Scottish Premiership Odds
The start date for the 2017/18 Scottish Premiership season has been confirmed, with the Scottish Professional Football League announcement that Scotland’s top four leagues will kick off on Saturday August 5th, 2017.
The competition will follow the same format as the 2016/17 campaign, beginning with a triple round robin stage, in which each of the 12 teams play against each other three times, before the league table is split into two sections in March 2018 ahead of the final five matches. Each of the six teams in each half of the table will then play each other once more.
The final round of fixtures is set to be played a week earlier than the 2016/17 season, ending on Sunday March 13th, 2018, to provide players with a break ahead of the 2018 World Cup.
Whether you loved it or you hated it, the Scottish Premiership is also set to continue providing players and staff with a four week break during January, after the system, first used in the 2016/17 campaign, proved successful.
That news will be particularly pleasant for the bigger teams in the league, who will be undoubtedly worried about the risk of their players burning out in the final few months of the campaign. But which teams are likely to be in the race for the Scottish Premiership title next season?
Celtic
With the abundance of quality available to him, Brendan Rodger is likely to guide Celtic to another Scottish Premiership title in 2017/18. The club have the biggest budget and best squad and appear somewhat untouchable in the division at the moment. There are few sides in the league that can give them a game and, as a result, they will undoubtedly be clear favourites to prevail once again.
Of course, with a number of high-profile clubs sniffing around star striker Moussa Dembele, Rodgers will have some rebuilding work to do throughout the summer, but with the budget available to him, he should be able to adequately plug the gaps.
Rangers
The 2016/17 campaign was the club’s first season back in the top flight following the financial crisis that saw them relegated into the lower leagues of the Scottish football league system. However, they have immediately returned to the top of the pile, competing with Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts at the top of the table.
Mark Warburton’s exit rocked the club, but with the right man at the helm they could give Celtic a real run for their money. With rumours circulated that former Ajax manager Frank de Boer could take the helm, the future is certainly looking up at the Ibrox Stadium.
Aberdeen
While Celtic have dominated proceedings for a number of years, Aberdeen have always been right by their side. It would require a catastrophic collapse from Brendan Rodgers’ side to concede control of the title, but, should it happen, Aberdeen would be among the favourites to take advantage.
Derek McInnes’ side are a tight-knit bunch and will likely maintain their place among the top three next season, but their three decade wait for a league title is likely to continue.