As we get deeper into the Scottish Premiership season, the league is slowly shaping up to be one of the more interesting title races in the world. Over the last few decades, we have seen Celtic and Rangers dominate the Scottish division with the Old Firm being one of the biggest games in Europe and a game that usually decides who will win the league in that season.
However, this year is different as the usual 2 horse race has become a 3 horse race with Rangers slowly falling behind. This is different from what we normally see in the league as it is very rare for a team to break into the top 2. But, this year it’s happening and it’s making for an interesting story and the purpose of this page today.
Where Are Rangers?
As we have said, Rangers are traditionally strong competitors but this season, they are falling behind the teams at the top. They are in third with 22 points and are 9 points behind Aberdeen and Celtic and this is because of a few reasons. One of the biggest is the managerial problems that they are facing.
In 2023, Michale Beale left the club and was replaced by Philippe Clement. These sudden changes caused a big disruption in the squad and meant the style of play completely changed and faith in the squad dipped. As well as their form and consistency, especially in the big games, not being up to scratch, they are not as good as the other teams and are likely out of the race for the title.
Aberdeen’s Rise
This season Aberdeen have become a serious squad and serious contenders for the league title. At the start of the season, if you looked at the SPL betting odds, Ranger and Celtic would’ve been the clear favourites, but the appointment of Jimmy Thelin has changed the team completely.
The appointment changed the team completely, with a high-tempo tactical setup, the squad has full faith in the way they play and how they should work together to win. As well as this, the board has been focused on making the quad deep and versatile, so each player has multiple roles that they can play.
This is something that Rangers don’t have and is one of the reasons why Aberdeen have taken their place at the top.
Celtic Being Celtic
Celtic have the best players in the league and the best manager who has the most experience which are key contributors to them being as good as they are and have been. Celtic play a style of play that is hard for a lot of teams to play against, with their high possession stats being one of the biggest in the world at 69.6% per game.
Their attacking prowess with players like Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhasi and their overall defensive stability. The team is solid and the way they play allows them to dominate each team they play. These factors are hard to look past when we think about who will win the league this season.
Who Will Win The League?
Finishing with the overall question, Celtic are the obvious favourites and with Brendan Rodgers at the helm, they will know how to close the league out which Aberdeen won’t be familiar with.
This is probably the biggest worry for The Dons as they don’t have the experience in the title run that Celtic do. However, with the form that Aberdeen are currently in, not believing they can win the league because of this reason is harsh for the way they are playing.
Coming into the league this season, no one would’ve predicted that they would be where they are now, so why would we count them out to go all the way?