SCOTTISH football bible Willie Duncan (@Willie_Duncan) returns to deliver his favourite fancy from the weekend’s action north of the border.
Hearts v St Johnstone | Sunday 12.30
It seems like a lifetime ago that Sam Nicholson scored a dramatic late winner as Hearts beat St Johnstone 4-3 on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Tynecastle.
In reality, it was only on the opening day of the league season and, as fate would have it, the two teams will meet again at Tynecastle to bring the curtain down on their respective campaigns.
With Hearts in third place and St Johnstone in fourth, both camps will be relatively happy with what they've achieved this season.
Hearts seem to have been in holiday mode in recent weeks, but Robbie Neilson's side have scored in all but one of their last 33 competitive fixtures at Tynecastle – the exception to the rule coming when Tommy Wright's Saints romped to a 3-0 win in Gorgie in March – and the Jam Tarts would love to maintain that fine scoring record here.
Anyone accusing St Johnstone of downing tools simply hasn't been paying attention, for they have won each of their last four matches, coming from behind to beat champions Celtic at McDiarmid Park in midweek.
Turgid football can often be par for the course at the end of the season when there's nothing really at stake, but I've got a feeling that we'll see goals in Gorgie on Sunday afternoon.
There have been three or more goals scored in five of St Johnstone's last seven matches, while the selection would have landed in three of Hearts' last four Tynecastle tussles.
I'll be at Tynecastle on Sunday and I am hoping to see goals galore – no prizes for guessing at which end – but if you're punting, you could do much worse than the 19/20 (William Hill) quote for more than two goals to be scored during Sunday's showdown.
Best Bets
Hearts v St Johnstone – Over 2.5 Goals (19/20 William Hill)
