By Tomi Rantanen
Who'd challenge Celtic?
Another season of Glasgow Celtic dominated Scottish Premier League kicks off on Saturday and finally sees the return of Celtic’s old firm rivals Rangers, who were relegated to Scottish dungeons after 2012 bankruptcy. Rangers made an expected return from the fourth tier in four season, only missing promotion in 2014/15 season. Despite the financial situation, they are expected to challenge the weakened Celtics side for the title and revoke the rivalry dating back more than a 100 years. While boosting the attractiveness of the Scottish Premier League as a whole.
Celtic has taken the crown in each of the past five seasons, while Rangers were sitting on the throne for three years before that. In fact, the Glasgow teams have ruled the Scottish football for 30+ years, with Aberdeen being the last champion outside of the two. In 1984/85.
With Accuscore’s season simulation we can peek into the future and see how the Rangers fare against the Celtics, will there be another surprise relegation like Dundee Utd last season, or will the surging Hearts or even Aberdeen make a run for the title.
Here is the Accuscore season prediction for Scottish Premier League 2016/17:
|
1
|
Celtic
|
92
|
|
2
|
Glasgow Rangers
|
70
|
|
3
|
Ross County
|
65
|
|
4
|
St. Johnstone
|
60
|
|
5
|
Aberdeen
|
50
|
|
6
|
Kilmarnock
|
44
|
|
7
|
Partick Thistle
|
45
|
|
8
|
Hamilton
|
44
|
|
9
|
Hearts
|
43
|
|
10
|
Dundee
|
41
|
|
11
|
Inverness CT
|
37
|
|
12
|
Motherwell
|
28
|
As it stands, Celtic are still undisputed, unbeatable kings of Scotland with widest margin since 2013/2014. However, their good old rivals Rangers provide a challenge and will be delighted with the runner-up position for their first season back where they belong. As is often the case in Scottish football, last year’s successes are this year’s disappointments, since the bigger teams to tend to poach the best players to greener pastures. Dundee Utd felt it last season and were relegated, now it looks like Motherwell and Hearts might have close to the similar faith at the bottom of the table.
