Heart of Midlothian remain one of Scottish football’s established institutions: founded in 1874, settled at Tynecastle Park, and rarely short of edge when Celtic are the visitors. The current side has more than local nuisance value. Hearts sit first in the Premiership, with a 32-man squad averaging 28 years of age and valued at around £23.5m by Transfermarkt.
Their league form has been solid and productive. A 3-0 home win over Falkirk followed a 1-1 draw at Motherwell, with earlier wins over Rangers, Hibernian and Motherwell adding weight to an unbeaten six-match run. Tynecastle has been particularly efficient: Hearts are averaging 1.9 goals scored and only 0.6 conceded at home.
The attacking burden has been carried chiefly by Lawrence Shankland, with 19 goals, and Cláudio Braga, with 17. There is support behind them rather than a single-source dependency, with Stuart Findlay, Craig Halkett and Alexandros Kyziridis all on six. Away from home, Hearts are still carrying a threat, averaging 1.6 goals per match, though they concede a little more than they do in Edinburgh.
Their cup involvement has included the League Cup second round and the Scottish Cup fourth round. In the league, though, Hearts are currently a serious part of the Premiership picture, and a relevant measure for Celtic rather than background noise.
📈 Key stats and insights
⚔️ How they compare to Celtic
For Celtic supporters, the contrast is clear: Celtic have the sharper home attack, scoring 2.2 per match compared with Hearts’ 1.9, while both sides are level away at 1.6. Hearts have the edge defensively, though, conceding less than Celtic at home and away, and that defensive gap is the main reason they sit above Celtic in the table.
