Neither Motherwell nor Hearts have made the best start to the new Scottish Premiership campaign, both accumulating just one point from two games. It will be interesting to see how much importance they attach to the League Cup given they are already playing catch-up in the league.
Motherwell Form and Team News
Hit for five by Celtic at Fir Park last week having taken an early lead, Stephen Robinson’s team will be still licking their wounds. But there were a couple of goals in that game for Northern Ireland international Liam Donnelly and the heavy defeat was a rare blip for the home defence, who can normally be relied on to keep things tight. Should Robinson decide to rotate his squad for this tie, there could be a start for veteran defender Peter Hartley. Christian Ilic and Devante Cole both made appearances from off the bench against Celtic and are others who will be hoping for place in the starting line-up. Motherwell have yet to concede a goal in the League Cup this season and will be confident of further progress if they maintain that record.
Hearts Form and Team News
Hearts are a strong and physical side but possibly lack a little experience in some areas. To address that problem, Craig Levein has signed former Republic Of Ireland midfielder Glenn Whelan on a one-year deal and is hoping to tie up a loan deal for Manchester City’s Ryotaro Meshino, who recently joined the Premier League champions from Gamba Osaka. There could be a debut for another loanee, Manchester United goalkeeper Joel Perreira, at Fir Park and there is a feeling that the Jam Tarts aren’t far away from hitting top form. They were unlucky to lose at Aberdeen on the opening day of the league season and a front two of Conor Washington and Uche Ikpreazu should be as good as most in Scotland’s top flight. Steven Naismith should also be approaching peak fitness now.
Motherwell v Hearts Head-to-Head
There has only been one draw between these sides in their last 13 meetings. In the last eight matches in all competitions, only once has more than one goal separated the two teams. The sides met in the quarter-finals of last season’s competition with Hearts winning 4-2 after the teams were level at half-time.
Motherwell v Hearts Best Match Odds
Motherwell 7/4, Draw 12/5, Hearts 17/10 (Odds correct at 2.00pm August 15)
Motherwell v Hearts Predictions
Both teams will be anxious to pick up a morale-boosting victory. Motherwell didn’t concede a goal in their qualifying group but were facing inferior opposition. Some weaknesses were exposed last week and Hearts could exploit those again if they are back to their best. An away win is a best 17/10 with Skybet and Hearts are 7/2 with the same firm to win by one goal in the Winning Margin market.
