Of the three all-top flight ties on Saturday, Falkirk’s visit to Hearts (20:00 GMT) is the one that most captures the imagination.
Hearts are flying high at the top of the Premiership, six points clear of their nearest challengers after a hard-fought midweek win over St Mirren.
Derek McInnes’ side had an early exit from this season’s Premier Sports Cup and will be eager to go far in the Scottish Cup, even more so with new signings in the door this month.
As for Falkirk, they ran Celtic close on Wednesday evening and the 1-0 defeat should not overly dampen what has been a fine campaign so far for John McGlynn’s side.
The two league encounters between Hearts and Falkirk this season have both been won by Hearts and the Bairns are yet to score in the fixture this term.
Falkirk won the last knock-out meeting between the two, 2-0 at home in the League Cup in August 2024, and also won on their visit to Tynecastle – 3-2 when both were in the Championship in January 2015.
However, to prevail again they would have to end Hearts’ 13-game unbeaten home run this season.