Key events
Team news
Three of Hearts’ new signing start the game: Yan Dhanda, Gerald Taylor and James Penrice.
Rangers new boy Connor Barron starts in midfield alongside Mohamed Diomande, who joined permanently from Nordsjælland in the summer.
The Premiership season is about to begin, but the transfer window remains wide open. Hearts’ latest signing Malachi Boateng will be on the bench today.
Ewan Murray’s season preview
As Scotland’s Premiership season kicks off on Saturday, the only danger to Celtic is Celtic themselves. Rangers are a distant second best, off and on the pitch. There is no other way to assess a club who will decamp to Hampden Park for the early stages of the campaign due to the botched upgrade of disabled facilities inside Ibrox.
Preamble
Fitba’s back, baby! The new Scottish Premiership season begins with a cracking match at Tynecastle: Hearts, who finished third last season, against the runners-up Rangers. There hasn’t been a wealth of pre-season optimism at Ibrox, with all concerned realising the extent of Philippe Clement’s challenge.
Clement has signed nine players this summer, most with a view to the medium and long-term, and a number of thirtysomething regulars have left the club.
Rangers announced an extension to Clement’s contract yesterday, which now runs to 2028, and he has stressed the need for patience in the build-up to this game. Good luck with that!
If Rangers do drop off, Hearts are the team most likely to break into the top off. But their squad will be tested by a minimum of eight games in Europe. As ever, much will depend on the efficiency of Lawrence Shankland, who swept the awards last season and has scored 24 league goals in both his seasons at Tynecastle.
Kick off 12.30pm.
