- Players to watch: Dundee United's Lachlan Rose is the team's top scorer in the Premiership 2026-2027 with 1 goal in 1 match.
- Team form: Hearts have won 2 and lost 3 of their last 5 matches, entering this match on the back of a 3-game losing run.
Tactical matchup at Tynecastle Park
Hearts come into this one as 1.45 favorites, with Dundee United 6.5 and the draw 4.4. The main market makes little sense here, but the goals markets do a little more.
Over 2.5 goals is available at 1.65, while Both Teams To Score is almost impossible to ignore at 1.8 Yes and 1.95 No.
Hearts have the favourites edge
Head-to-head & recent form
Hearts have won 3 of the last 5 head-to-head, the most recent coming in an away victory in the 2025/2026 Scottish Premiership and they have 3 wins in total in the last 5 games. Hearts have struggled of late with 3 defeats in the last 5, although they've managed to take 2 wins during the same period. Wouter Vrancken's side have failed to win either of their last 2 at home to United, so there is an x-factor about this matchup.
Key player & tactics
Oisin McEntee has been the spark in the engine of Hearts of late with 1 goal in the league so far, he is their top scorer in the 2026-2027 season with 1 goal in 1 game. Vrancken has set Hearts up in a fairly compact 4-2-3-1/3-4-3 structure that is a patient possession style that looks to overload the half-spaces and break at pace vertically.
United will be up for this one
United have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 2 of their last 5 games, with their latest defeats coming in the away games. That should be a warning to Jim Goodwin that his side, that have looked so strong when packed in a tight unit at home, need to be at their best for this game.
Goodwin has United set up in a pragmatic mid-block system that allows them to stay compact and nick the ball off opponents.
- The main man up top is Lachlan Rose, United's top Premiership scorer with 1 goal, but Jesse Randall has been the creative force with 1 assist.
- Zachary Sapsford has also chipped in for United with 3 of their 10 goals coming in the last 5.
- Amadou Ba-Sy has added a little bite to the Hearts attack with 2 goals in the last 5.
Both teams can break
Hearts should edge this given the fact they are the favorites, but United's compact system gives this enough counterpunch. We're expecting a chess match between Hearts' possession control and United's transition game, with set pieces and wide pressure being crucial.
The draw looks like a possibility, but the value here lies in Both Teams To Score Yes, with a goal for each side looking the most likely outcome.
