On the back of a Europa Conference League victory in Latvia in midweek, Hearts will aim to make a return to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday, when they travel to Fir Park to do battle with Motherwell.

The two sides find themselves level on 10 points after six outings, with only Celtic and Rangers topping that tally at this stage, but both will look to bounce back from disappointing results prior to last weekend's postponements.

Match preview

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After their season began in disappointing fashion with a 3-0 aggregate defeat to Sligo Rovers in Europa Conference League qualifying, ruling out the possibility of any further continental action this term, Motherwell started their Scottish Premiership campaign on the front foot with a 1-0 win away at St Mirren thanks to Kevin van Veen's goal from the penalty spot.

Steven Hammell's men would then suffer a defeat at home to St Johnstone, but they managed to bounce back in impressive fashion with back-to-back victories, firstly beating Aberdeen 3-2 away from home, having come from behind to snatch all three points courtesy of second-half goals from Callum Slattery and van Veen.

That was followed by a 1-0 home victory over Livingston to move onto nine points from four outings, with Van Veen again finding the net to seal the points, before the Well suffered a narrow 2-1 loss away at Kilmarnock, having led through the in-form Van Veen until the 70th minute, only for Danny Armstrong and Ash Taylor to quickly turn the game on its head.

Hoping to bounce back from that defeat, and on the back of a 4-0 thrashing of Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish League Cup second round, in which Van Veen added another three goals to his tally, Motherwell most recently took on Dundee United on home turf, and they had to settle for a point as neither side were able to break the deadlock.

Now sitting on a pleasing tally of 10 points from their six games, and on the back of an extended break following the postponement of their scheduled contest with Ross County last weekend due to Queen Elizabeth II's passing, Hammell's side will look to make a return to winning ways to move ahead of one of the sides fighting around them at the top end of the Premiership.

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Hearts, meanwhile, will travel with renewed confidence following a continental win, after a somewhat mixed start to the new term.

The Jam Tarts did kick off quickly in the Scottish top flight with wins over Ross County and Dundee United, either side of an agonising draw with rivals Hibernian, as Martin Boyle equalised in the 95th minute for their opponents, but they were then unable to qualify for the Europa League group stage, losing 3-1 on aggregate to FC Zurich.

A first league defeat of the season against Celtic came between the two legs of that tie, but they did manage to return to winning ways against St Johnstone with Lawrence Shankland wrapping up a 3-2 victory with an 81st-minute penalty, only to suffer back-to-back 1-0 defeats to Kilmarnock and Livingston in the Scottish League Cup and Premiership respectively.

Their losing run was stretched to three games by a 4-0 thrashing away at Istanbul Basaksehir in their Europa Conference League group stage curtain-raiser, and after also being affected by the weekend's nationwide postponements, Robbie Neilson's side returned to action away at Rigas Futbola Skola on Thursday, and they were able to put their first points on the board in a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from Shankland and Alan Forrest.

Now with renewed confidence from that victory after a tough run, Hearts will aim to get their league form back on track with what would be an important win on Sunday in their bid for another top-three finish.

Team News

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Motherwell's line will again be led by key man Kevin van Veen, who has netted seven of their nine goals across all competitions so far this season, including four in six league appearances.

New signing Matt Penney will keep his place on the left-hand side of the back four, while Huddersfield Town loanee Rolando Aarons will be pushing to feature ahead of him on the wing.

Prolific attacker Louis Moult, who departed in 2018, recently rejoined on loan from Burton Albion, and he is also vying to feature in the front three, while the midfield unit of Sean Goss, Callum Slattery and Ross Tierney should remain unchanged.

Hearts remain without attacker Liam Boyce and midfielder Beni Baningime due to long-term injuries, while centre-back Kye Rowles was also out of contention for the trip to Rigas.

Craig Halkett did return to the defence after a layoff of his own, though, and he could rejoin Stephen Kingsley in the middle of the back four with Nathaniel Atkinson pushing to displace Michael Smith on the right-hand side and Cammy Devlin and Jorge Grant set to continue operating in the engine room.

In the absence of Boyce, Lawrence Shankland will continue to lead the line, having already hit five goals in all competitions since his summer arrival from Beerschot, while competition for the other attacking spots is rife with Josh Ginnelly, Barrie McKay, Alan Forrest, Gary Mackay-Steven and Stephen Humphrys all vying for starting berths.

Motherwell possible starting lineup:
Kelly; McGinn, Lamie, Johansen, Penney; Goss, Slattery, Tierney; Moult, Van Veen, Aarons

Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Atkinson, Kingsley, Halkett, Cochrane; Grant, Devlin, Halliday; McKay, Shankland, Forrest

We say: Motherwell 1-2 Hearts

Hearts are yet to fully be at their best in the Scottish Premiership this term, but Neilson has a strong squad at his disposal, and on the back of a confidence-boosting win away at Rigas, they should have what it takes to return to winning ways at Fir Park.

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Written by
Sam Varley

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