Rangers icon Ally McCoist assesses each side's title race 'advantage' as Celtic and Hearts also judged
The former striker gave his ultimate verdict after evaluating all three teams
Rangers legend Ally McCoist believes Rangers, Celtic and Hearts can all consider themselves title race favourites for their own unique reasons - but ultimately thinks his former team will reign supreme.
Going into the split, the Light Blues sit a single point behind league leaders Hearts but two ahead of their Old Firm rivals, with a superior goal difference over both. Rangers will travel to Tynecastle and Celtic Park respectively before the end of the season. They go into the last five the in-form side and are unbeaten in the league since their last trip to Gorgie in December.
On the other hand, Celtic will face both Rangers and Hearts at home, with the latter taking place on the final day of the campaign. While the Hoops are yet to beat either title race rival this season in the league, McCoist thinks that playing them in front of their own fans could give them a slight upper hand going into the run-in. Speaking on TalkSPORT, the former Rangers striker pleaded a case for each club, before reaching his ultimate verdict.
McCoist assesses title hopefuls in ‘staggering’ race
He said: “I can't remember in my lifetime, right, with five games to go, three teams being odds against with the bookmakers. I mean, that in itself is staggering. I'm struggling to remember it recently, two teams being odds against. But three teams odds against? Remarkable, that tells you what you need to know. Where I am with it, I think Celtic have an advantage, not the advantage, an advantage, of playing Rangers and Hearts at home. Rangers' advantage, I think, is their momentum.”
The 63-year old also isn’t overlooking Hearts, who’ve been the most consistent performers in the league thus far and boast a better head-to-head record over both of their Glaswegian rivals. McCoist continued: “Hearts' advantage is the fact that they've only lost one game out of six against the Old Firm this year. They've beaten Celtic twice, Rangers twice, I think as well. Rangers won the recent one pretty comfortably at Ibrox. But the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of people, wrongly in my opinion, that are writing Hearts off.”
McCoist sticks to his guns in ultimate title race verdict
After evaluating the pros and cons for each team, McCoist ultimately come to the conclusion that Rangers are the most likely to lift the trophy on May 16. However, he’s not sure whether this is an emotional prediction given his ties with the club. He added: "I'm still leaning towards Rangers, and I don't know whether it's my heart or my head. Maybe both. I just think the momentum that Danny Rohl's got with them is incredible. But, as I say, playing Hearts and Rangers at home is an advantage for Celtic."
While the head-to-head fixtures could be a huge factor in deciding the race, Motherwell, Hibs and Falkirk are also likely to have a say in proceedings. Rangers have dropped points to all three this season, while Celtic have lost to both the Steelmen and the Hibees. With European places up for grabs, the three ‘best of the rest’ sides still have plenty to play for.
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