Hearts return to Tynecastle Park today at 3pm to host Dundee United on match day 2 in the Scottish Premiership.
Life for Hearts under new boss Wouter Vrancken hasn’t got off to the start it did under Derek McInnes, with the Belgian losing his opening four matches. His side were beaten 2-1 at Pittodrie last week despite leading 1-0 in stoppage time. They come into this one on the back of a 6-1 thrashing to Benfica on Thursday night.
As for Dundee United, they enter this match fresh from an impressive draw to Derek McInnes’ Rangers side on opening day. New striker Lachlan Rose has scored four goals in his opening six matches for United.
New Hearts signing Sabri Guendouz spoke on Vrancken’s tactics after Thursday’s defeat in Lisbon, he said: “When we follow the plan, the team are good. If we win against Dundee United it will be good for our heads, for our feelings. It will help our confidence and it will be good for the preparation for the next game against Benfica and the next games in the league after that.
“This is just the beginning. It has been difficult with the preparation we have had and the short time we have had to work with the manager. But now the season has started and we have to start winning games.”
Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin said: “If we can play the way we did against Rangers, with the same organisation, intensity and quality, then I think we will give ourselves a chance in any game we go into. The most important thing for us is being competitive every time we take to the pitch and, ultimately, we always want to win.”
Hearts enjoyed an unbeaten run at home in the league last season, but this fixture has been won by the away side in five of the past six occasions, with United unbeaten in their last three trips to Gorgie.
Reports suggest Will Ferry could soon leave the club with Blackburn Rovers and Anderlecht interested in the Irishman. Goodwin looks to have preemptively accounted for Ferry’s departure by adding 22-year-old Romanian left-back Kevin Ciobotaru on Friday.
It’s a fixture that promises goals, with United failing to keep a clean sheet in their last 17 fixtures on the road. Hearts last failed to score at home in the league in April 2025, the 1-0 loss to Dundee saw Neil Critchley sacked.