By The Scottish Premiership resumes for one more round of fixtures before this month's international break.
Six games, five kick-off times, lots of issues to address.
Paisley poser for buoyant Rangers
Last weekend turned out to be a good one for Rangers in more ways than one.
A late Ryan Naderi goal sealed a Premier Sports Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen on Saturday evening.
And, on Sunday at lunchtime, Premiership leaders Celtic lost in Falkirk, opening up the possibility of Rangers reducing the gap at the top to a point before the reigning champions host Kilmarnock on Sunday.
However, to do that, Derek McInnes' side, now unbeaten in 11 outings, must win away to St Mirren on Saturday.
The last time Rangers were in the Saturday 20:00 slot, they dropped two points away to Dundee and another warning for the Ibrox side is St Mirren's recent home form – a draw with Hibernian and a victory over in-form Dundee.
Craig McLeish's side havw won just once in eight games but ran Rangers pretty close the last time the sides met in Glasgow, only a late Bojan Miovski goal separating the sides.
The Buddies are holding their own in the Premiership this term, sitting eighth within touching distance of the top six at this early stage and St Mirren led Celtic in a Saturday night contest before eventually losing 2-1 in early September.
An intriguing match under the lights awaits.
Hibs' Hampden build-up starts at Pittodrie
Hibs were the other League Cup semi-final victors, coming from a goal down to beat Edinburgh rivals Heart of Midlothian 2-1 to end a seven-game run without a win.
The task for Marink Reedijk and his side now is to get their Premiership form in order before returning to Hampden to face Rangers in mid-December.
Under their new Duthc coach, Hibs have taken only one point from a possible 12 so far and prop up the table having played 11 games.
Aberdeen host the Edinburgh side on Saturday evening and the Dons themselves need a turnaround in fortunes in the league, having lost two in a row in the division prior to their semi-final defeat by Rangers.
Stephen Robinson's side are third from bottom, three points better off than Hibs, and the sides drew 1-1 at Easter Road only last month.
It's perhaps still a tad early to be talking in terms of crisis for either club, particularly given Hibs could end the calendar year with a trophy in the cabinet, but both teams need to get a bit of a move on to preserve their top-six ambitions.
- Duran & Osmand spark Celtic into life – but where does that leave Hogh?
- Late Duran double downs Besiktas to give Celtic first Europa League win
- Injury-hit and error-ridden Hearts slump to defeat in Thun
Mid-table scrap ensuing
Last week's Saturday results in the Premiership did little to break up the clutch of clubs jostling for position in the middle of the table.
It could be a similar story this weekend with Dundee United hosting Motherwell and a Tayside derby between St Johnstone and Dundee, with both at 15:00 GMT on Saturday.
Well ended their long wait for a win by beating St Mirren at home last weekend while St Johnstone twice fought back with 10 players to draw 2-2 with Kilmarnock as the Dundee duo had the weekend off.
Motherwell's 3-0 win over United in early September is their biggest of the league season so far, the visitors having played most of that match with 10 men.
The same day, Dundee thought they were on their way to three points when they led late on against Saints at Dens, but the Perth side had other ideas with an even later equaliser.
With Dundee one point behind Falkirk and United one point further back, both have the chance to move above the Bairns before they face Hearts on Sunday.
Besiktas win boosts Celtic, Hearts licking their wounds
Celtic bounced back from defeat by Falkirk with a stirring 3-2 victory at home to Besiktas in the Europa League.
Earlier on Thursday, injury ravaged Hearts lost 3-1 to Thun in Switzerland.
As such, both Scottish sides play their Premiership fixtures on Sunday.
Rangers' result the night before will either offer encouragement or added pressure, with leaders Celtic four points clear of Rangers and the same margin of points between second place and Hearts as things stand.
With one win now in seven games and with 10 first-team players missing on Thursday, Wouter Vrancken and his squad are desperate for the respite provided by the international break.
First, though, the must host in-form Falkirk, who are bidding for five wins in a row. The Bairns' first league win of the campaign was at home to Hearts back in mid-September. They have seldom looked back.
By half-time at Tynecastle, Celtic will be getting ready to kick off against Kilmarnock. Misfiring Kasper Hogh's only three Celtic goals so far came in a 5-1 win at Rugby Park back in August.
Fellow summer signing Camilo Duran has done most of the scoring for Celtic since, including a double (a Duran Duran if you will) against Besiktas.
Whoever starts in attack for the hosts, second-bottom Killie will have their work cut out to improve a run of one win in six outings.
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