Hearts of Midlothian are close to breaking the Old Firm's stranglehold on the Scottish league title but standing in their way this Monday are one of those two giants -- Rangers. Hearts lead Celtic by three points and Rangers by four points with just four games to go and with the Championship Group split as we look to close out the season, they know just how big a win will be here.
Here's everything you need to know about Monday's game.
How to watch:
The match will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK, CBS in the U.S.and BeIN Sports in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Monday, May 4 at 5.30 p.m. BST (12.30 p.m. ET and 2.30 a.m. AEST, Tuesday).
Venue: Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh
Referee: John Beaton
Injury and Team News:
Hearts
Harry Milne, M: calf, DOUBT
Cameron Devlin, M: strain, DOUBT
Oisin McEntree, M: hamstring, OUT
Tomas Magnusson, M: thigh, OUT
Craig Gordon, GK: shoulder, OUT
Ageu, M: thigh, OUT
Calem Nieuwenhof, M: hamstring, OUT
Rangers
Tuur Rammens, D: muscle, OUT
Ryan Naderi, F: muscle, OUT
Talking Points:
Hearts and the 41-year Old Firm stranglehold they are up against
The last time a team not named Rangers or Celtic were crowned champions of Scotland was way back in 1984-85, when Aberdeen beat Celtic to the top by seven points under the managerial nous of a certain Alex Ferguson. At the time it was the third successive year of non-Old Firm success -- Aberdeen the year before and Dundee United the one before that -- but it's been entirely between the big two since then.
Hearts, led by Derek McInnes, are just four matches away from breaking that stranglehold. With the Scottish Premiership splitting into two and the top half playing each other to close out the season, it will absolutely not be a cakewalk, and Rangers will be desperate to underscore that come Monday. If Hearts can overcome Danny Röhl's side, though, it will give them exactly the kind of boost that could well carry them over the line and into the record books.
As McInnes said: "The motivation in these types of games has always been pretty clear. Our record would suggest that we always feel we have been the underdog in any of these games when we play Rangers and Celtic. But we've always been an underdog with real belief in what we're doing. The results we've had have been a testament to that."
Can he and his underdog team add one more monumental result to that?
Can Rangers recover?
Rangers are going through a mini slump by their own high standards, having last won the league in 2020-21. Currently third, they'll be kicking themselves over their result last week -- a 90th-minute Emmanuel Longelo goal saw Motherwell beat them 3-2. Considering Rangers had already fought from 0-2 down in the first half to make it 2-2, the end result could weigh heavy.
Hearts, meanwhile, did the exact opposite -- a 92nd-minute winner from skipper Lawrence Shankland saw them complete a turnaround from 0-1 down to win 2-1 -- and it could well be a battle that has as much to do with each team's mental state as it does with their abilities.
Rangers boss Röhl has promised fireworks. "The atmosphere will be on fire," he said. "They fight for something, they play for a historical season and they go all-in, but we will also be ready for this, we go there and we'll be ready to fight."
Knowing they have to win or risk falling seven points behind the leaders, the pressure will be all on Röhl and his men.
"We dropped from one point [behind] to four points [behind] -- we closed to three, to four, to one and we have four games to go and we can close it again. It's exciting for everyone and we are ready," Röhl said.
What do the numbers say?
Rangers lost for the first time in 17 league games last time out against Motherwell (W12 D4), but ominously for Hearts, they haven't lost back-to-back matches in the Scottish Premiership since March 2018.
Also in not-so-good news for the hosts: One third of Youssef Chermiti's Premiership goals have come against Hearts (four of 12).
Hearts have won four of their six league games against Celtic and Rangers this season (D1 L1); the only side ever to win five league games against the two Old Firm clubs in a single campaign are Aberdeen, who have done so on three occasions: 1977-78, 1979-80 and 1982-83, all under Alex Ferguson.
Rangers have lost two of their three league meetings with Hearts this season. It was way back in 1985-86 that they last lost three in a single league campaign.
