The Scottish Premiership Title Run-In
The remaining fixtures, previous seasons’ points totals and is it 'now or never'?
After nine matches of this Premiership campaign, Hearts became only the 15th side ever to achieve 25+ points after the opening nine matches. Nine of the previous 14 teams maintained that form throughout the season and went on to win the title.
Four of the five that didn’t win the league finished in second place. Only one team finished outside the top two after making such a strong start - Aberdeen, last season. The Dons finished fifth, such was the remarkable drop off in form after their electric winning run under Jimmy Thelin.
The early charge to the top of the table this season saw Hearts pull eight points ahead, giving them a sizeable buffer in case they hit a drop in form. Having lost their last three away games, that buffer has been reduced - they are now just two points ahead of Celtic.
With eight matches left to go, just three points separate the top three - the first time this has been the case since 1998. It was the same three teams battling for the title back then, except Celtic were the team at the top back then. The Celts would go on to win the league ahead of Rangers, to claim their first title in ten years.
As it is the Jambos that occupy top spot this time around, Hearts fans and many neutrals alike are hoping to see the team at the top hold on to win the league again this time! With the ‘maximum points achievable’ for each side dropping on a weekly basis, it’s likely going to require one of the lowest points totals this century to take the trophy.
REMAINING FIXTURES
This next graphic shows the remaining fixtures for each team using my predicted post-split fixtures from last month, and an example of what the running order might look like:
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