Rangers and Celtic’s next 9 Premiership fixtures favour only one team

Rangers and Celtic are firmly locked in a competitive Scottish Premiership title race for the first time in years.

In February, as the campaign comes to a close,

Glasgow’s archrivals are only three points apart at the top of the league table.

Rangers, on Neil Warnock’s managerial debut,

have the opportunity to take the Hoops’ lead at Ibrox this evening if they overcome Aberdeen.

We’re in for a fantastic run of months until the season concludes in May.

But may the league title be moving in only one direction as we finish the final Old Firm game before the post-split fixtures?

The solution to that question could be found in the two giants’ next nine Premiership encounters,

and Rangers appear to have an advantage.

That’s because they have six home games in that time frame,

with only three away visits against St Johnstone, Kilmarnock, and Dundee.

The Light Blues enter every game expecting to win,

especially under Philippe Clement.

However, having so many home games to look forward to gives us a much better chance of collecting more points than Celtic by April.

Rangers’ next nine Premiership fixtures
Aberdeen (H) – February 6
Ross County (H) – February 14

St Johnstone (A) – February 18; Hearts (H) – February 24.
Kilmarnock (A) – February 28; Motherwell (H) – March 2.
Dundee (A) – March 17; Hibs (H) – March 30.
Celtic (H) – April 6
Average league position of the opposition: 7th.

Meanwhile, Celtic have only four home games in their remaining nine league matches.

Aside from a trip to Livingston, they will face three of the country’s five largest teams on the road.

Granted, Hibs are in a bit of a mess right now,

but Celtic doesn’t usually have it easy at Easter Road. In fact,

Brendan Rodgers is yet to win a game as manager of the club, so the heat is firmly on.

Celtic’s next nine Premiership fixtures
Hibernian (A) – February 7
Kilmarnock (H) – February 17

Motherwell (A) – February 25
Dundee (H) on February 28; Hearts (A) on March 3; St Johnstone (H) on March 16; and Livingston (A) on March 30.
Rangers (A) – April 6; St Mirren (H) – April 13.
Average league position of opposition: sixth.

Simply put, Rangers are in a strong position to establish a lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Of course, things could turn out differently, but Celtic are stumbling.

When Michael Beale was fired, they had a seven-point advantage on the Rangers,

which appeared insurmountable at the time. It was just October.

But they are currently suffering for a lack of consistency,

which the Rangers have in abundance. Seven points have now been reduced to three,

and both teams may be level on Tuesday night.

These next nine games are critical to the title battle, and they essentially only benefit one team: Rangers.