The Scottish Premier Premiership (SPFL) has been a little closer this year than in previous years. Last year, Steven Gerrard’s Rangers obliterated Celtic with a massive 102 points compared to just 77.Â
The year before that, the thrashing was the other way around with 80 points for Celtic compared to 67 for Rangers.
For many seasons before that, it was a similar story. Celtic won the league by at least 10 points year in, year out, but maybe things won’t work out like that in 2021/22.
No, things are looking a lot closer. While Celtic are at the top of the league right now, we still can’t tell who’s going to win it – and there are only a few games to go until the end of the season.
There’s a lot to play for, but who will come out on top and how far ahead are they going to be? A few things need to be looked at to make a prediction, so stay with us as we give our best effort.
If you want to put some money down on our prediction, or if you disagree and fancy a punt of your own, you can do just that from your smartphone! Read about the best betting apps and you’ll surely find the right one to download.
Stay tuned for our thoughts on the finale of a very exciting SPFL season.
Looking at the season so far
It’s certainly been very close between Celtic and Rangers in 2021/22 so far. Celtic have been on top for most of the season, but never by much. In fact, they’ve never been more than a handful of points ahead of Rangers all season long.
Rangers will very much believe they have enough in the tank to go the extra mile and win the league the way they have been performing, but they do have a monumental task ahead of them to catch Celtic.
How did they get on in games played against each other? The Glasgow derby has happened twice so far this year at either ground. At the home of Celtic, Celtic Park, Celtic won a resounding 3-0 back in February. A few months before, in August, Rangers beat Celtic 1-0 at their ground, Ibrox Stadium.
Recently, Rangers missed the chance to cut the gap with Celtic by dropping points to Dundee United – an unexpected home loss for them. Celtic haven’t had such bad fortune. In fact, they have a particularly strong squad this year with players like Postcoglou working wonders for them.
Head-to-head: Celtic and Rangers’ final games
To get a better idea as to how the season will finish up, we’ll need to find out exactly which games each team has left to play. Even though Celtic are ahead right now, a tough run of fixtures could see them struggle to keep that position at the top.
Let’s take a look at the next couple of games each team has yet to play.
The next fixture is the big one. The Glasgow Derby. Celtic and Rangers go head-to-head. So, this really could be the decider. Rangers losing this would probably give them cause to kiss goodbye to their title chances for the season.
So, who’s actually going to win? Of course, it’s going to be a close one. Based on the fact that Rangers are at home, we think they might just nick all three points to put them level on points with Celtic. Exciting times!
After this, Celtic play St. Johnstone, who are currently in 11th place out of 12 in the table. That game is set for Celtic Park, giving Celtic the home advantage. They shouldn’t have too much trouble picking up three points in this one.
Rangers, on the other hand, are playing St. Mirren away. St. Mirren are currently in 9th place, so not exactly much of a formidable opponent either. That being said – their home advantage could see them take a couple of points off Rangers.
Overall, however, we’re projecting all three points for both Glasgow teams in these games.
Do any of the other teams in the league have a look-in?
At this stage in time, Hearts are in third place. They’ve played a good season, all things considered. That being said, they are quite far off the pace of the top two, as is often the case in Scottish football.
Unfortunately, there’s no way that Hearts could get back into the title race mathematically. They’re 23 points behind Celtic, so even if they won every game and Celtic lost all of theirs, they’d still finish up behind. Maybe next season!
Wrapping up on the SPFL title race
There really is all to play for in these final games of the season, especially with the Glasgow Derby coming up very soon. We can’t wait to see how it turns out!
