Former Rangers star reluctantly predicts Celtic Premiership win as 'momentum' factor proves key in title bid
The ex Rangers and Newcastle United man gave his verdict on the topsy-turvy title race after another weekend of drama.
Peter Lovenkrands has dubbed Celtic favourites to win the Scottish Premiership after they closed the gap on leaders Hearts this weekend.
The Hoops came from behind to beat 10-man Motherwell at Celtic Park on Saturday and once again found a way to get a result with their backs against the wall. The result means Celtic have now won seven of their last nine in the league since the return of Martin O’Neill and edges them closer to Hearts, who lost 1-0 to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
Rangers also done their bit to keep the race interesting as they stumbled over the line in Paisley to beat St Mirren by a goal to nil - but Lovenkrands, who spent six years at Ibrox as a player, believes The Celts are currently favourites going into the nail-biting run-in. Celtic trail Hearts by two points in the league table and are a single point ahead of their Glaswegian rivals.
Rangers man dubs Hoops league winners
Speaking on BBC’s Scottish Football podcast alongside Scott Allan, when asked who he thinks will lift the league trophy come May, Lovenkrands responded: “I would go with Celtic just because of the run of form they're on.The results they're grinding through. Their players are now coming back (from injury) as well.
“But when I see the fixtures with the two Dundee away games, that's tough. That could change everything. They can go up there next week and then not win, get a draw, and then one of the other teams wins. We could go back to saying Hearts next week!
“But if you look at momentum, they have been in this position before. Normally they're the ones that are ahead, but they’re still there, they're still grinding out results. I do think that they are going to be favourites from here on in.”
Hoops performing without ‘key’ men
The Dane has been impressed by Celtic’s rich vein of form despite missing some of their big hitters. He continued: “Winning in the cup at Ibrox against Rangers and knocking them out, without key, key players was massive. (Kieran) Tierney's not playing, (Callum) McGregor's not playing and they still go there and grind out a result, even though you could say that Rangers were the better team.
“Then now in the league, they've bounced back and beaten Motherwell, where everybody thought, okay, this could be a tough game for Celtic against a good team, who plays probably the best football in the league. Then they still go and win 3-1. Yes, you can talk about red cards and stuff, but they're still grinding through and they're still getting results.
“They have that championship mentality I've been talking about and don't forget, through the whole season, Alistair Johnson has been out, (Cameron) Carter-Vickers too, key players that would’ve been starting as first names on the team sheet. They've been missing for so long and they're still now right in the title race. You have to give them credit.”