanged starting team on Saturday, including goalscorers Claudio Braga and Oisin McEntee.

Falkirk possible starting lineup:

Bain; Hart, Lissah, Henderson, McCann; Spencer, Cartwright; Williams, Arfield, Wilson; Agyeman

Hearts possible starting lineup:

Schwolow; Steinwender, Halkett, Findlay, Milne; McEntee, Devlin; Kyziridis, Magnusson, Braga; Shankland

We say: Falkirk 1-3 Hearts

Hearts will be boosted by last weekend's victory, and with Falkirk's form declining in recent matches, we are backing the visitors to claim all three points.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.