WhatAcca.com team have put together a guide to help our readers understand the Scottish Premiership Football Betting arena. What is the Scottish Premiership? The Scottish Premiership is the leading professional football division in Scotland, with twelve teams competing against each other during the course of the season, with each club playing a sum total of thirty-eight matches. The twelve sides play each other three times on a home-and-away basis until we get to the thirty-three game stage. Once we have arrived at that particular phase of the competition, the Scottish Premiership is split into two, with the leading six clubs all competing against each other once, while the same applies to the lower-ranked six clubs and we then get to the final standings where certain issues are decided along the way. The team finishing top of the SPL are naturally crowned champions and they qualify for the Champions League first qualifying round, while the team who finish runner-up get the chance to qualify for the Europa League and the same applies to the teams who finish in third and fourth positions. The club that finishes rock bottom of the Scottish Premiership are relegated to the Scottish Championship, while the team in eleventh place go into the Premiership play-off final and they will play the team who finishes second in Scottish League One to decide which team is going to play in the top flight in Scotland next term and which one will play in the second division. Who Are the Best Scottish Premiership Teams? The biggest clubs in the Scottish Premiership are Celtic and Rangers, the two Glasgow giants who are also known as the Old Firm sides. There is a huge rivalry between Celtic and Rangers, with the sectarian element being all-too-apparent and these proud clubs are often battling it out for major honours in Scotland while also aiming to fare well in European competition. Celtic play in green-and-white hoops and they’re based at Celtic Park, with this traditionally being a catholic football club which has associations with the Republic of Ireland as a result, with Rangers conversely being a protestant club who play in blue shirts and you will often see Union Jack flags emblazoned during their games. The big matches of the SPL season are nearly always the Old Firm derbies and it’s fairly common to find a Celtic v Rangers clash on the horizon, with the teams often meeting in the Scottish League Cup or the Scottish FA Cup, while these matches are often played at a ferocious pace and there are usually plenty of bookings and the odd red card brandished in the games. However, the SPL isn’t a two-team division and it’s typical to find Hibernian, Livingston and Aberdeen among the leading teams competing at the upper end of the division, while Hearts, St Mirren and St Johnstone are the other sides who you might find being competitive in this popular football betting division. How Do You Bet on the Scottish Premiership? Celtic and Rangers have dominated the Scottish Premiership landscape for several decades and it goes without saying that these clubs have a very high win rate when it comes to a typical domestic season. During the 2020/21 season, Steven Gerrard’s Rangers were able to win twenty-eight of their thirty-two games played which means that the Gers were a mainstay of the football accumulators that were placed over the campaign. Despite having a fairly shabby season by normal standards, Celtic were still able to win twenty of their thirty-two matches played in the season to date and you can appreciate that this big strike rate means that punters are often looking to put the Old Firm sides in their acca or alternatively bet on the individual games and back the teams to win to nil. Considering there are twelve teams in the Scottish Premiership, it means that we will typically see six matches taking place for every round of the SPL season, with this offering punters the chance to either bet on the individual matches or combine selections and potentially have an acca which features picks from different games. What Are the Best SPL Match Betting Markets? Many punters like to bet on the Full-Time Result betting market where you either pick the home team, the draw or the away team. Therefore, if you have a strong preference for either team to win or think the price about the game ending all square makes appeal, then you can bet on this market and it’s pretty common to include the 1x2 betting market when it comes to multiplebets. The disadvantage to betting on Full-Time Result is that it’s a three-way betting market, so whichever option you choose means that you’re betting against two other options. It’s often the case that the draw can often get in the way although there’s the chance to go for the Draw No Bet or Asian Handicap option if you want to trim this bet down to two options instead. The WhatAcca team compile quality football accumulator tips on a daily and weekly basis, so make sure you sign up to our newsletter. Many punters like to steer clear of making a prediction when it comes to the actual match winner and alternatively look for a betting market which suits their view of the game. For example, if Celtic and Rangers are clashing with each other and they’ve both been full of goals, then it could be worth looking at the Over/Under 2.5 Goals betting option or alternatively Both Teams to Score. You might bet on the BTTS Yes option if you feel as though both teams are going to score during a particular match, while the BTTS No option is attractive for SPL punters who think that at least one team will fail to find the net and that’s especially good when Celtic or Rangers are expected to be highly superior which could mean their opponents are limited in terms of chances. The History of the Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership has its roots in the 19th century, with the first season of the Scottish Football League being played in 1890-1, with Dumbarton and Rangers being declared the joint-winners, while Celtic were given third place. A season later, Dumbarton were