Is Scottish Premiership title race set for fresh twist?

April 2, 2026 No Comments

Is Scottish Premiership title race set for fresh twist?ByNick McPheatBBC Sport ScotlandPublished7 minutes agoRangers will go top of the Scottish Premiership for the first time this season if they beat Dundee United on Saturday.Yep, this bonkers title race could be set for a fresh twist on Easter weekend.If Danny Rohl’s side are successful, many will expect Heart of Midlothian to return to the summit with victory away to bottom side Livingston on Sunday.However, the current leaders only need to ask the team hoping to leapfrog them 24 hours earlier why that might not be so easy.

Celtic, five points off top spot, face another trip to Dundee with little room for error after losing in the city last time out to Dundee United at Tannadice.

Closing out the weekend action, Martin O’Neill’s men will know whether the chance is there to haul themselves right back into the race – or whether they will be trying to narrow an even bigger gap.

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What sort of response would you get from a Rangers fan if you told them their team would have the chance to go top of the pile in April when Russell Martin was being smuggled out of Falkirk six months earlier?

After that 1-1 draw, Martin was sacked with the Ibrox side in eighth place, 11 points adrift of top spot after one win in seven league matches.

Another draw against United in their following game under interim boss Steven Smith extended that gap to 13 points.

Ibrox was toxic that October afternoon. Twenty-four weeks on, victory in a repeat of that fixture will send Rohl’s side to the summit for at least 24 hours.

It has been far from perfect under the German head coach, but after 16 Premiership matches – 10 wins, six draws and one defeat – a potential momentum-shifting moment is there to be grasped.

Failure to capitalise, however, and momentum could shift the other way and the Glasgow club’s fans will only reiterate their doubts about the team’s mentality.

Plus, they will be facing a United side buoyed by their fantastic 2-0 success over Celtic before the international break, but the visitors have not won a league game at Ibrox since April 2011.

How will Hearts & Celtic respond on box-office Easter Sunday?

A Rangers win would crank the pressure up to a new level on Hearts, who could be knocked off top spot for the first time since September.

On a box-office Easter Sunday, Derek McInnes’ side kick off a two-match card at Livingston, who have won just one of their 31 league games and are 12 points adrift at the foot of the table.

A skoosh for the Gorgie visitors then? A 2-2 draw with Rangers in West Lothian in February suggests otherwise, plus Hearts needed a stoppage-time winner at the same venue in August.

The Premiership leaders have also lost their recent three away games, but they will hope to have talismanic striker Lawrence Shankland fit to start a game for the first time since January after his return from the bench against Dundee last time out.

Pressure could also intensify on Celtic, who are five points off Hearts and two behind Rangers following their damaging defeat at Tannadice.

Former striker Chris Sutton says his old side have to be perfect in their final eight games to stand a chance and victories for the top two – or even just one – would reinforce that view by the time Celtic kick off at Dens Park, where they have already lost this term.

The fact that the top three have all only won once in the same weekend this season is a remarkable statistic that only highlights the twisting-and-turning nature of this gripping fight.

Therefore, do not be shocked to see the reigning champions propel themselves back into contention in the most predictably unpredictable title race.

Scottish Premiership gameweek 32

4 – 5 April 2026

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