HP Terbaru 2023 – The genuine title race raging in Scotland

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By Ross Kilvington

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Last season, the Parkhead outfit finished 17 points ahead of Rangers, wrapping up the title with weeks to go.

The 2010/11 campaign was the last time that the race for the league title went down to the wire, with Rangers securing their 54^th title courtesy of a 5-1 win over Kilmarnock on the final day.

Since then, Celtic have won 13 of the 14 league titles on offer, taking full advantage of Rangers’ stint in the lower leagues and mismanagement over the previous decade and a half.

This season, however, has been one of the wildest in living memory, featuring three teams bunched together at the top of the table.

Indeed, Hearts, Rangers and Celtic are currently separated by just three points heading into the final few months of the campaign.

Could this battle go right down to the final few weeks? Or will one team pull away from the rest? 

Hearts are refusing to budge

Hearts at the summit of the Premiership in the final week of February? Sounds like something from a Football Manager save, but no, Derek McInnes has his side very much in a title race.

The Jambos are unbeaten against Celtic across three games this term, while winning their opening two games against Rangers.

Their summer recruitment, powered by the use of Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics, enabled the club to sign relatively unknown players from across Europe who have shone in Scotland.

Claudio Braga is a prime example. Signed from the Norwegian second tier, the 26-year-old has registered 20 goal contributions (all comps) for Hearts.

He has scored three times against the Old Firm and has arguably been one of the standout performers in the Scottish top flight.

Last weekend, Hearts visited Ibrox in what could turn out to be a defining match of this title race.

Despite leading 1-0 and 2-1, the Jambos eventually succumbed to a 4-2 loss, cutting their lead at the top of the table to just two points.

Games against Falkirk, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Dundee come before the next international break. 

These are all winnable ties and if McInnes’ men can take 12 points from the four games, it will set up a thrilling finale to the campaign.

Resurgent Rangers peaking at the right time

When Danny Röhl took over at Rangers in October, the club were 13 points behind Hearts.

Four months later, the Light Blues have reduced the gap to just two points following their impressive 4-2 win over Hearts on Sunday.

Youssef Chermiti, so often ridiculed by the supporters and pundits during his first few months at Ibrox, scored three goals to ensure Rangers are very much in this title race.

The former Everton striker also scored twice against Celtic in January and it looks as though he is thriving under Röhl’s tactical system.

While Rangers have secured some fine results of late, Röhl isn’t without his faults. He fielded a curious starting XI against Motherwell recently, dropping on-form Emmanuel Fernandez and Tuur Rommens to the bench for the match.

Rangers were hanging on as the clock was ticking down, but the Steelmen scored an equaliser in the dying embers of the game to salvage a point.

Ten days prior, Röhl’s team registered just two shots on target against Hibs as they couldn’t quite breach a stubborn defence and the game finished 0-0.

Four points dropped in what were games they should have won. While Röhl has dragged the club back into a title race, despite an absolute horror show of a start, those two draws prove there is plenty of work to do.

It would be a remarkable achievement to see Rangers win the Premiership title this season, but their greatest rivals sit just one behind them in the table.

Celtic still the favourites to win fifth successive title

Make no bones about it, Celtic are the favourites to retain their title, especially considering they have a game in hand on both Rangers and Hearts.

Of course, the appointment of Wilfried Nancy was a poor one, with the Parkhead side winning just two of his eight matches in charge. Only one of those victories came in the Premiership.

The nadir came in a 3-1 Old Firm defeat at Parkhead at the beginning of the year, with Martin O’Neil returning to take over the side until the end of the season.

Since then, O’Neil has led Celtic to eight wins from ten matches and the signing of former Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might just be the catalyst that spurs them to glory.

The Englishman came off the bench with 12 minutes remaining against Livingston last week and promptly scored a late winner.

Against Kilmarnock on Sunday, he came on for the second half and helped Celtic secure all three points after they trailed 2-0 at the break.

He managed four shots in total and created a big chance during his 45-minute cameo appearance.

It was Julián Araujo, another recent signing, who netted the winner to keep Celtic within touching distance of the leaders.

Could these winter signings be the difference for Celtic as they bid for a fifth consecutive title? Only time will tell.

For the first time this century, Scotland has a three-way title race which has the potential to go right down to the wire.

For the neutral, it represents a welcome change from the norm. For supporters of any of the three teams, however, the next few weeks will be torture.

Scottish football ‘eh? We wouldn’t change a thing.

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(Cover image from IMAGO)

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