The Scottish Premiership returns this week hot on the heels of the World Cup and with last season’s thrilling finale to the title race still fresh in the memory.
Celtic were crowned champions for a record 56th time after defeating long-term leaders Hearts 3-1 in a winner-takes-all showdown on the final day in May, with Rangers third and Motherwell fourth. Rangers kick off the 2026/27 season away to Dundee United on Friday night while Celtic begin their title defence at home to Dundee on Monday.
Here we take a look at the leading candidates to claim this season’s top honour in Scotland.
Celtic
Celtic @ 4/5
Celtic continued their stranglehold on the Scottish Premiership last term by claiming a 14th title in 15 years, but they had to dig deep to pip Hearts . Two late goals saw the Hoops snatch the championship away from a Jambos side who had led the table since September in a tense showdown at Parkhead .
Celtic also lifted the Scottish Cup as part of a nine-match winning streak to end the season and the Hoops will again be the team to beat this coming campaign, although some familiar faces have moved on.
Martin O’Neill has signed a one-year deal to remain in charge but the likes of Daizen Maeda , Kasper Schmeichel and Kelechi Iheanacho have left the club, with Colombian forward Camilo Duran coming in from Qarabag .
Rangers
Rangers @ 11/8
Rangers briefly looked in contention to win only their second title since 2011 last season before running out of steam to finish 10 points behind Celtic . That left the Ibrox outfit without a trophy for the sixth time in nine years since returning to the Scottish Premiership and the vastly experienced Derek McInnes is the latest manager tasked with trying to end that miserable record.
McInnes performed heroics at Hearts and the life-long Rangers fan knows what it takes to succeed at Ibrox , having won the league and cup as a Gers player in the 1990s.
Prolific striker Lawrence Shankland and Australia midfielder Cammy Devlin have also swapped Hearts for Rangers this summer, while Vanja Dragojevic , Ben Godfrey, Ivor Pandur , Dan Neil and Ross McCrorie have also come in as part of a major overhaul.
Hearts
Hearts @ 6/1
Barely two months have passed since Hearts were denied their first title since 1960, usurped by Celtic in the final five minutes having led the table for most of the season, and it remains to be seen how they respond to that heartbreak.
It will be a new-look Hearts who take on Aberdeen in a testing Premiership opener at Pittodrie on Saturday , with Shankland , Devlin , Boyd Fraser , Frankie Kent and Craig Gordon among those to have left Tynecastle .
McInnes has also departed and his replacement, former Sint-Truiden boss Wouter Vrancken , suffered a nightmare debut in the hotseat with Hearts thrashed 4-0 by Sturm Graz in the Champions League qualifiers.
Hibernian
Hibernian @ 66/1
Hearts ’ heroics last season will have made uncomfortable viewing down the road at Hibernian but hopes of the Hibees mounting their own title charge this year seem remote. The Easter Road outfit have to go back to 1952 for the most recent of their four Scottish Championship successes and they have only finished in the top three twice since 2005.
However, they have not had the summer overhaul that many of their rivals have, and David Gray will be targeting a top-four finish and a good cup run.
Other contenders: Aberdeen 80/1, Motherwell 250/1.
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