Clement, Kirk and Dundee Utd v Celtic in focus

A long weekend of Scottish Premiership fixtures is split over three days, starting with Motherwell hosting Kilmarnock on Friday evening and ending with St Johnstone visiting foundering Heart of Midlothian in Sunday's basement battle.

At the top of the table, Aberdeen and Rangers have the chance on Saturday to narrow the gap on Celtic, with the leaders visiting Dundee United the following day.

Here are a few things to watch out for.

Game of weekend - Dundee Utd v Celtic (Sun, 12:00)

Will Sunday prove to be a happy anniversary for United?

It will be almost exactly a decade since Celtic last lost at Tannadice, when goals from Nadir Ciftci and Stuart Armstrong - who would both go on to play for the visitors - put United on their way to victory before a late Leigh Griffiths reply.

That was on Sunday, 21 December 2014 and Tannadice has been a happy hunting ground since then for the Glasgow side, who are unbeaten there in 11 visits, winning seven and scoring 18 goals in their last five.

Half of them came in a famous victory in August 2022, with striker Kyogo Furuhashi - who is one of five survivors of the starting line-up that day still in the squad - grabbing a hat-trick.

Celtic would go on to win their 53rd Scottish league title that season and can concentrate on consolidating their pole position in this campaign after securing their first silverware of the season with Sunday's League Cup final thriller against Rangers.

Brendan Rodgers' side arrive on Tayside for their first meeting of the season with United unbeaten in 15 games, seven of them away from Celtic Park, since that 7-1 Champions League hammering by Borussia Dortmund.

That remains their only defeat in 25 matches this season.

With second-placed Aberdeen and Rangers both at home on Saturday, Celtic may find their lead at the top has been reduced by the time it comes to the noon kick-off, but there have been no signs this season of that kind of pressure having any effect- on Rodgers' side.

Being nine points ahead of the Dons - and two more clear of their city rivals - gives plenty of leeway in any case as they seek a 10th consecutive away league victory.

Indeed, with 14 wins and a draw, this is Celtic's joint-best start to a league season after 15 games - matching seasons 2001-02, 2003-04, and 2016-17.

They are also undefeated in 19 meetings overall against United, who lost 4-3 at Motherwell on Saturday to relinquish fourth place to their hosts.

However, a visit to Tannadice should still be one of Celtic's toughest domestic tests, with Jim Goodwin's promoted side having gone into that Motherwell match on a five-game unbeaten run of their own.

Player to watch - Makenzie Kirk (St Johnstone)

Makenzie Kirk scored in Saturday's defeat by St Mirren

It would rub salt into Hearts' Premiership wounds, deepened by Thursday's Conference League exit, should Makenzie Kirk come back to haunt them on Sunday.

Having ended his stay at Tynecastle by helping Hamilton Academical win promotion from League 1 while on loan, the 20-year-old was sold for an undisclosed fee this summer to St Johnstone.

Working alongside father Andy, the Saints assistant and fellow former Hearts striker, Kirk the younger was initially a regular substitute under Craig Levein, but he has started the latest four matches under new manager Simo Valakari and repaid the Finn with three goals - two in his latest two outings.

The Edinburgh-born Northern Ireland Under-19 forward will fancy his chances of adding to his tally given Neil Critchley's side have only kept one clean sheet in their latest nine league games and have only won once in nine overall after their 2-2 draw at home to Moldovan side Petrocub.

However, despite Kirk's influence, Saints have still only managed one victory of their own in their most recent seven.

They sit just one spot and one point above their bottom-placed hosts before a meeting between two clubs for whom the new manager bounce has very quickly disappeared.

Indeed, Kirk and Saints will be battling against the weight of recent history, considering Saints have lost four in a row at Tynecastle since a 1-0 win in December 2019.

Hearts have, in fact, won each of their latest seven meetings with St Johnstone since a 2-1 defeat in February 2022 and will be desperate to make amends after their failure to secure a win against lowly ranked visitors that would have kept them in Europe beyond Christmas for the first time in 36 years.

Should Kirk help to end Hearts' winning run in this fixture, though, it will only add to the question marks being posed about the recruitment policy at his former club.

Manager in spotlight - Philippe Clement (Rangers)

It is not often you can say that two high-profile games without a victory have eased pressure on a football manager, but that is where Philippe Clement is at with Rangers.

There was speculation a few weeks ago that winning Sunday's League Cup final was a must for the Belgian given it would coincide with the official arrival of new chief executive Patrick Stewart.

Instead, Clement's side have earned plaudits as last week's Europa League draw with Tottenham Hotspur was followed by a similarly heartening display in losing to Celtic on penalties at Hampden.

Any defeat by their bitter city rivals would normally be greeted with intense internal scrutiny, especially since Clement has yet to get the better of Celtic in six attempts and his side remain third behind the reigning champions and Aberdeen in the league table.

However, this time the focus has been more on a penalty wrongly denied by the officials and another saved in the shoot-out.

Statistically, Dundee's arrival ought to present Rangers with an opportunity to get back on the improvement track after their nine-game unbeaten run was ended on Sunday.

While Tony Docherty's side are reasonably placed in seventh, they have only won one of their last 11 away league outings, losing six of them.

It's not the kind of form on the road you want when visiting a side yet to lose at home domestically this season - and in seven outings overall since Lyon's Europa League visit.

Indeed, Dundee have not beaten Rangers in 14 meetings since a 2-1 success at Dens Park in November 2017 - and have lost on their latest 18 visits to Ibrox since goals from Claudio Caniggia and Stevie Milne secured victory for Ivano Bonetti's visitors in March 2001.

Dundee games have produced the most goals in the Premiership this season and, although Rangers matches have witnessed the least, you imagine Clement's side will be confident of boosting that statistic given they have found the net 31 times in the latest eight meetings between the sides.