Hearts vs Motherwell Prediction: Motherwell big price for the win

Motherwell will be pleased to move on from their tough Christmas fixtures as they faced both Celtic and Rangers in the space of three days. After a decent draw with Rangers, they travel to the capital to face Hearts on Thursday (15:00).

Neil Critchley’s team brought their shocking December to an end with a 2-2 draw against Ross County, having led 2-0 heading into the 97th minute. It was a humiliating collapse that came just days after losing the Edinburgh derby to Hibs on home soil. Below you can find my Hearts vs Motherwell prediction as these two look to begin 2025 with a bang. 

Team News

Critchley’s side sit three points above bottom club St Johnstone and will hope to pull away from danger with a win here. Cammy Devlin returns after suspension but Gerald Taylor, Stephen Kingsley and Frankie Kent remain out injured. 

James Wilson, a 17-year-old, is now the focal point of the attacks and after a brace at the weekend has scored four goals in four starts. It speaks of their demise that a teenager is now their star man, with all respect to what looks like a promising talent. 42-year-old Craig Gordon, who is a quarter of a century older than the forward, should start again in goal. 

Meanwhile, Stuart Kettlewell will have been relieved to see top scorer Apostolos Stamatelopoulos start and score against Rangers after his slight knock, and he’s in top form, having scored four goals in his last six. He’s the dangerman that will start up top, while there is also positive news for both Liam Gordon and captain Paul McGinn. 

The skipper was back in the squad at the weekend, while Gordon started having missed the defeat to Celtic. Tom Sparrow finally made his debut after his summer move from Stoke City, having endured an injury-hit start to life north of the border. Ross Callachan, Jack Vale, Zach Robinson and Steve Seddon all remain on the treatment table.

Hearts vs Motherwell Odds

Hearts are priced at 9/10 to win this match at home, giving them an implied win probability of 52%. Motherwell are available at 3/1 to win their fifth away game of the season while a draw can be backed at 13/5. 

Over 2.5 goals has come in during 15 of Motherwell’s 19 games this season and is available at 5/6, while BTTS is 8/11. Wilson is priced at 6/1 to open the scoring for the hosts. 

Motherwell to win @ 3/1 

I don’t really understand why Motherwell have been priced so highly to win this game, but I’m happy to take advantage of this excellent value. Hearts have been dreadful this season, and their form at home hasn’t been scintillating either, with just three wins from 10 at Tynecastle.

They are now out of the Conference League having drawn to Petrocub recently, which means that their only focus is on the league. 10 points off the top six, it looks unlikely that they can close that gap before the league splits, so surviving the drop has to be the priority. 

Hearts have only won two of their last 12 games in all competitions, and their last home game ended in that devastating 2-1 loss to Hibs, who have now won five of their last six. Motherwell have been in decent nick on the road with four wins out of nine giving them more away points than both Rangers and Hibs this term. 

I think they should have beaten Rangers last time out, and they were unfortunate when Jack Butland’s own goal was disallowed late on. They’ve now only lost one of their last five (to Celtic), and I think they can get the better of a Hearts outfit lacking confidence right now.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos to score first @ 7/1

With four goals in his last six games, Motherwell’s main man is bang in form. He’s also coming up against a defence that has conceded 31 goals in 20 matches this season, and they’ve not kept a clean sheet in their last six matches in all competitions. I think they are in danger of being taken apart in this game and although I like the look of Wilson to also find the net in an entertaining encounter, I think the best value lies in backing the Greek to open the scoring.

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