STAR FOOTBALL ANTE-POST PREVIEW: Scottish Premiership 2026/27

As part of our build-up to the new football season, JOE CITRONE has previewed the Scottish Premiership with a recommended starsports.bet selection.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏆 Can anyone stop Celtic’s dominance?

Celtic go into the new campaign at 4/5 to make it 13 titles in 14 years, and this time the price actually looks fair rather than mean.

In percentage terms, that is around 55% – call it a coin flip that leans their way. A year ago, you would have made them nearer 70%. The gap has closed, and there is a reason for that.

Last season was not the usual procession. Celtic only won the title on the final day, with Hearts leading the way at the top of the table for the vast majority of the season before that heartbreaking conclusion.

It has also been a chaotic year behind the scenes. Brendan Rodgers left in October, Martin O’Neill came in as caretaker, Wilfried Nancy had a disastrous spell in charge over the winter, and then O’Neill returned in January and steadied the ship well enough to get Celtic over the line and lift the Scottish Cup too.

The 74-year-old now goes into his first full season back at the helm at Celtic Park.

Pre-season has not sparked much confidence, and it has been pretty quiet on the transfer front – Camilo Durán remains the only real arrival. O’Neill insists friendly results do not matter and he is right, but thin recruitment is a genuine worry against a Hearts side who pushed them all the way.

Hearts have taken a hit of their own since then, though. Derek McInnes had them a point clear going into that final-day decider at Parkhead, only to watch it slip away – about as close to glory as you can get without touching it.

Weeks later, he was off to Rangers, taking his backroom team with him, and captain Lawrence Shankland soon followed him out of the door too.

New boss Wouter Vrancken arrives from Belgium with no experience of Scottish football, so a bit of a hangover period would not be a shock. The foundations are still there, though, and there is every reason to think Hearts will come again before too long.

Rangers, meanwhile, arrive with a new manager of their own in McInnes, starting life at Ibrox with a trip to Dundee United. Whether he can drag them back into genuine contention from the start is the other question hanging over the division.

The Gers will inevitably push towards the top of the table, but this is Celtic. Even in a wobblier year, they have European football, squad depth and a manager who knows how to win in Scotland.

Hearts will be better for the experience, but taking the step from nearly there to champions is the hardest one in football.

At 4/5 with starsports.bet, backing Celtic again is not the banker it used to be – but it is still the right side of the argument.

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(JULY 2026): PROFIT/LOSS: -4.71 points

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