Battle at the bottom, Altena & O'Neill in focus

Another pivotal weekend of action in the Scottish Premiership awaits, with permutations at the top and bottom of the division.

On Saturday, Celtic host Dundee United in their first match since Wilfried Nancy's sacking, in-form Hibernian take on high-flying Motherwell, the league's bottom two sides go head-to-head as Livingston face Kilmarnock, while St Mirren welcome Falkirk to Paisley.

League-leaders Hearts go to Dundee on Sunday, before Aberdeen and Rangers meet for the second time in six days.

Here are the key things to look out for.

Many eyes will understandably be drawn to Easter Road as probably the best footballing side in the country - Motherwell - go to Hibs, who have beaten Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and rivals Hearts in their past three outings.

That is the match for the purists this weekend, but our focus is in West Lothian for the battle at the bottom as Livingston - without a win since August - host Kilmarnock, winless in their past 14 outings.

The Ayrshire side have appointed Neil McCann as Stuart Kettlewell's permanent successor in a bid to escape their current predicament and the stakes could not be higher for his first game in charge.

Part of Barry Ferguson's coaching staff at Rangers last season, McCann's last spell as the main man in the dugout came at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2021.

Kilmarnock are already five points behind St Mirren in 10th and the League Cup winners have two games in hand to boot.

It is difficult to see where a win comes from, if not at Livingston, who have won just once in the league all season.

The sides have met twice this season - Killie won 1-0 at Rugby Park in the League Cup group stages, while they played out a 2-2 Premiership draw in August.

This feels like a must-win game if either side are to avoid the drop come May.

Many Hearts fans will hope to get a glimpse of Islam Chesnokov at Dens Park after the Kazakhstan international arrived in Scotland earlier this week, having penned a pre-contract last year.

However, it was another Jamestown signing who caught the eye in Hearts' narrow win over Livingston last time out.

In a dominant first half at Tynecastle, right-back Jordi Altena was superb on debut, creating three chances, including a superb cross that allowed Craig Halkett to head home the only goal of the game.

Right-back has been a slight problem position for manager Derek McInnes this season with Michael Steinwender and Oisin McEntee both shoehorned there out of position, and summer signing Christian Borchgrevink only playing a bit-part role because of injuries.

Altena showed he is able to influence games going forward and if Hearts' right flank - with Chesnokov also to slot in - is able to match the output of their left, their title challenge will go from strength to strength.

When Martin O'Neill last led Celtic on 3 December, he must have thought his managerial career was over - again.

Brought out of the managerial wilderness for his first role in six years after Brendan Rodgers' acrimonious departure, O'Neill won seven of his eight matches in charge and restored confidence to both Celtic fans and supporters.

If it was possible, he enhanced his already sky-high reputation at Parkhead after winning seven major honours in his first stint from 2000-05.

He handed over an in-form side to new boss Wilfried Nancy, but returns to a squad stripped of that confidence after six defeats in eight matches, including a loss in the League Cup final that O'Neill got them to.

Nancy lasted just 33 days in Glasgow and did not seem to appreciate what had worked during his predecessor's interim reign.

The Frenchman abandoned O'Neill's functioning 4-3-3 system in favour of a flawed 3-4-3 one and shipped goals at an alarming rate.

Not only did he lose at Hampden, he also lost to Rangers in his final match in charge, after which midfielder Luke McCowan said: "When has it ever been this bad? It's never." Hardly a ringing endorsement of a manager who would be dismissed a day later.

O'Neill must now pick up the same group of players for a second time this season if Celtic are to chase down Hearts and Rangers in their pursuit of a fifth straight Premiership title.

That mission starts against Dundee United on Saturday.