Hearts were one of the major stories of European football last season when they came within minutes of being the first non-Old Firm side to win the league since 1985.
Wouter Vrancken’s new-look team have made a strong start as they sit third, eight points behind Celtic and four behind Rangers despite a big summer rebuild and the Belgian implementing a new style of play which he has described as “organised chaos”.
They have certainly delivered on that – as only Celtic have scored more goals, and Hearts are a formidable opponent at Tynecastle where they are unbeaten in the league since April 2025, a run of 26 games.
Beatings have been handed out to Dundee United and St Mirren already in Gorgie.
Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at home to Rangers should have been a victory for Hearts which brought them closer to the top two – but ultimately their injury-ravaged squad was exposed late on and they remain closer to Dundee in fourth.
Those injuries, while juggling European football, plus an unconvincing away record which included a 7-1 clobbering at Celtic Park, means Hearts might struggle to hang on to the pace set by the Old Firm.
Despite Celtic supporters being wholly unconvinced by their team, they are on course to reach over 90 points this season, having won the title with 82 last season, the lowest tally since 2017-18.
Likewise Rangers have doubters among their own, but they and their rivals are in the top two positions of a lot of key performance metrics.
Whether it’s expected goals for and against, shots on target per game, chances created, Celtic and Rangers are comfortably in the top two positions and are the only sides conceding fewer than one goal per game on average.
As they should be, given their financial advantages, and with Rangers not playing in European football this season they should be extra rested and focused on domestic duty.