Tynecastle is white-hot as both teams trot out onto the lush Tynecastle surface.

Yvonne Bridges: "2nd is a possibility."

David Wilson: Belgium and Russia would be favourites for first and second but I think we could get second place!!!!

Robert: "We will be in with a shout until we draw in Kazakhstan."

Scott Anderson: "Nae chance."

Colin Mathie: "Between zero + not a cat in hell's chance."

Allan Preston
BBC Sportsound pundit at Tynecastle

"Hearts have been decimated [by injury]. It's not just been one or two players, it's key players, it's captains. Christophe Berra goes out long term and you give the captaincy to John Souttar.

"He goes out long term, and you give the captaincy to Steven Naismith; he then goes out long term. It's vital players. Naismith is the catalyst for how Hearts play: his energy, his enthusiasm, his ability to work hard and score goals and drive others on... he's been a real loss."

Hearts manager Craig Levein: "He [Christophe Berra] is a little bit ahead of schedule. He played 45 minutes in a friendly match on Wednesday night.

"If he was a younger, inexperienced player then I'd maybe woud've left him a bit longer. But he was adamant that he's ready to go."

Cyprus, Kazakhstan and San Marino.

That means Scotland's qualifying group will be:

Belgium

Russia

SCOTLAND

Cyprus

Kazakhstan

San Marino

What do you think?

Sorry, that's the last Berra gag. Honest.

Kyle: Great incentive for both sides. As Hearts can go joint top and Rangers can go top of the league outright. I fancy Rangers to edge it 2-1. Rangers playing on Thursday in a tough European game and Berra back is a leveller despite Hearts' poor form. #bbcsportscot, external

Remember when Hearts were top of the Premiership and purring along quite nicely?

Craig Levein does, and the Jambos boss is determined to halt his side's recent poor run and climb the table.

A mini-slump, caused in part by injury, saw defending champions Celtic and Rangers to leapfrog Hearts and send them slipping to third place.

Image source, SNS

Scotland forward Steven Naismith is "a couple of weeks" away from returning to action, having undergone knee surgery in October.

"Being at home, and the significance of the match, will help," said an upbeat Levein earlier this week.

"I think we'll get a decent performance. I can't guarantee we'll win, but I think we'll get a decent performance. I'm a little bit disappointed recently with results but I know we've got a performance in us.

"Talking about momentum, getting a result [against Rangers] would certainly help us in that regard. Most teams have a dip at some point in the season. I'm confident we'll be back to the levels we were at previously."

Oh joy...

The draw for the European qualifying groups is underway as we speak and Alex McLeish's Scotland have just been drawn in the same pot with Belgium (remember what happened the last time...) and Russia.

Still more to come. We'll update you as it comes in..

If Rangers beat Hearts at Tynecastle, they will go top of the Scottish Premiership for the first time in more than two years, writes BBC Scotland's Stefan Bienkowski.

But to do so, they will have to improve their mixed record on the road.

Image source, BBC Sport

Steven Gerrard's side have won two, drawn two and lost two of their six league games away from Ibrox, with the victories coming in their most recent outings against Hamilton and St Mirren.

Yet they have been almost peerless domestically at home, with a draw with Kilmarnock the only coughed up points in seven matches.

Read the rest of Stefan's statistical cruncher here.

Something for you to chew over alongside your Sunday fry-up:

• Hearts are without a win in six Premiership games against Rangers (D1 L5) since a 4-1 victory in February 2017
• Rangers have lost just one of their past nine league matches
• The Jambos are winless in their previous four Premiership outings
• Since the start of last season, striker Alfredo Morelos has been directly involved in 32 league goals for Rangers (22 goals, 10 assists)

Steven Gerrard makes four changes following Rangers' Europa League draw with Villarreal on Thursday.

Joe Worrall, Jon Flanagan, Ryan Jack and Glenn Middleton make way for Gareth McAuley, Andy Halliday, Ovie Ejaria and Eros Grezda.

A win for Hearts would see Craig Levein's troops move joint top of the Premiership with Celtic - only behind on goal difference.

Victory for Rangers would see them move a point clear of Celtic at the top of the table.

Image source, bbc sport

Who will emerge victorious from the Tynecastle tussle?

Get in touch with your predictions/pearls of wisdom, and we'll use the best in our live coverage.

Hearts: Zlamal, Smith, Haring, Berra, Bozanic, Clare, Djoum, Mitchell, MacLean, Cochrane, Godinho. Subs: Doyle, Lee, Wighton, Hughes, Mulraney, Dikamona, Morrison.

Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, McAuley, Goldson, Halliday, Coulibaly, Arfield, Ejaria, Candeias, Morelos, Grezda. Subs: Foderingham, Worral, Jack, Lafferty, Flanagan, McCrorie, Middleton.

Hearts captain Christophe Berra is named in the starting line-up to face Rangers.

Centre-back Berra, 33, has been out since tearing a hamstring in August but featured in a midweek friendly against junior side Linlithgow Rose.

With the Jambos on a run of five games without a victory or a goal, the return of a steadying hand on the tiller will make those of a maroon hue breathe a little easier.

Image source, SNS

"Christophe is such an important player for us," said Levein earlier this week. "I wouldn't like to prolong that injury by playing him when he's not ready. But he felt good after the [Linlithgow Rose] game, he didn't exert himself an awful lot. If he's feeling good, I'll throw him in.

"He's very diligent in what he does in training and in his rehab. He's maybe a couple of weeks ahead of schedule."

On Saturday, Scotland's top flight offered us goals, stadium evacuations and floodlight failures.

What does Tynecastle have in store for us?

The final mouth-watering Premiership fixture of the weekend takes place in the capital as Hearts host Rangers.

This promises to be a cracker...

Image source, SNS