Admittedly, a case could be made for either side in this huge clash on Sunday, but I think Rangers can at the very least avoid defeat.

Rangers have been a model of consistency at home in the Scottish Premiership in recent months. Since bringing in Danny Rohl, they have won eight of their nine Scottish Premiership home matches, with the only blemish a 0-0 draw with Falkirk back in November. Even more impressive is that Rangers have lost just one of their 18 league matches under Rohl’s guidance, and only twice overall in the Scottish Premiership this season, despite the challenges they have faced.

While Hearts continue to show they are serious contenders in the title race, two of their three defeats this season have come in their last four away trips, losing at Hibernian and St Mirren. It would be fair to say that Rangers represent a significant step up in class from those opponents. I also suspect Hearts would be content with a point if offered beforehand, meaning they are unlikely to go all out for the win here, while Rangers’ need for victory is far greater.

Given the magnitude of this match in the Scottish Premiership title race, I would be surprised if we don’t see a minimum of four bookings. That aligns closely with each team’s respective card averages in the Scottish Premiership this season, with Rangers’ matches producing an average of 4.00 bookings per game, while Hearts sit slightly higher at 4.35.

What’s more, Rangers come into this clash fresh from a bad-tempered 1-1 draw with Motherwell in midweek, which saw seven yellow cards and a red card handed out. It has been a similar story for Hearts in recent weeks, with a whopping five of their last six league matches featuring at least one red card.

While referee Don Robertson has averaged just 3.07 yellow cards per game in the Scottish Premiership this season, that figure has been on the rise in recent months, with the Scottish ref reaching for his pocket at least four times in six of the last seven matches that he has taken charge of across all competitions. Given what’s at stake on Sunday, I would expect that trend to continue.

Several players appeal in the shots on target market on Sunday, but I’m backing Mikey Moore to hit the target at least once. There has been a marked improvement in Moore’s performances under Danny Rohl, and he is without question one of Rangers’ biggest attacking threats. The Tottenham loanee is a player who is always eager to pull the trigger at any opportunity, underlined by the fact that he is averaging 2.55 shots per game in the Scottish Premiership this season, with his on-target rate at 1.20 per game.

A closer look shows that Moore has hit the target in 11 of his last 12 Scottish Premiership outings, and in the one game where he failed to hit the target, he actually found the net, only for the goal to be ruled out by a tight VAR offside call. Across that 12-game sample, it’s also worth noting that Moore hit the target against Hearts away from home, adding further weight to the case for him to repeat the trick at Ibrox on Sunday. 

The fact that Hearts are conceding an average of just under 10 shots per game in the top-flight this term only strengthens the argument for Moore to test goalkeeper, Alexander Schwolow, at least once.

Rangers can usually be relied on for high corner counts, and I expect Sunday’s clash with Hearts to be no different, particularly with the onus on the hosts to go all out for three points. Their Scottish top-flight fixtures this season are generating a sizeable average of 10.73 corner kicks per game. That is largely down to Rangers themselves being prolific corner performers, posting an average of 6.50 per 90.

Hearts, as you would expect, also rank highly for team corners, averaging 5.38 per game, with their matches producing an overall average of 9.81. Derek McInnes’ side are well-known for getting early crosses into the box, often forcing corner situations, which they have proven very adept at scoring from this season. The Jam Tarts should, therefore, rack up more than their fair share at Ibrox.

The case for backing this selection is bolstered by the fact that the previous two meetings between the sides this season delivered corner totals of 11 and 16, with Rangers winning the corner battle on both occasions. With all that in mind, I’m more than happy to back both teams to combine for over 7.5 corner kicks on Sunday.