crowned champions and it was Jack Bell who finished top scorer for the second season running although Celtic won their first championship at the end of the 1892/3 campaign and they would retain their title in the 1893/4 season. Wind the clock forward to the present day and Rangers have been crowned champions of Scotland on the most occasions, with the blue half of Glasgow having secured fifty-five championships and the 2021 success was their first since the 2010/11 season, with the Gers having been demoted to Scottish League Two shortly afterwards before working their way back to the top flight north of the border. Celtic have won a combined fifty-one Scottish Premiership titles and they were able to rack up many championships and make ground on their arch-rivals in recent times, with the Bhoys landing nine consecutive titles in the interim and their healthy rivalry will continue, with these two teams having dominated the landscape since Scottish professional football started. Other Scottish Premiership Club History However, there have been other teams who have been crowned champions and that includes Aberdeen who were triumphant in the 1984-5 season under Sir Alex Ferguson which meant that their tally of Scottish championship titles is now four, although the Dons have rarely got close to adding to that total despite remaining part of the top flight. Heart of Midlothian are another team who have secured four Scottish titles and the Edinburgh side look as though they will be returning to the Scottish Premiership in the 2021/22 season, with Hearts having last secured a title in the 1959-60 season and they continue to enjoy a rivalry with Hibernian who are also on the winners’ rostrum. Hibs are the third team to secure four Scottish Premiership titles over their history and the last time that the green-and-white half of Edinburgh triumphed was during the 1951-2 season, while Dumbarton are next with those two very early triumphs before Celtic and Rangers started to dominate the landscape. How to Bet on Scottish Premiership Top Scorer Although your first port of call should be to check out the Celtic and Rangers players who are trading to score the most goals in the Scottish Premiership for a particular season, there have been several recent occasions where a player from a non-Old Firm club has been able to scoop the award. However, Frenchman Odsonne Edouard has proved to be the cream of the crop for Celtic and scooped the 2020 and 2021 award. Previously to this, Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos top scored for Rangers during the 2018-19 season and it was the first time that a Gers player had landed this award since Kenny Miller at the end of the 2010/11 season, with the blue half of the Old Firm having fallen on hard times in more recent years. Why not take a look at the WhatAcca best betting apps list, published for the 2021 - 2022 Football season. Other Top Scottish League Top Scorers It’s worth considering players from other clubs apart from Celtic and Rangers as the goals are often shared around when it comes to these two teams, with Kris Boyd having proved his prowess for Kilmarnock by netting eighteen times to land the SPL top scorer award in 2018 and that came twelve months after Liam Boyce was able to do the same thing while representing Ross County. Two seasons previously to this, Adam Rooney top scored for Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership and he was able to follow in the footsteps of Motherwell’s Michael Higdon who managed twenty-six goals during the 2012/13 season and this has demonstrated that the Old Firm might have a monopoly over the title but not the scoring charts. Therefore, it’s worth weighing up the various strikers across the board before placing a bet and it’s often the case that you can identify a player who is likely to be prolific for a club outside of the top two, especially if he’s previously netted a few goals for his team and looked dangerous in pre-season. The Best Players to Play in the Scottish Premiership Many would argue that Henrik Larsson is the best ever player to represent Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, with the Swede having landed the top scorer prize on five occasions, with Larsson firing twenty-nine goals during the 1998-99 season and that lit the blue touch paper for what would be a highly successful time of things for the striker. While his team-mate Mark Viduka was the top scorer in the 1999-2000 season, Larsson came back from injury and scored an incredible thirty-five goals in thirty-seven appearances, with the Swedish forward managing to secure three more top scorer prizes, with the player remaining a living legend at Celtic Park. As for Viduka, he was also a deadly forward for the Bhoys before securing a transfer to Leeds United, while Mikel Arteta is another high-profile player who turned out for Rangers at a similar time before the Spaniard was able to secure a big money transfer to Real Sociedad before a switch to Everton and then Arsenal. Other great Premiership Players When it comes to star players for Rangers, the name of Paul Gascoigne is never far away from the lips of Gers supporters, with Gazza turning out for the Old Firm club between 1995-8 where he was a superstar in a blue shirt. The England international made seventy-four appearances and scored thirty goals during his three seasons north of the border. Another highly-rated player to turn out for Glasgow Rangers is Brian Laudrup who was truly a great Dane during his three seasons at the club. It was regarded as something of a coup to secure the signature of the former Milan forward in 1994, with Laudrup having won the Champions League with the Rossoneri before arriving at Ibrox and securing three Scottish Premier Division titles with Rangers. The History of the Old Firm Clashes Between Celtic and Rangers Celtic and Rangers are massive clubs in Scotland and there have been calls for the Old Firm pair to compete against some of the leading English teams in a reformed Premier League, although the