Something unprecedented is happening in the Scottish Premiership right now.
The Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers has dominated Scottish Football for far too long.
The last team other than Celtic or Rangers to win the Scottish Premiership was Aberdeen in 1985 under the direction of Sir Alex Ferguson.
In fact, since the Scottish Premiership was founded in 1890, Celtic and Rangers have won 110 of the 129 titles to date.
If you take a look at the Scottish Premiership table, you won’t find Celtic or Rangers at the top; you’ll see Hearts.
Not only are they at the top of the table, but they are unbeaten and have a seven-point lead over Celtic 12 matches into the season.
It’s not a fluke either because they’ve already beaten Rangers 2-0 and Celtic 3-1.
Manager Derek McInnes had spent over a decade as the Aberdeen and Kilmarnock manager before taking over at Hearts towards the end of last season.
What he’s done is transform Hearts tactically into a versatile team that can not only dominate the lower end of the table but also be effective without the ball when they play Celtic and Rangers.
In addition to Derek McInnes tactics, Hearts off the field is a true Moneyball story.
Brighton owner Tony Bloom purchased a 29% stake in the club for £10m.
With his appointment, Hearts have access to his vast analytical scouting network, which has made Brighton one of the best clubs in the English Premier League at identifying undervalued players.
In this tactical football analysis, we’ll examine some of the players Heart of Midlothian F.C. have acquired since Bloom took over and the tactics Derek McInnes is employing to challenge the Old Firm.
Watch Derek McInnes Tactical Analysis On YouTube
Hearts Transfer Activity
Before we dive into the players Tony Bloom has brought in, let’s take a look at just how much of a talent gap there is between Hearts and the Old Firm.
According to Transfermarkt, Celtic have a squad value of £117m, while Rangers have a squad value of £92.14m.
Hearts are currently fifth in the Scottish Premiership with a squad value of only £16.5m.
This summer, Hearts spent a total of £2.6m on 10 different players.
Because of Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics recruitment tools, Hearts were able to find key players across the globe for very little money.
What is crazy about their transfer activity is that £1.76m of their £2.6m was spent on central midfielder Ageu from Santa Clara in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Ageu has only appeared in three matches, playing a total of 72 minutes, due to a nagging hamstring injury.
The two main players who have had the most impact are Portuguese forward Cláudio Braga, who came from Aalesunds FK in the Norwegian second division, and Greek left winger Alexandros Kyziridis, who came from Zemplin Michalovce in the Slovakian Niké Liga.
Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics model is truly something else, as Cláudio Braga only appeared in eight league matches for Aalesunds FK last season before getting injured and scoring three goals.
The season before that, he had decent production, scoring nine goals and having seven assists in 29 appearances, but that was in the Norwegian second division.
This season, he’s been transformed into one of the best strikers in the Scottish Premiership.
Cláudio Braga Stats 2025/2026
As you can see, he gets into the opponent’s penalty area and shoots at one of the highest rates in Scotland.
He’s developed a nice partnership in the Hearts 4-4-2 with Lawrence Shankland up top as the striker who can drop deep and get on the ball.
It’s a very similar role he played at Aalesunds FK, and you can see from his heat map that he spends a lot of time in the half-spaces, as opposed to in the box.
Cláudio Braga Heat Map At Hearts 2025/2026
It makes sense that, based on his radar chart, he is in the 98th percentile in terms of the number of dribbles per 90 minutes.
Alexandros Kyziridis was plucked out of Slovakia and has been one of Hearts’ most important players.
He leads the team with a 0.82 Goals + Assist per 90-minute rate and has already bagged four assists, which is the most in the Scottish Premiership.
He typically occupies the left touchline and, as you can see, is the main creator for Hearts.
Alexandros Kyziridis Stats 2025/2026
He’s been very important to Derek McInnes’ system because most of the chances Hearts creates comes from out wide.
Kyziridis is averaging almost six attempted crosses per 90 minutes, which is one of the highest rates in the Scottish Premiership.
There have been plenty of other key contributors, but Hearts pulling these two guys out of obscurity for a total of £500k is nothing short of incredible.
Derek McInnes Tactics
Derek McInnes spent a number of years at Kilmarnock before getting the job at Hearts in the summer.
He has set Hearts up in a 4-4-2 formation, and they are very adaptable to their opponents.
For example, when they played Celtic and Rangers, Hearts averaged 35% possession in both matches.
Against every other opponent, they hold an average possession of 57.9%.
When he was at Kilmarnock, wide play was a significant factor in how they created a lot of their chances, and this Hearts team is no different.
This season 75% of Hearts’ attacks are coming down the flanks, with the left side being more favoured at 39%.
One of the primary objectives in possession is to get the ball to Kyziridis in space, allowing him to go one-on-one against the full-back or create a two-on-two situation to eventually send in a cross.
You can see here against Celtic that Hearts are committing a lot of players to the centre part of the pitch to create a 1-v-1 where Kyziridis burns his man to send in a cross that finds Shankland.
Another situation you can observe is the full-back pushing forward to overlap with Kyziridis, creating a 2-v-1 out wide to deliver an uncontested cross into the box.
Hearts is averaging 5.83 accurate crosses per 90 minutes, while their opponents are averaging only 3.58.
Another significant factor in Hearts’ success has been their effective use of set pieces.
They lead the Scottish Premiership with nine goals coming directly from set pieces, and of their 15.3 shots per 90 minutes, 5.9 of them are coming from set plays.
Quick transitions from high recoveries is also a big part of McInnes‘ system.
Hearts will typically sit in a 4-4-2 mid-block and look to generate turnovers from the middle of the pitch to start a quick counterattack.
They are averaging 15.9 high recoveries per 90 minutes, which is second only to Celtic.
Here is an example in their 3-0 win over Kilmarnock.
Hearts are able to win the ball from their 4-4-2 mid-block, Braga and Shankland are in a position to easily attack the last line and end up creating a 3-v-2 transition break where they eventually score.
Playing in a 4-4-2 mid-block allows Hearts to drop into a compact low block very easily and deny opponents from playing through the middle.
Of the 10 goals that Hearts have allowed, only four of them have come from open play.
Not only staying compact, but limiting the opponent’s number and quality of chances has been a big reason why they are so difficult to score against.
Hearts are only allowing 8.9 shots per 90 minutes and an average xG per shot of 0.09, which is by far the lowest mark in the Scottish Premiership.
The biggest weakness for them right now is defending set-pieces, as they’ve allowed a league-high six goals from them.
Conclusion
While Hearts have had an incredible start to the season, the question is whether they can maintain this form.
With a combined six points already against the Old Firm, it certainly looks like they have a shot at being the first Scottish Premiership winners in 40 years outside of Glasgow.
The underlying numbers suggest that Hearts has overperformed slightly to begin the season.
They have scored 26 goals from 21.8 expected goals, but defensively, their 10 goals allowed have come from 10.1 expected goals.
Derek McInnes has a wealth of experience in Scottish football.
He has assembled a team that can control and dominate matches against teams in the lower half of the table, while also being capable of playing direct, counter-attacking football against Celtic and Rangers.
Not only being able to be versatile, but also being effective on set-pieces, transitions, and maintaining a solid defensive structure, is a great foundation that they can build on as the season progresses.
It’s a true Moneyball story, finding players out of nowhere and rising up the Scottish Premiership table in such a short period of time.
Tony Bloom’s success with Brighton and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise has carried over into Scotland in a much quicker time than he would have even imagined.
Out of the international break, Hearts have three matches against Aberdeen, Motherwell, and Kilmarnock before two massive matches against Celtic and Rangers before Christmas.
