Scottish Premiership picks: Celtic test for Hearts, Ayunga back among goals, pressure on Martindale

Although there is a cup final this weekend, the five Scottish Premiership games on Saturday hold plenty of intrigue before attention turns to Hampden Park.

Aberdeen and Rangers will contest the Viaplay Cup on Sunday after their 10 fellow top-flight sides battle for points in the league.

Here are some of the main talking points...

Game of the week - Celtic v Hearts

Fresh from banishing their Champions League hoodoo with a rousing win over Feyenoord, Celtic return to domestic matters seeking an emphatic response to last weekend's shock defeat at Kilmarnock.

The defending champions turned in a feeble second-half performance at Rugby Park and their recent domestic inconsistency is vexing Brendan Rodgers, whose side are five points ahead of Rangers having played a game more. Make no mistake, the title race is on.

With Rangers chasing the first silverware of the season at Hampden, the gap could become eight points with a Celtic win on Saturday against a Hearts side who have not tended to enjoy their trips to Glasgow's east end, losing the last 14 in a row in all competitions.

In a similar manner to Celtic, Hearts crumbled from a winning position last weekend, going down 2-1 at Aberdeen, and have lost two on the bounce since Steven Naismith was named November's Premiership manager of the month after four league wins in a row.

The Tynecastle club's AGM this week brought some grumblings of discontent from supporters. CEO Andrew McKinlay backed Naismith but also called for a more attacking and dynamic brand of football. Can Hearts deliver style and substance to stun the champions?

Player to watch - Jonah Ayunga (St Mirren)

Jonah Ayunga (right) broke his duck for the season last weekend

Jonah Ayunga celebrated impending fatherhood and his first goal of the season as St Mirren defeated Ross County 2-0 last Saturday.

It was a welcome tonic for the Buddies after a rocky spell that culminated in three success away defeats, while Ayunga is rediscovering his prowess after a 10-month injury lay-off.

The forward's next assignment is breaching a Motherwell defence that has not kept a clean sheet since 3 September.

And Ayunga will be hoping to help the Buddies maintain a 100% record against the Steelmen in all competitions this season, with 1-0 victories picked up in the Premiership and Viaplay Cup.

Manager in focus - David Martindale (Livingston)

Seven defeats on the bounce. No goals scored in their past six games. Twelve goals shipped since early October.

The stats are damning for one of the Premiership's traditionally resilient clubs, Livingston.

And the outlook looks challenging. Buoyed by a win over Celtic, Kilmarnock visit West Lothian on Saturday then Livi face Aberdeen and Rodgers' men on the road.

In previous seasons, manager David Martindale has been defiant about his team's hopes. This term, the tone has been somewhat more cautious. Livingston are in a relegation scrap and Martindale is not pretending otherwise.

It's a five-point gap to St Johnstone in second bottom going into this weekend. Martindale's men need points quickly to avoid being cut further adrift.

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