Hearts and Rangers square off at Tynecastle on Saturday afternoon with their Scottish Premiership fixture acting as a dress rehearsal for next week's Scottish Cup final.

While Hearts have already sealed third position, runners-up Rangers are playing their final game before Wednesday's Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Match preview

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Although Celtic were confirmed as champions on Wednesday night, Rangers have realistically being targeting other things since reaching the Europa League final last week.

To their credit, Rangers still fulfilled their end of the bargain, posting home wins over Dundee United and Ross County to keep Celtic honest until their draw with the former at Tannadice.

However, as far as Rangers are concerned, it is now time for Giovanni van Bronckhorst's team to switch back on, this fixture coming exactly a week before the two clubs go head-to-head in the Scottish Cup final.

Like he has done in the previous two games, Van Bronckhorst has taken measures to try to keep his players as fresh as possible, but there will also be spots available in one of the two showpiece matches for the players who take to the pitch in the capital at the weekend.

Despite an indifferent loan spell since joining from Manchester United, Amad Diallo has chipped in with goals in his last two appearances, providing both himself and Van Bronckhorst with a necessary boost going forward.

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Robbie Neilson can only have been left impressed with the longevity of his Hearts side this campaign, the Edinburgh-based side long being confirmed in third position in their first year back in the top tier.

That said, he would not have necessarily envisaged a three-match winless streak heading into their double-header with Rangers, the run starting with a goalless draw at home to Ross County.

Although a heavy defeat at a motivated Celtic was perhaps half-anticipated, Hearts again succumbed on Wednesday evening as they lost 2-1 at Motherwell.

Neilson will be grateful that there is another game to come before trying to win a piece of domestic silverware against the odds but like his opposite number, a balance must be found on Saturday with more important occasions around the corner.

Team News

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Neilson has acknowledged that Toby Sibbick will sit out this contest with the knee injury that he sustained on Wednesday.

Stephen Kingsley is in line to return to the Hearts starting lineup, while Craig Gordon and John Souttar may also be brought back into the team.

Further forward, Cameron Devlin and Ellis Simms could be restored to the midfield and attack respectively.

Van Bronckhorst will almost certainly rotate the majority of his Rangers squad, with potentially only the likes of Alex Lowry and Scott Wright retaining their places.

Youngsters Alex Devine and Charlie McCann could be given chances in the full-back roles, but Aaron Ramsey may be limited to game time from the bench.

Ryan Jack may not be risked ahead of the Frankfurt game, with Kemar Roofe only deemed to be an outsider to feature in that showdown due to a knee injury.

Hearts possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Souttar, Cochrane, Kingsley; Atkinson, Haring, Halliday, Devlin, Ginnelly; Boyce, Simms

Rangers possible starting lineup:
McLaughlin; Devine, Balogun, King, McCann; Davis, Lowry; Wright, Arfield, Diallo; Sakala

We say: Hearts 1-1 Rangers

With future games in mind, there is every chance that there will be changes aplenty, although it is unclear which team will benefit from that. All things considered, we have to back a low-scoring draw, Hearts potentially netting a late equaliser when Rangers begin to think more about Wednesday night.

Written by
Darren Plant

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