Race For The Scottish Premier League: Rangers vs Heart of Midlothian
Kick Off:- 12:15 GMT, Saturday 7 May 2011
Ibrox Park, Glasgow
Rangers were handed a huge title challenge boost when the ICT v Celtic result came through on Wednesday — 3-2 Caley!!! A devastating blow to Celtic’s title aspirations and with only 3 games left to play, and a point ahead, Rangers are very, very firmly in the driving seat.
Given the state of Rangers’ financial resources, their reliance on loan players, the age of their key defender and captain, Davie Weir, and the paucity of the squad, not many gave them a chance of winning this title, particularly when compared to the wealth of talent opposing them from across the city, in the form of Celtic. Well, those people must be wondering when it’s all going to start falling apart for Rangers, because there’s no sign of it at the moment and the table tells a story and a half.
Scottish Premier League Table
Last updated: 22:25, May 04, 2011
Team P W D L Pts F A
1 Rangers 35 27 3 5 84 77 28
2 Celtic 35 26 5 4 83 76 22
Hearts, in spite of forgetting how to win, are solid in 3rd place and win, lose or draw this fixture, will continue in 3rd. In other words, Hearts don’t need anything from this game. If they play for anything, it will be their own personal pride and for the joy of taking something at Ibrox.
Rangers are sure to be on a high and you can bet they can’t wait for kick-off. A victory will but them 4 points clear of Celtic (at least for 24 hours) and pile the pressure on their deadly rivals.
Rangers’ last 5 game record reads…
[Rangers’ score first]
30 April Away 5-0 vs Motherwell (SPL)
24 April Home 0-0 vs Celtic (SPL)
19 April Away 4-0 vs Dundee United (SPL)
16 April Home 2-1 vs St Mirren (SPL)
13 April Away 1-0 vs Aberdeen (SPL)
Hearts’ last 5 game record reads…
[Hearts’ score first]
30 April Away 2-2 vs Kilmarnock (SPL)
23 April Home 3-3 vs Motherwell (SPL)
16 April Away 1-1 vs Inverness Caledonian Thistle (SPL)
9 April Home 0-0 vs Motherwell (SPL)
3 April Away 2-2 vs Hibernian (SPL)
Looking at the run-in it’s difficult to see where Rangers will lose points, and with Celtic still to go to Tynecastle to face Hearts it’s equally difficult to see how Celtic will not drop more points.
Rangers’ run-in…
Saturday 7 May 2011 Home Heart of Midlothian
Tuesday 10 May 2011 Home Dundee United
Saturday 14 May 2011 Away Kilmarnock
Celtic’s run-in…
Sunday 8 May 2011 Away Kilmarnock
Wednesday 11 May 2011 Away Heart of Midlothian
Sunday 15 May 2011 Home Motherwell
Hearts traditionally, do poorly at Ibrox, barring the odd freak result, while Rangers, when the scent blood, can be absolutely ruthless.
Rangers are smelling blood. Rangers will be ruthless. Rangers will win.
Category: Football, Scottish Football
About the Author (Author Profile)
An insurance professional based in Edinburgh, Scotland, David Macleod is our local expert on Scottish Football. David is an avid footie fan, and is happiest crunching numbers to help write his Bettng on The Football page…
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