Heart of Midlothian head to Rugby Park on Saturday afternoon seeking a fourth consecutive Premiership victory as Steven Naismith’s side look to get points on the board ahead of a hectic festive fixture list.

The two sides played out a goalless draw at Tynecastle Park in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, although Hearts did secure a dramatic 2-1 win in the League Cup in their last trip to Ayrshire.

Our writers have got their crystal balls out as they attempt to predict Naismith’s starting line-up, and Joel and James disagree over a couple of key positions in midfield. Allow them to explain their thoughts…

Joel Sked

Hearts Standard:

Steven Naismith spoke earlier in the week about changing formations depending on the game and opposition over the coming weeks with the number of fixtures and the different tests which await the team. However, the back three is a system which has served the team very well recently, especially from a defensive standpoint, and it is difficult to see him moving away from it for the trip to Rugby Park. But there will be changes.

Only Celtic have picked up more points from home games than Kilmarnock so it won't be easy. Hearts will, of course, take heart from the win in the League Cup at Rugby Park earlier in the season. They can play a back three or a back four but in both systems they have a big, physical defence who are excellent no nonsense individuals but they can play a bit as well. Then in attack they could easily play Marley Watkins and Kyle Vassell. Both are mobile and can be physical. It makes sense to keep the back three in place, allowing for a spare man to deal with that dual threat.

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The changes that could be made by Naismith are three-fold. Alan Forrest struggled against Luke Robinson at right wing-back. It could be an opportunity for Toby Sibbick to come back into the team. Not only would he add more physicality and height for defending set pieces, plus he could come up against a direct opponent in Matty Kennedy. He showed how well he can perform in the role when he came off the bench against Motherwell. Cammy Devlin is another player who has been on the sidelines recently but this game could be perfect for him in the midfield and his ball-winning qualities.

Killie's defence won't like players running in behind. This is where Naismith faces a big decision. Instead of an attacking trio of Alex Lowry, Liam Boyce and Lawrence Shankland, Lowry could be replaced by Kenneth Vargas with Boyce taking the deeper, attacking midfield role and Vargas stretching the game to open up space for his fellow forwards.

Predicted XI: Clark; Kingsley, Kent, Rowles; Sibbick, Devlin, Baningime, Cochrane; Boyce; Shankland, Vargas.

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James Cairney

Hearts Standard:

I expect we’ll see Naismith stick with the back three for Saturday’s trip to Ayrshire, with Hearts having won three league games on the spin with the system in recent weeks. The 2-1 victory at Rugby Park in the quarter-finals of the League Cup earlier this season was achieved with a flat back four but even though Hearts got the win that day, it was probably a closer contest than Naismith and his coaching staff would have liked. The 3-5-2 lends an extra degree of control and I think that will be crucial to Hearts’ chances of success on Saturday.

The defence largely picks itself at this point. Zander Clark will start in goals, with a back three of Kye Rowles, Frankie Kent and Stephen Kingsley in front of them. Alex Cochrane will surely start at left wing-back but on the other flank I think we could see a change. Alan Forrest wasn’t entirely convincing against St Johnstone or Motherwell in his last two outings, and Killie pose a real threat at attacking set-pieces, so I think we could see Toby Sibbick return to the starting XI.

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I expect we’ll see Beni Baningime hold onto his place at No.6 to keep things ticking over at the base of midfield, but I can see Jorge Grant dropping to the bench. The Englishman wasn’t at his best against Saints and his presence led to an imbalance in the middle. I think we’ll see Calem Nieuwenhof, who is more of a well-rounded threat, come back into the team in his place, and I believe Alex Lowry will take the final spot in midfield.

Liam Boyce and Lawrence Shankland have partnered each other up top in Hearts’ last two outings and although both have performed well, I think we could see Naismith change things up for the Kilmarnock game. Neither player allows Hearts to break at pace or get in behind – something I think is vital to getting a win at Rugby Park – and so I think Boyce could make way for Kenneth Vargas. With Kyosuke Tagawa also in contention too, it would be little surprise to see the Japanese striker given an opportunity, even if only off the bench, to show what he can do.