Scottish Premiership Predictions

Scottish Premiership 2016/17 re-cap

Last season’s Scottish Premiership was a case of Celtic and the rest, as Brendan Rodgers’ debut season in charge of the Hoops ended with three trophies and no domestic defeats.

From very early on in the campaign, not least after they thrashed rivals Rangers 5-1 in the first Old Firm derby back in the top flight just five games in, it became clear they would win the title.

And from Christmas onwards, the big question was whether they could do it unbeaten – which, of course, they did after sealing the title with a massive eight games to spare.

Celtic ultimately remained unbeaten for 47 domestic matches, beating Aberdeen in the League Cup and Scottish Cup finals, and unsurprisingly cleaned up in the end-of-season awards.

Scott Sinclair, Kieran Tierney and Brendan Rodgers were rewarded as player, young player and manager of the season, while six of the Hoops’ players were in the team of the year.

Aberdeen were best of the rest, beating Rangers to second place and finishing runner-up in the two cup competitions too, while St Johnstone took the fourth Europa League qualification spot – all three are already out, however.

Hearts and Partick Thistle were the other two teams to finish in the top half, while in the bottom half, it was Inverness Caledonian Thistle who succumbed to relegation after conceding a league-high 71 goals.

Hamilton Academical ended up in the Premiership play-offs, but beat Dundee United to retain their top-flight place for 2017/18.

Here’s the full Scottish Premiership 2016/17 table:

Team news, promotion/relegation and other important updates

Hearts will start the new season without a manager after Ian Cathro was sacked on the eve of the new campaign.

They are the only team to change manager this summer, with Jon Daly taking interim charge, after Dundee and Kilmarnock appointed former Rangers strikers Neil McCann and Lee McCulloch on permanent deals, following their own interim spells last season.

Champions Celtic have not rested on their laurels this summer, signing Jonny Hayes from Aberdeen – one of the few non-Celtic players in last year's team of the year – Olivier Ntcham and Kundai Benyu.

They will start the new season on the back of four consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League qualifiers, which guarantees they will be involved in the group stages of either the Champions League or Europa League next season, pending their play-off against Astana.

Aberdeen have also been busy in the transfer market, with Gary Mackay-Steven moving the opposite way after Jonny Hayes’ sale to Celtic, and Ryan Christie joining on loan as part of the Hayes deal.

Hibernian are back in the top flight, meanwhile, after securing promotion last season, and former Celtic boss Neil Lennon has snapped up Efe Ambrose and Steven Whittaker on free transfers, as well as Danny Swanson and Simon Murray.

Hibs will replace Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the top flight this season, but Hamilton Academical stayed up after beating Dundee United in the promotion/relegation play-off.

New season (2017/18): favourites and dark horses

Quite simply, Celtic are favourites to win the Scottish Premiership in 2017/18 and the biggest question will be whether they can stay unbeaten again.

The rest of the league are competing to be the best of the rest, and to qualify for Europe, with Aberdeen and Rangers fighting for second place, and Hearts, St Johnstone and newly-promoted Hibernian joining them in the battle for European qualification.

Those six teams – Celtic and the other five – will expect to be in the top six come the split, but Partick Thistle made it into the top half last season, while Ross County and Kilmarnock, with Lee McCulloch now in charge, finished strongly in the bottom half too.

With Hibernian expected to settle back into the Scottish Premiership with little fuss – as Rangers and Hearts did last season – it will be Hamilton looking over their shoulders at the relegation places, and Dundee too.

Scottish Premiership 2017/18 Betting tips

There is no value in favouring Celtic to win the Scottish Premiership, and understandably so – the Bhoys are a best price of 1/8 to claim yet another title with Betfair.

You will be better served looking for more specific bets – Brendan Rodgers' side were unbeatable last season and Ladbrokes are offering 10/1 on them remaining unbeaten in the league again in 2017/18.

To replicate their domestic treble, they are 9/2 with Ladbrokes, who are offering a massive 40/1 on them staying unbeaten in all domestic competitions for a second consecutive year.

Celtic won 34 of their 38 matches last season, including twice thrashing Rangers 5-1, and they are 11/2 to beat Rangers in all four league games (they managed three last season) in 2017/18.

Can anybody stop them? Ladbrokes have also listed their price for Celtic to win all 38 Scottish Premiership games next season. It is unlikely, but they were only four short last season – and at 300/1 it could be worth a small gamble.

Elsewhere, Rangers are 10/11 with Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfair to be the highest-placed team without Celtic, whereas Aberdeen are best price of 11/8 with Bet365.

The Dons were nine points clear of Rangers last season, but with Pedro Caixinha in charge, the Gers look to have invested wisely this summer. If that proves they case, they should claim second.

Hamilton survived narrowly last season, but are a generous best price of 9/4 to finish rock bottom in 2017/18. Given newly-promoted Hibernian will expect to finish well clear of bottom spot, they are generous odds.

In fact, you can get 1/2 on Hibernian finishing in the top six in their first season back in the top flight.

Finally, Celtic are likely to provide the top scorer again this season, but which of their striking talents it is remains to be seen.

Moussa Dembele will start the season injured, which means some generous odds available and a best price of 3/1 with William Hill and Ladbrokes. Once he gets fit, he will hit the ground running, and the goals will soon mount up.

Scottish Premiership 2017/18 season predictions