The 2023–24 Premiership season has just three games left, but many decisions still need to be made.
The outcome of the league title between Celtic and Rangers is the most crucial, with a narrow margin. Currently, after 35 games completed, Celtic leads the standings with 84 points. On Saturday afternoon, Brendan Rodgers was ecstatic to witness his champions easily defeat Hearts, the third-best side in the nation, three games to none. A day later, Rangers answered with a straightforward victory against their own. After 20 minutes, Philippe Clement’s team downed Kilmarnock to 10 men, yet still prevailed 4-1.
Rangers advanced to 81 points as a result, keeping the three-point advantage that has existed for the past few weeks. This weekend, the teams square off at Celtic Park, with an early kickoff on Saturday. Celtic would create a six-point lead with two games remaining if they won, almost securing the club’s third straight victory. That being said, if Clement’s team wins all three points against their bitter rivals, it will be all out for the last week of the season. It’s crucial to remember that, come Saturday’s game, Celtic will probably still be at the top of the standings.
And that leads us beautifully to goal differential, the main idea of this article. Even if Rangers do win at Parkhead, Celtic’s superior goal differential of five will likely keep them in first place. Rangers’ GD is 53, compared to the Hoops’ 58.
Rangers may, of course, travel to the east end of Glasgow and thrash the Hoops, which would allow them to pass Celtic on Saturday. But even the most sanguine Rangers fan would undoubtedly admit this is unlikely. While a win at Celtic Park would leave the teams level on points, it’s certainly not out of the question that the visitors may triumph. This would highlight how crucial goal differential is going into the final two games. Everyone is still focused on the goal differential even in a tie between the two teams.
Rangers’ next game is at home against Dundee on Tuesday, May 14, and they conclude at Tynecastle on Saturday, May 18. Celtic, on the other hand, will play a home game against St. Mirren to round up the season before traveling to Kilmarnock on Wednesday, May 15. Although we haven’t seen this league table column take center stage in a while, we have already seen this movie. Thinking back to the 2002–03 campaign, Rangers famously defeated Dunfermline 6–1 on the last day to win the SPL title under Alex McLeish. Although Rangers’ superior goal differential caused the title to be decided at Ibrox that year, Celtic crushed Killie 4-0 at Rugby Park.
In past league title contests, the Hoops have also won on goal differential. Celtic defeated Hearts to win the 1985–86 season. We are still in the dark about this season’s conclusion. That being said, the current situation has Celtic three points and five goals ahead of Rangers. This means that, depending on how the goal differential table looks following the derby encounter, the Ibrox club may need to start outscoring Celtic in the final games in addition to defeating them this weekend in order to reclaim the championship.
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