Hearts v Dundee: Free Tips, Prediction and Odds

Hearts welcome Dundee to Tynecastle on Friday night for the first of the weekend's four Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

Neil Critchley's hosts will be desperate to bounce back from Sunday's derby defeat at Hibernian as they close in on a fourth final in the past seven seasons.

Dundee last reached the semis way back in 2005/06 and they are going to have to improve on their current form if they are to reach the last four this term.

Hearts v Dundee free betting tips and predictions

Winning Margin - Hearts to win by one goal - 13/8

Cup fever takes hold in Scotland, with the first of the four quarter-finals taking place on Friday night when Hearts welcome Dundee to Tynecastle.

Hearts are looking to reach the semi-finals for the seventh time since 2005/06, which was the last time that Dundee made the last four.

The Jambos are clear favourites, and understandably so, given the strides they have made under Critchley.

The Edinburgh club were bottom of the league when Critchley took the reins in mid-October. Now they are seventh, locked in a thrilling fight for a top-six spot and have lost just two in 12 since Boxing Day.

The most recent of those setbacks was a 2-1 defeat at Hibernian and the only other team they have lost to since the turn of the year is Rangers.

Critchley has twice taken charge of games against Dundee, presiding over a 2-0 win at Tynecastle in December and a 6-0 win at Dens Park last month.

It's safe to say that Hearts look to have Dundee's number and that spells danger for Tony Docherty's men.

Indeed, Dundee's season is taking an opposite path to Hearts, having started well, but the wheels are now close to coming off.

Since a 3-1 win at St Johnstone on 5th January, Dundee have played eight Premiership games and won none, losing five. And it isn't only Hearts who have hit them for six - four days later Celtic did exactly the same.

Their only wins in two months have come against Dundee United (1-0) and Airdrie (4-0) in the Scottish Cup, while in the league, they have plunged to 11th and the relegation play-off spot.

Docherty insists performances have improved, if not results, since that dismantling by Hearts five weeks ago.

In Simon Murray, they have a striker in form with a goal in each of Dundee's last three games. The former Ross County man now has 17 for the season, which is 13 more than Jambos' chief goal-getter Lawrence Shankland, who is enduring a miserable scoring campaign.

Elton Kabangu, with seven in nine since signing from Belgians Union Saint-Gilloise, is more than making up for Scotland international Shankland's drought.

Since those back-to-back thrashings by Hearts and Celtic, Dundee have suffered three league losses, two of them by one-goal margins. Given they are playing better than the last time they met the Jambos, expect another narrow defeat.

Hearts can land the odds-on, but the Jambos have had five one-goal wins since late December, so it is worth chancing the 13/5 that the home victory is by a one-goal margin.

Elton Kabangu first goalscorer - 5/1

Shankland is 5/6 to find the net at any time against Dundee and 12/5 to net the opener, but at more than twice the price, Kabangu has to make more appeal.

Kabangu is 15/8 to score at any time, but take the 5/1 that he nets the opener because his form is fantastic.

The 27-year-old Belgian hardly caused much of a stir at Union Saint-Gilloise over the last 18 months, but the Hearts hierarchy knew something about him that warranted a loan enquiry in January.

And Kabangu has not let Hearts down, turning out nine times since crossing the North Sea and scoring seven goals, two in the 6-0 win over Dundee last month.

He has already landed first-scorer honours twice and is surely one of the first names on Critchley's team sheet. He has terrified Dundee's defence once this season and can do so again on Friday night.

Corner Handicap - Hearts -2 - 20/21

Hearts and Dundee have met three times in the Premiership this season with the Jambos winning the corner match bet each time.

The corners make-ups in the three games have been 10-2, 6-4 and 9-3, the latter being the most recent meeting last month.

In the league Hearts are averaging 6.9 corners per home game, Dundee 5.1 per away.

Most of the pressure will come from the in-form hosts who can land the 3-way corner handicap scrap, giving away two at 20/21.

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Hearts v Dundee odds

Hearts - 3/5
Draw - 27/10
Dundee - 9/2

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.