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

Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts will look to maintain their unbeaten run when they take on relegation-battling Dundee on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts are six points clear at the top of the standings after just 10 games played, while the visitors are 11th in the table with only nine points.

Match preview

Hearts have enjoyed a simply sensational start to the 2025-26 Scottish Premiership season, with the Jambos sitting top of the standings with a six-point lead after just 10 games played.

Derek McInnes, who took charge of Hearts during the summer, is still yet to taste defeat in normal time as manager, recording 12 wins and three draws from his first 15 games, although they were eliminated from the Scottish League Cup by St Mirren on penalties.

Eight of those victories, alongside two draws, have come in the opening 10 fixtures in the Scottish Premiership, leaving Hearts top of the standings with 26 points from 30 available, while they also remain the only team in the league yet to suffer a loss.

Included in those victories are superb wins over Rangers (2-0) and Celtic (3-1), leaving the Jambos in an extremely strong position to challenge the current Old Firm dominance over the Scottish Premiership and potentially become the first team other than the Gers or the Bhoys to win the league since Aberdeen did so in 1984-85.

Hearts did, however, fail to maintain their eight-point lead at the top of the standings after recording a disappointing 2-2 draw with St Mirren last time out, allowing Celtic to close the gap to six points.

McInnes will be eager for his side to quickly return to winning ways in order to maintain the gap at the top of the standings, and Saturday's clash with Dundee could prove the perfect opportunity to do exactly that.

Dundee are 11th in the Scottish Premiership table with nine points from 10 league outings, having recorded two wins, three draws and five defeats.

The Dee's difficult campaign started from the very first match of the season, when Dundee fell to a 1-0 loss to Airdrieonians in the Scottish League Cup group stage, followed by a defeat to Alloa Athletic.

Those defeats consigned Dundee to a surprise elimination from the competition, already causing the pressure to mount on new manager Steven Pressley.

While Pressley did go on to record back-to-back wins in the final two group games, the new boss has failed to impress in the following 10 league outings.

After just one win in their first eight matches, Pressley's side did pull off a surprise 2-0 victory over Celtic on matchday nine, but Dundee failed to build on that result as they disappointingly lost 2-1 to Falkirk.

With the pressure continuing to mount on Pressley, the manager will be desperate for his side to record another shock result when they take on Hearts.

However, Dundee are the worst-performing side in the league when on the road with just two points from five away matches, leaving the Dee with little reason for optimism.

Hearts Scottish Premiership form:

D W W W W W

Hearts form (all competitions):

D W W W W W

Dundee Scottish Premiership form:

L W L L W D

Dundee form (all competitions):

L W L L W D

Team News

Hearts will be without Calem Nieuwenhof, Christian Borchgrevink, Finlay Pollock, Frankie Kent and Ryan Fulton for this match due to injury problems.

Claudio Braga and Lawrence Shankland netted their sixth league goals of the campaign last time out to become the joint-top scorers in the Scottish Premiership, and they will be looking to maintain their prolific partnership on Saturday.

As for the visitors, Dundee will continue without the services of Billy Koumetio due to a knock, though the defender is expected to return to action in the coming weeks.

Pressley will be disappointed with his team's 2-1 defeat to Falkirk last time out, meaning the manager may look to make numerous changes to his starting team for this one.

Hearts possible starting lineup:

Schwolow; McEntee, Halkett, Findlay, Kingsley; Milne, Devlin, Baningime, Kyziridis; Shankland, Braga

Dundee possible starting lineup:

McCracken; Astley, Robertson, Graham; Wright, Digby, Jones, Samuels; Congreve, Acquah, Westley

We say: Hearts 2-0 Dundee

Hearts are undoubtedly the stronger team heading into this game, and with the Dee having the worst record of any team in the division when playing away from home, we expect a comfortable victory for the hosts.

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