Hearts are searching for their third victory in a row on Saturday when they travel to Tannadice Park, facing Dundee United in their latest Scottish Premiership encounter.
The Terrors have been in good form as of late, but they had their six-match unbeaten run ended in their most recent fixture against Livingston.
Match preview
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Dundee United find themselves in the top half of the table right now, which is down to the strong run of form they have been enjoying since the turn of the year.
However, their six-match unbeaten run was brought to a halt in midweek at the hands of Livingston, who leapfrogged the Terrors in the process after earning three points.
The Lions won 2-1, despite the fact Liam Smith had given Dundee United a second-minute lead, but Scott Pittman made things level, before a late Ryan Edwards own goal wrapped the game up.
This is something that Tam Courts will want to put in the past immediately, and they get the chance at the weekend when facing a team higher than them in the table.
A victory for the Terrors could see them climb just one place below Hearts, depending on other results, and it would help strengthen their place in the top six, in what is a very close race right now.
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Hearts have got a strong spot in the table, sitting third place with a 12-point gap from the nearest challengers, and they shall be aiming to ride that out to wrap up the season.
It has been an impressive campaign for the Jambos, who have plenty of momentum to push themselves into next season, but the aim first is to finish strong.
The Jambos picked up their second 2-0 win in a row on Wednesday against Aberdeen, with John Souttar and Stephen Kingsley getting themselves on the scoresheet.
With the third strongest defensive record within the Scottish Premiership, Robbie Neilson shall be hoping his team continues in that manner, which could see them add more points to their impressive tally.
Hearts have been good against Dundee United this season, winning both of their previous encounters, scoring seven goals within those games.
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Team News
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Dylan Levitt was unavailable for Dundee United in midweek because of a muscular problem, and this will likely rule him out of the match this Saturday as well.
However, Callum Butcher could find himself slotting into the midfield for a second game in a row, while Smith should accompany him after scoring on Wednesday, but Tony Watt had to be replaced due to injury, which will see him miss out.
Ellis Simms was in the starting lineup for Hearts after scoring last weekend, and he could end up leading the line once more for the Jambos.
After another clean sheet it is unlikely the back four will be changed, especially since Souttar and Kingsley got themselves on the scoresheet recently.
Dundee United possible starting lineup:
Siegrist; Edwards, Mulgrew, Graham; Niskanen, Butcher, Smith, Freeman, Devlin, Harkes; McNulty- TN -->
Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Atkinson, Halkett, Souttar, Kingsley; Devlin, Baningime; McKay, Boyce, Mackay-Steven; Simms
We say: Dundee United 2-1 Hearts
Hearts are the favourites in this match, due to their league positioning; however, the recent form is in the favour of the hosts, and they could find themselves picking up a win here.
Dundee United are confident and are looking to maintain their place in the top half, which they might need three points in order to guarantee.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Hearts win with a probability of 52.3%. A draw had a probability of 24.4% and a win for Dundee United had a probability of 23.34%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hearts win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.27%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.65%) and 0-2 (9.39%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.58%), while for a Dundee United win it was 1-0 (6.95%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5% likelihood.
