Scotland’s Premiership – Not a surprise in sight?
After Glasgow Rangers’ sudden fall from grace, there’s only been one ruler in Scottish football and it remains so until this day. Glasgow Celtic has now won eight championships in a row and it seems futile to try and challenge them. Last season Celtic led the way by 11 points after regular season and finished off 9 points ahead of their rivals after the Championship Group. Remarkably, however, that 9 points margin is by far the smallest in the past eight years of Celtic rule. Are the winds changing in Scottish football?
According to Accuscore simulations, no. Glasgow Celtic are as clear front-runners as they’ve ever been. After Celtic, it all becomes much more interesting: Glasgow Rangers are still the second best, but they’re now facing serious challenge from the likes of Aberdeen and the Edinburgh duo Hearts & Hibernian. Could it be the first time since the beginning of time, or at least the Scottish Premier League, that the winner would be other than Celtic or Rangers? Here’s how the table is likely to look after 33 games of regular season is done.
Accuscore’s best Scottish eggs
According to the simulations, not much has changed up there in Scotland. The Glasgow duo are very much alike as they were last season and are still the strongest clubs around. And the challengers are the usual suspects as well. Same old, same old, but Is there any value in outright bets at all? We think so!
In Accuscore simulations, St. Johnstone and Kilmarnock have literally changed places compared to the bookmakers’ assessment, which gives a nice edge to go for the opposite selection: St. Johnstone to make it to top 6 with odds of 2.50 and Kilmarnock to fall to bottom 6 with odds of 2.30. Admittedly it’s not the sexiest of bets out there, but it’s the one that actually boasts some value.
Kilmarnock had a splendid last season, going on to challenge the Glasgow teams and finally ending up 3rd. The manager Steve Clark got a call-up to Scottish national team and Kilmarnock now have an unproven manager Angelo Alessio. They have not grown any stronger compared to the competition and there’s a lot of questions on how the team will play after Clarke’s success. Struggles are imminent, say the simulations.
St. Johnstone, on the other hand, showed some promise gain at times, but succumbed out of the Championship Group by six points after abysmal results towards the end of the season against teams lower in the table. Long serving manager Tommy Wright has been with the team for six years and made it to top 6 in the first four. With the most reputable player Tony Watt gone to Russia, there’s some big shoes to fill, but ample replacement already available with the likes of Matty Kennedy ready to improve from last season’s six goals and six assists.
Another team sticking out from the crowd is newly (again) promoted Ross County. They’ve been up and down, but now there’s a handful of new players and they’re intending to stay up for good. It’s definitely as bad a team as the bookmakers would like us to believe, but there’s hardly any bets to go for. If you are brave or crazy, squint your eyes enough and have deep pockets, go for top 6 placement with odds of 17.00!
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