Well test for leaders Hearts & focus on Goodwin - Premiership Picks

The hectic winter schedule is very much upon us as the Scottish Premiership's next round of fixtures hone into view.

Three top-flight matches on Saturday and three more on Sunday will have significant consequences at both the top and bottom of the division.

Dundee host St Mirren, Motherwell face table-topping Heart of Midlothian and struggling Kilmarnock welcome Dundee United to Rugby Park on Saturday, before Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen return to domestic action after their European exploits on Thursday.

When these two sides met at Tynecastle in August, they delivered arguably the best match of the season so far.

Jens Berthel Askou's Motherwell swept into a three-goal lead with some of the free-flowing football we've become accustomed to from them this season, before Hearts roared back to snatch a point thanks to Claudio Braga's double.

They lock horns again this weekend, with a similarly high-scoring encounter hopefully in the works.

Motherwell have climbed up to fourth in the table with four wins from their past five league outings, drawing 1-1 at Aberdeen in the other.

In contrast, Hearts have stumbled for the first time this season.

They lost 1-0 at Pittodrie last weekend - their first league defeat - and have dropped points in three of their four matches since they beat Celtic last month.

Hearts could go seven points clear of Celtic with a win, although the defending champions could reduce that deficit back to four when they take on Hibernian on Sunday.

Will Derek McInnes' side continue their title push or will Motherwell move within six points of their opponents?

With John Souttar and Derek Cornelius both on the sidelines, Rangers fielded a new-look centre-back partnership against Livingston last weekend as they struggled to a 2-1 win.

Wolves loanee Nasser Djiga lined up alongside Emmanuel Fernandez, signed from Peterborough in the summer on a four-year deal.

However, both were bypassed by a simple long ball for Livingston's goal at Ibrox and Djiga made a terrible mistake in Thursday's 1-1 draw against Braga, misjudging the flight of the ball and allowing Gabriel Martinez to equalise for the 10-man Portuguese side.

Falkirk travel to Govan on Sunday having scored seven goals in their past three outings and will fancy their chances against Rangers' shaky defensive duo.

The only other option for Danny Rohl at the heart of defence would be Clinton Nsiala, who is yet to play a single minute this season and has only featured in one matchday squad.

If the German coach is to continue his 100% record in the Premiership, he will need Djiga and Fernandez to gel sooner rather than later.

Much of the focus in recent weeks has been on Kilmarnock boss Stuart Kettlewell, given their six consecutive defeats and subsequent slide down the table.

They welcome Dundee United to Rugby Park on Saturday, who are themselves winless in their past three outings and in need of a confidence-boosting result and performance after a 3-0 defeat by Falkirk last weekend.

Manager Jim Goodwin has selection headaches aplenty, not least in goal after Yevhen Kucherenko was at fault for all three concessions against the Bairns.

Midfielder Panutche Camara could be back in contention after missing the loss against Falkirk to attend the birth of his child. He has impressed since signing from Crawley Town in the summer.

United could need all of his battling qualities if they are to take points away from something of a bogey ground.

They are winless in seven top-flight trips to Rugby Park since a 4-2 victory in May 2016 and have only won once on the road in the league this season.

Goodwin could do with changing both of those statistics on Saturday as his side try to reel in the sides in the top half.