Kai Watson: Can Hearts Mount a Title Challenge?
Kai Watson 
It's been quite the start to the season in the Scottish Premiership, with Rangers already in crisis mode after suffering a damaging defeat to Hearts this weekend.
Whispers are already starting over whether the Jambos can maintain their title challenge - betting sites now have them as second favourites - as they sit level on points with Celtic at this early stage.
Free Bets Scottish football expert Kai Watson has taken a closer look the club's chances this season.
As of this weekend, Hearts sit joint top of the Scottish Premiership with thirteen points from the opening five matches.
Those matches also haven’t been easy by any stretch of the imagination. The season started on a Monday night under the Tynecastle lights when they welcomed Scottish Cup holders Aberdeen and comfortably beat them 2-0.
The following game was away at Tannadice and having taken the lead they found themselves 2-1 down at half-time. A Stuart Findlay double, including a 94th-minute winner, helped them keep their 100% record going.
After a disappointing League Cup exit on penalties to St. Mirren, they welcomed a rejuvenated and impressive Motherwell side to Tynecastle. On 62 minutes, Derek McInnes’ men found themselves 3-0 down and they looked out before a quick reply from Harry Milne was followed up by a Claudio Braga double. It’s the only game they haven’t won so far but what a comeback and display of character that was and proved it’s a much different Hearts side to last seasons.
Next up was another tough away day, this time against David Martindale’s Livingston and, again, Hearts found themselves trailing at half-time. A quick reply at the beginning of the second half put them firmly in the driving seat to win but it took until injury time for an Alexandros Kyziridis cracker from the edge of the area to seal a 2-1 victory.
If you’re keeping count, that’s two injury time winners in just four matches, an impressive display of resilience, fight and determination from the Jambos.
Then they headed to Ibrox for what they thought would be the biggest test of the season so far, and maybe it was.
Some really poor defensive work from Rangers allowed Claudio Braga to drive with the ball on the left before slipping a pass into the unmarked Lawrence Shankland who fired in a lovely left-footed finish in the 21st minute. His lack of celebration was apparently due to believing he had handled the ball in the buildup but it wasn’t pulled back by VAR.
Aside from a long range cross/shot from Thelo Aasgaard, Rangers didn’t offer much until they made some subs and a scramble in the box led to Derek Cornelius putting the ball into the net but it was disallowed for a ‘foul’ on the goalkeeper, a soft one if you ask me.
Then Harry Milne drove into the box in the 80th minute and Diomande dangled a lazy leg and the Hearts man went down, it looked soft but the Rangers midfielder shouldn’t have given the referee a decision to make. Shankland stepped up but Butland made a good save, however couldn’t prevent the rebound.
In all honesty, the refereeing decisions may have been questionable but Hearts deserved their win and deserve to be joint top of the league. They’ve shown they play until the final whistle and are determined to win, they're aggressive and move the ball quickly, it seems like they’re doing everything that Derek McInnes wants them to do.
They’re in title-winning form currently and it doesn’t even look like they’ve hit top gear and some of the new signings are still settling in. Claudio Braga deserves a mention though and not only because he has one of the best football chants in Scottish football history (seriously, go search for it!).
The 25-year-old Portuguese forward came in with the use of Jamestown Analytics via the Norwegian second tier and has 3G/1A in five appearances and has been a handful in every game he’s played. He has a great touch, carries the ball well, he’s quick and aggressive in the press, he’s everything you’d want from a striker/winger and has hit the ground running in Scotland.
Tony Bloom’s investment was properly confirmed over the summer and, so far, Hearts are seeing the benefits of data-led recruitment, can it continue?
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