Can Hearts ramp up pressure? Eyes on Congreve & Askou

Heart of Midlothian could be 12 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership at some point this weekend. Let that sink in.

The league leaders' weekend action has our attention, as does a crafty Dundee midfielder, while we await the response of Motherwell's Jens Berthel Askou after his Hampden heartache.

Here are our things to look out for...

Hearts continue to be the story of the Premiership season after they extended their lead at the top to nine points last Saturday.

That was partly down to nearest challengers Celtic having a weekend away from league football as Martin O'Neill's men booked their place in the Premier Sports Cup final with a win over 10-man Rangers.

But Derek McInnes' league leaders still had a job to do and did so empathetically with a four-goal victory against Dundee, whose city rivals travel to Tynecastle on Sunday (15:00 GMT).

With Celtic kicking off at home to Kilmarnock at 16:00, Hearts will be 12 points clear for at least an hour if they beat Dundee United, though O'Neill's side would have two games to spare, including Sunday's match.

McInnes says Hearts have achieved their first "mini target" by being top of the table after the first round of games, and are there "on merit" without "scraping results" too often.

To ramp up further pressure on Celtic, McInnes' men will have to beat a club that won both of their league visits to Hearts last season, but Jim Goodwin's team have managed just one victory in their past seven away league games.

An intriguing Tynecastle encounter awaits.

If Dundee are to pull off an autumn Old Firm double by beating Rangers on Sunday, there's a good chance Cameron Congreve will be involved.

Steven Pressley's side have only scored nine goals in 11 league outings and the on-loan Swansea City midfielder has set up five of them.

He had a hand in both in the shock 2-0 victory over Celtic last month, delivering the corner headed in by Clark Robertson and tying Liam Scales in knots before Cameron Carter-Vickers knocked into his own net.

The 21-year-old may not be the quickest but has fabulous close control and is a real menace when running at defenders.

Congreve seemed to relish the big occasion as the Dark Blues enjoyed a first home win over Celtic since 1988.

Their last success against Rangers came in 2017, having lost 14 of the past 18 meetings in all competitions.

The positive vibes that were building at a rapid rate at Motherwell took a serious blow on Saturday with a deflating semi-final defeat to St Mirren.

Jens Berthel Askou's side have received plenty of plaudits for their brave approach this term, but in their poorest showing of the season they were beaten 4-1 on a sore night for the Fir Park club at Hampden.

The Dane will be desperate to see a response from his team when they travel up to Aberdeen on Sunday.

A win at Pittodrie earlier this campaign booked Motherwell's place in the League Cup last four. The following weekend, they beat Aberdeen again at home in the league.

A third straight victory over Jimmy Thelin's side, who drew at AEK Larnaca in the Conference League on Thursday, would help Askou's men get over last weekend's heartache and strengthen their top-six hopes.