Wednesday in Scotland will witness an interesting top-flight fixture when second-placed side Rangers travel to Tynecastle Park to play a Scottish Premiership game against third-placed side Heart of Midlothian. The Gers currently are on 23 points on the league table, while the Jambos have accumulated 19 points from their 10 games thus far.

Meanwhile, Hearts have had a turbulent start to the season; the team lost all four of their opening fixtures of the season under new manager Wouter Vrancken after current Rangers' boss Derek McInnes left the club in the summer. However, since then, the team's fortunes have experienced a turnaround; the Jambos have won 8, drawn 5, and lost just 3 games of their last 16 official fixtures. 

Courtesy of their brilliant run of form, Hearts have managed to secure themselves in the third position of the league table; the Jambos are four points clear of fourth-placed side Dundee United. A win on Wednesday would bring them within one point of second-placed side Rangers.

Wouter Vrancken’s biggest strength this season has been his team's attacking output; Hearts have scored 22 goals in 10 Premiership games, and are only behind Celtic in terms of goals scored; the latter have scored 25 goals in the same number of games. The defence has also been solid, conceding just eight goals in nine games; however, the 7-1 thumping suffered at the hands of Celtic means that Hearts have recorded 15 goals conceded in 10 games.

Rangers have been on a tremendous run of form; the Gers have remained unbeaten in all of their last nine fixtures across all competitions. This run has, notably, produced eight victories and a solitary draw, a testament to the excellent form that the team is in.

This unbeaten run, however, has come only after Rangers suffered setbacks in their first four games across all competitions played under the tutelage of former Hearts manager Derek McInnes. McInnes could not deliver a single win in any of those games, and the team’s fortunes turned only after they managed to beat St. Mirren in the second round of the Scottish League Cup by a margin of 5-1. Since then, the Gers have gone on to win nine, draw and lose one of their next 11 fixtures.

The defensive form of the team will be of utmost importance for Rangers, who will be facing a Hearts side that has scored the second-highest number of goals in the current season, only behind league leaders Celtic. The Gers, on their part, have conceded a mere seven goals in the Premiership. The away record of the side is also impeccable; Rangers have, till now, been unbeaten while playing away from Ibrox in the league. They have won three and drawn two of their five such fixtures.

The biggest concern for Hearts in the ongoing season has been the numerous injuries that the players have suffered. Players like Blair Spittal, Christian Borchgrevink, Craig Halkett, Harry Milne, Oisin McEntee, Stuart Findlay, Agey and Tom Renaud will all be unavailable for the game on Wednesday. James Wilson, Claudio Braga, Josh McPake and Calvin Miller are all expected to make the starting line-up. 

Rangers will be entering the fixture without the services of players like Lawrence Shankland, Cameron Delvin, Daisuke Yokota, Jose Cifuentes, Ross McCrorie and Youssef Chermiti. Ryan Don Naderi and Kevin Kelsey will be expected to start the game.

As things stand, the Rangers defence should be able to restrict the Hearts attack to no more than 2 goals. A score of 3-2 in favour of the Gers can be expected to be the result of the Scottish Premiership fixture to be played on Wednesday.