Hearts and Motherwell fans set to clinch 14-year first and why Fir Park clash is game of the season contender

Hearts and Motherwell fans are set to be out in force - and they can expect fireworks when both sides collide this weekend.

Off the back of a first Premiership loss last Sunday against Aberdeen, Derek McInnes’ league leaders are heading for Fir Park to take on Jens Berthel Askou’s team. Motherwell are being lauded for a possession-based style of play and dominated Tuesday’s clash with Hibs, which they won 2-0 on home soil.

There are several reasons why this one now stands as Scotland’s game to watch this weekend, and possibly one to remember when this season is done. Firstly, the opening act between this pair in August threw up a barnstormer in Gorgie, Motherwell racing out into a 3-0 lead with an all action performance before a Claudio Braga-inspired Hearts side clawed it back to 3-3, and they had chances to win an epic.

Why is Motherwell vs Hearts a game of the season candidate?

Each side packs some of the best signings from the most recent transfer window. In the home corner, Elliot Watt, Elijah Just, Stephen Welsh and Emmanuel Longelo are just some of the stars who signed in the summer and have made instant Motherwell impacts, with Hearts needing to be on guard against them. Askou’s strength in depth was fully shown on Tuesday as he changed the shape and made five changes, still coming out comfy winners against last season’s third force.

Hearts’ Jamestown Analytics use has been well-documented and the likes of Claudio Braga and Alexandros Kyziridis have gone from undiscovered gems to some of the best in top flight class. Goals aplenty should be on the menu, with four of the five top scorers in Scotland playing for either side. Motherwell’s Tawanda Maswanhise is on top with eight while Lawrence Shankland and Braga sit on seven, Fir Park striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos fifth on five strikes.

That goal haul is proven in some of the attacking stats. Both are in the top three for goals per match, the Jambos on top with 2.20 while Motherwell are at 1.70. The possession battle will prove interesting, Motherwell holding an average of 60.1% that only the Old Firm can better and Hearts occupy fourth with 54.5%. Hearts and Motherwell are third and fourth respectively on the xG table with a winner likely to be decided on the day, if two draws out the last 15 meetings is anything to go off.

What will Hearts vs Motherwell attendance be?

Then there’s the obvious table standings. The visitors will be keen to extend their lead at the top over Celtic to seven points ahead of their trip to Hibs but the hosts have ambitions of their own, able to clear in third even with a point, ahead of the Easter Road battle and Rangers match with Falkirk.

Fans have fully bought into the hype. Hearts’ away end of 4,600 is sold out while it’s understood Motherwell home sales have already eclipsed 5,000. Even in the improbable circumstance no more tickets are sold, it will make Saturday’s game the highest attended non Old Firm game at Fir Park since a Champions League qualifier versus Panathinaikos in 2012 which hit 9,035, and highest domestic attendance for a non-Old Firm match since 2011’s clash with Dundee Utd in a Scottish Cup replay. That reached 8337.

All eyes will be on ML1 this Saturday afternoon in a game that will have ramifications at the top of the league. Without wanting to inflict a 0-0 jinx upon proceedings, evidence would suggest that it’s teed up to be a game full of fireworks that’s talked about at the end of the season, and beyond.