Hearts vs Ross County Predictions

An in-form Ross County side will travel to the capital where they’ll be hosted by Hearts at Tynecastle. Can the Jambos stop the Dingwall side’s incredible run?

Following a relatively positive pre-season, Hearts started their league campaign with a defeat at the hands of Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Sam Cosgrove opened the scoring for the hosts in the 13^th minute and the score would remain the same until 8-minute window saw Hearts score twice thanks to Steven Naismith and Jamie Walker 15 minutes from time. However, the Edinburgh club would concede twice in 5 minutes after Aaron Hickey’s sending off saw the visitors play with 10 men, enabling the Dons to take the win and all 3 points.

The result will have left a sour taste in Craig Levein’s mouth, as it meant the team let slip away 3 points that would have given them a morale boost at the beginning of the season. It was the Tynecastle outfit’s 3^rd defeat after losing to Glenavon and Cambridge United in pre-season friendlies, with the Jambos picking up 4 wins and 2 draws too.

Ross County are in terrific form and their promotion at the end of last season has clearly motivated the club in their return to the Premiership. The Staggies were 3-0 winners over Hamilton last weekend, with goals from Joe Chalmers, Billy McKay and Ross Stewart securing all 3 points for the Dingwall club.

Ross County’s pre-season form has been near-perfect, with only one negative result- a 2-0 defeat to Groningen- affecting their streak. Excluding that slip-up, the Staggies have won 8 of their previous 9 games, scoring a whopping 31 goals- slotting a cool 11 past Forres Mechanics- conceding just 4 times as well as finishing at the top of their Scottish League Cup group.

Hearts cannot afford to lose this game, especially after bottling their opening fixture and taking into account they’re playing at home to a newly-promoted side. However, Ross County’s form coming into this game makes it impossible to ignore the fact that they could potentially be a surprise package this season, as Livingston were last year- albeit it’s still too early to determine whether the Staggie’s performances have been pure luck. We’re going to back the visitors to continue their fine form with a win here, although with a final score of just 1-0.