Football betting tips: Scottish Premiership
2pts Over 2.5 second-half goals at 12/5 (bet365, William Hill)
Rangers won't win the Scottish Premiership title this season but they can play their part in preventing their fierce rivals from doing so as well.
Scottish football has been dominated by the Glasgow clubs, particularly those in green in more recent times. You have to go back to Aberdeen's success in the 1984 to find the last time one of this duo didn't win the top-flight title.
But we could be weeks away from that long wait coming to an end. Hearts have capitalised on both Celtic and Rangers enduring chaotic campaigns and anything less than a home win here puts them on the brink of glory.
A Hearts victory over Motherwell on Saturday night coupled with a Celtic defeat here would see them six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table with two to play - they visit Celtic Park on final day.
The issue they have is that Rangers' current form has once again left supporters in a position of questioning their manager. Danny Röhl has fallen short in the chase to finish top but he did inherit a side in a complete mess.
They were sixth when he arrived with just one win from their eight games and a 13-point gap to the leaders at that early stage. Perhaps some opinions may change if he were to guide them to victory here.
This is the sixth meeting between these two sides this season. Rangers' 3-1 success back in early January which brought an end to the doomed Wilfried Nancy spell at Celtic is the only time either has won in 90 minutes.
Röhl's side threw away a 2-0 lead in the previous league meeting so that record should read a little bit better in their favour. That's all ifs and buts though - a meeting against an outfit beaten just once in their last 11 will be difficult once again.
"It is an ugly, ugly end to what has been a superb game of football"
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) March 8, 2026
Chaos breaks out on the pitch at Ibrox as both sets of fans end up on the pitch following Celtic's penalty shootout win over Rangers pic.twitter.com/m8cmSHEkGM
Goals after the break were a feature of both of those games mentioned there and I'm intrigued by the 12/5 on OVER 2.5 SECOND-HALF GOALS given what we've seen from the pair throughout the campaign.
Rangers have seen near 60% of their total goals scored this season come in the second-half, with the same applying to 53% for Celtic. In fact, no side has scored more than Rangers' 41 post-half-time in Scotland's top-flight.
Away, the goals scored total sits at 18 in the second and 13 in the first, with nine goals conceded compared to eight. Celtic's home showings certainly play a part here too.
They've conceded just four before the break in front of their own supporters compared to nine after. The 21 scored then is also better than the 16 prior to it.
Only Rangers have a higher goals per second-half average in home games this season (1.89 to Celtic's 1.76), with 29% going over 2.5 compared to the league average of 18%.
We can add in the game state factor too. Rangers have managed to find the net 13 times in the second-half of the five away games where they were trailing at the break - obviously Celtic's brilliant first-half record gives them a tiny sample size to compare with.
Rangers netted three times in their last contest here while Celtic struck twice in their league visit to Ibrox. We could expect both sides to contribute given the league situation this time around.
With Over 2.5 goals a best price of 4/7 and and Over 3.5 coming in at 5/4 in places, taking three or more to come in the second 45 feels more appealing with well over 2/1 available.
Odds correct at 10:15 BST (08/05/26)
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