Hearts thrived on the opening day of the campaign by picking up three points against St. Johnstone while putting together an impressive performance at the same time.
It took Frankie McAvoy’s men a while to break down the Saints in that game, but the persistence and patience was something that paid off with a goal in the 75th minute from Yutaro Oda breaking the deadlock.
That was then added to in the 96th minute as Lawrence Shankland secured three points for Hearts, with the clean sheet also highlighting the defensive structure of the team.
The Jambos are currently second in the Scottish Premiership with only goal difference between them and Celtic, and the focus for MacAvoy will certainly be on keeping the pressure on them.
Considering the fact they were over 40 points behind Celtic last season, the aim for Hearts will be to shrink that this time around, but they will need a stronger performance than their midweek one.
Hearts competed in the third qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, but ultimately fell short with a 2-1 defeat, despite a late goal from Shankland
Links >> Stream 1 HD Stream 2 HD Stream 3 HD Stream 4 HD
Even though they only just avoided relegation last season, Derek McInnes guided his team to a perfect start, despite the fact they had the daunting task of an away fixture against Rangers.
Kilmarnock stood firm throughout the match, keeping a clean sheet against the attacking quality of the Gers, with Brad Lyons scoring the only goal of the game.
Following up that performance will now be crucial for Kilmarnock as they look to create some momentum early on in the season, especially since picking up as many points as possible early on could prove to be vital.
Killie struggled massively away from home last season, winning just two matches throughout the entire campaign, which is something that they will need to address this season.
