Wednesday’s five games could set the tone for a busy December in the Scottish Premiership.
Leaders Heart of Midlothian and defending champions Celtic will have home advantage against weaker teams Dundee and Kilmarnock respectively.
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It means Motherwell and Rangers can’t afford to make any more mistakes against Falkirk and Dundee United.
Here are some key points to note.
Match of the day – Dundee United VS Rangers
To be fair, Rangers were unbeaten in 17 away league games before the end of last season and they travel to Dundee United.
However, Sunday’s 0-0 draw at home to Falkirk highlighted how much work remains to be done at Ibrox since Russell Martin was replaced as manager by Danny Rohr.
A 1-1 draw away to Baines in October ended Martin’s brief reign, followed by a 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Ibrox, while managerless Rangers decide who should be his successor.
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Rohr had won four consecutive Premier League games before Baines arrived, but overall they have won just two of their last six games as the German has been hampered by the same squad flaws as his predecessor.
Rangers have suffered just one defeat in the league all season but a draw is holding them back and they cannot afford to lose more than seven points behind Celtic and nine behind Hearts.
After Saturday’s 1-1 draw away to Kilmarnock, United are level on points with six of their 13 Premier League games, including away at Ibrox.
Since then, however, Jim Goodwin’s eighth-place side have won once – their only win in eight games – and have gone four games without a win.
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To make matters worse, the Irishman failed to win a single game in 16 games as manager against Rangers, losing 14 of them.
Not only that, since losing 0-1 to Tannadice in August 2021, the Rangers have remained unbeaten in 11 meetings with Manchester United, including 4 visits to Manchester United, one of which was a draw, and the last three wins.
However, Rangers are struggling to score goals and Goodwin hopes this will give his side a chance to improve on having kept just one clean sheet in their past seven home games.
Player to Watch – Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian)
Laurence Shankland (centre) has not scored in three games [SNS]
Privately, Derek McInnes probably didn’t expect his Hearts side’s stunning start to the season to continue smoothly without a hiccup or two.
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However, the head coach probably didn’t expect that his main forwards would break out at the same time.
Hearts have still lost just twice in 19 games this season and once in the league, but they have won just once in their last five games.
That means they face Kilmarnock on Wednesday, with their lead reduced to two points over Celtic with a game in hand.
Most worryingly, Hearts have scored just once in their last three games – an own goal from an Alexandros Kyziridis shot by United goalkeeper Yevhen Kucherenko – and have failed to score in their last two matches.
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Just as Hearts’ form seemed to dip as soon as their chances of challenging for the title began to be taken seriously, Kiziridis, Claudio Braga and Pierre Landry Caboré, who have been praised for the impact they have made since their arrival in the summer, have seen their goal contributions decline.
Likewise, after Laurence Shankland was recalled to the Scotland squad, the striker was quickly overtaken at the top of the Premier League scoring charts by Motherwell’s Tawanda Maswanshis.
McInnes will be looking for captain’s leadership to turn around the team’s fortunes and will view the visit of his former club as an ideal opportunity to achieve this, having lost just once in 31 league games as manager against Kilmarnock.
Especially considering Hearts won 3-0 in October (Braga scored twice), Stuart Kettlewell’s side began a six-game losing streak until Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United.
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Manager in the spotlight – Martin O’Neill (Celtic)
A surprise 2-0 loss to struggling Dundee in October was a factor in Brendan Rodgers’ resignation as Celtic manager after two games.
Martin O’Neill took over as interim head coach with immediate effect, but Wednesday is expected to be the Northern Irishman’s last game in charge before Columbus Crew head coach Wilfrid Nancy officially arrives.
Dundee hope this is a good sign, considering the last time they won at Celtic Park it was under O’Neill – 2-0 in May 2001 – and they have visited 23 times since, losing 21 times.
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However, while Stephen Pressley’s side are full of confidence after a 3-1 win over St Mirren, Celtic’s results under their returning former boss have left their hopes dim.
O’Neill has led Celtic to six wins, with their only defeat coming at Midtjylland in the Europa League, including the last four in a row.
There are signs of a return to the offensive talent Rodgers lost in his final days, leading many fans to call for the 73-year-old O’Neal to remain at Celtic Park in some capacity.
He thought the win over Feyenoord would be his last game in charge, then he thought it would be Sunday’s win over Hibernian and now he seems convinced he will be leaving at the weekend.
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Whether there will be room for O’Neal in the future will not be clear until Nancy is appointed.
Meanwhile, with Dundee having lost their last five away games and not winning consecutive league games against Celtic since 1988, O’Neill is likely to celebrate another victory with a cup of coffee at his favorite coffee shop in London’s King’s Road.
