Rangers v Celtic v Hearts – it’s a three-way tussle this year | OneFootball

There is no doubt the loss at Tynecastle of both Lawrence Shankland and Andy Devlin have set the cat among the pigeons of the title race.

We’re not saying Hearts were anything like favourites to win the league, but those two were the lynchpins of the whole side. And both are out for up to two months each.

Hearts did remarkably well to get a point against Celtic without them, but it pretty much ends their title charge having lost both of their best players.

Naismith

Rangers went through the same in 2011 when Steven Naismith’s ACL ruined our season. Ally McCoist couldn’t replace him and Celtic were well past us before admin even became a thing.

And Celtic frankly have also gone through the same thing this term having lost Carter-Vickers and Jota from pretty much day one.

But all clubs get injuries and Rangers have certainly had our fair share of them over the years.

So what do Sunday’s pivotal results mean for the title?

Well the odds have certainly changed.

Favourites

Hearts are no longer second favourites (they were never favourites) and have drifted into third at 2/1.Rangers have changed entirely.

Rangers are almost neck and neck with Celtic, with the latter having 7/4 and Rangers reducing to 6/4.

With Martin O’Neill at Celtic their odds have propelled a bit, but Rangers’ solid run along with the new signings have led to a huge burst in favour.

But outside odds what are the implications?

Rangers have momentum at the moment – 8 wins in a row has seen a propulsion in from and points for Danny Rohl’s side, while MON’s team dropped their first league points under him all season.

Ibrox Noise doesn’t expect Celtic to drop many more under O’Neill, and they remain absolutely our obstacle to the title.

Resources

Hearts we don’t completely discount but unlike Celtic they don’t have resources to replace their two best players when they lose them.

Lots of pundits including Ally McCoist have been offering their percentage divisions on the title.

“I’m going 40% Hearts, 30% Rangers, 30% Celtic.”

Pat Nevin said “33% Rangers, 33% Celtic, 34% Hearts.”

Truth is no one can know.

It’s the tightest race for many, many years and the fact it includes Hearts is wonderfully refreshing.

Contradiction

The odds have marginally discounted Derek McInnes’ side but the pundits marginally favour them.

Common sense for us would have Rangers or Celtic, and right now it is just too close to call.

While Rangers have momentum, well, under Martin O’Neill Celtic won’t drop many points from here on in. Let’s not forget they were 1-2 up at Hearts when a man down. While they’ve complained about the red card they still had the points till Braga secured a late equaliser.

They are not to be discounted at all.

But for now, Rangers have the advantage. The question is keeping it.