Glasgow pair remain north of the border and their rivalry means there is plenty of excitement in the Scottish Premiership, especially when the teams clash against each other in a packed Celtic Park or Ibrox. Rangers and Celtic have enjoyed winning a combined 106 Scottish League championships, with Celtic and Rangers having also secured 73 Scottish Cups between them and there have also been 46 Scottish League Cups accumulated, with both teams having enjoyed several domestic doubles and trebles along the way. The rivalry was halted in the early 2010’s when Rangers had a terrible time of things financially and that caused the Ibrox outfit to see its holding company liquidated in 2012. With the club in financial crisis, the Gers had to re-apply for entry into the Scottish Football League and they had to work their way up from the Third Division. Other useful Rivalry Facts At the time of writing, there have been over 400 Old Firm derbies and there are at least four occasions when Celtic and Rangers typically meet during the course of a season, with the gap very close at the moment, with Rangers having 164 victories on the board compared to the 159 that have been secured by Celtic, while the number of draws is fast approaching 100. Celtic’s biggest win over Rangers occurred in the 1957 Scottish League Cup final when they were able to enjoy a 7-1 victory over the Gers, with the final being nicknamed “Hampden in the Sun” by the Celtic supporters, with William McPhail entering name into Old Firm folklore by scoring a hat-trick in this clash. Celtic have also secured two victories over Rangers by a five-goal margin, with the latest of these occurring on 29 April 2018 where Odsonne Edouard scored a brace of goals and that win came just two weeks after the Bhoys had beaten the same opponents by a four-goal margin of victory. Rangers have also had their own moments in the sun, with the Gers having enjoyed two 5-0 wins over their arch-rivals although they occurred over a century ago, with the first win coming on 2 September 1893, while the next one followed hard on its heels, with 1 January 1894 the date of that triumph. SPL Players Who Have Played For Celtic and Rangers It’s regarded as something of a no-no to turn out for Celtic Football Club and Rangers during a professional playing career, although Kenny Miller is a high-profile player who enjoyed a stint with Celtic between 2006-2007, with the Scot having originally turned out for the Gers in the 2000-1 season and he returned to Ibrox for two further spells which saw him win the Scottish Premier League in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Steven Pressley is another player who featured for both Old Firm clubs, with the former Falkirk manager having turned out for Rangers between 1990-94, while he then turned out for Coventry, Dundee United and Hearts before making the dangerous move to Celtic where he enjoyed a fairly lengthy spell and helped the club secure the 1996-7 title after previously winning silverware with the Gers including two league titles. Mo Johnston is arguably the most famous player to have turned out for both clubs and what made his appearance for Rangers Football Club all the more notable was the fact that he was the first open Catholic to turn out for the Gers since World War I. However, the striker was able to score 46 goals in 100 league appearances for Rangers and helped them win two Scottish league titles during his time at the club. Previously to his time at Ibrox, Johnston had enjoyed a successful stint with Glasgow Celtic and it was the cause of angst among supporters that the player would eventually defect to the team’s hated rivals. While at Celtic Park, the Scottish international pilfered 52 goals in 99 appearances and that saw the Bhoys land the 1985-6 title. Scottish Premiership Clubs in Europe Celtic have regularly been involved in European competition and their most famous triumph was the European Cup success in 1967 which remains their solitary success when it comes to this tournament. Celtic were able to beat Internazionale at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon and the victorious team were subsequently able to earn the moniker of the Lisbon Lions. The Scottish side were able to recover from going a goal down early in the final against their Italian opponents, with goals from Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers helping them to be victorious and they came close to securing another European Cup three seasons later when losing in the 1970 final when being defeated by Feyenoord who landed their first ever title. In more recent times, Celtic got close to securing the UEFA Cup when losing in the 2003 final against Porto, with Henrik Larsson twice finding the net to equalise against Portuguese opponents before the latter were able to win the trophy in extra-time. Scottish Premiership Clubs in Europe continued As for Rangers, the only success that the Protestant Old Firm club have enjoyed took place during the 1971-2 season where they secured the European Cup Winners’ Cup, with the Scottish side able to beat Dynamo Kiev in that particular final, with Colin Stein scoring the opener before Willie Johnston bagged a brace before the team had to withstand a late comeback. Aside from that, it’s been a series of near-misses in Europe for Rangers and that includes a recent defeat in the 2007-8 UEFA Cup where Zenit Saint Petersburg beat the Gers in the final at the City of Manchester Stadium, with Rangers also being runners-up in the 1972 UEFA Super Cup when losing to Ajax. Aside from the Old Firm clubs, Aberdeen are the other team who have represented Scotland successfully in European competition, with Sir Alex Ferguson earning legendary status when winning the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup during the 1982-83 season, while the Dons were also able to secure the 1983 Super Cup during their day in the sun. Why not read more about the English Premier League betting with our useful guide.
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