Stiliyan Petrov answers Celtic title race question as Rangers and Hearts calls made

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Celtic came into this season as clear favourites for the league, and understandably so.

The Hoops have won 13 of the last 14 league titles, and Brendan Rodgers has never failed to win the Scottish Premiership title.

This alone is enough to justify being clear favourites – but the situation at Rangers makes it seem even more straightforward.

Ibrox boss Russell Martin is yet to deliver a league win in five, and with Rangers on just four points, there is already a nine-point gap between them and Celtic.

So will Celtic win the league, when will they win it if so, and who will be their main challengers? One former Hoops hero has made his call.

Celtic will win the league before the split says Stiliyan Petrov

Rodgers’ side are currently joint-top of the league with Hearts on 13 points – they don’t meet the Jambos until an encounter in Edinburgh at the end of October.

It will certainly be fascinating to see where the league table is at by then. But for former Celts midfielder Stiliyan Petrov, Hearts will be out of the picture by the end of the season.

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Speaking to Ladbrokes, the Bulgarian’s outlook was clear, despite some fancying Derek McInnes’ side to finish second.

“Honestly? No. I think Rangers will finish second. Celtic will win the league. I think the gap is quite big at the moment and Celtic will comfortably win the league.

“I hope [they’ll win it by] next week! There’s always a risk of having poor form and the European campaign can disturb things domestically.

“But I think they have enough good players, enough depth in the squad to make sure that they win the league at least before the split.”

The split may be a reasonable target, but given how things have gone at Ibrox, Martin’s side could be out of sight by Christmas.

Do Celtic need a strong title challenge?

Things aren’t all rosy at Celtic Park at the minute – far from it. Considering that the team are such overwhelming favourites, the level of unrest among Celtic fans currently is telling.

Supporters are no longer happy with just dominating domestically – they want to see ambition in Europe. The lack of strong competitors and the club’s enviable financial position are the two main reasons for this.

So do Celtic need a stronger challenge, from Ibrox or elsewhere? Fans would obviously much rather the latter, but in general, we should be careful what we wish for.

It remains to be seen whether a run of wins would be enough to change the feeling among some Celtic fans.