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🥇 Celtic to win outright
🥉 Hearts to finish in the top 3
⬇️ Ross County to finish bottom
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Celtic were crowned champions for a third year in a row last year, making it 12 in the last 13 seasons, and come into the season looking strong once again.
Rangers, of course, remain the key challengers and will be desperate to reclaim the crown that they have not held since 2021.
There is lots to play for across the league, with numerous different markets to delve into in this piece, where we will provide all the best outright Scottish Premiership predictions for the 2024/25 season.
There’s so much to be excited about this season so it looks like a great time to get started with our football predictions for the season, starting with our outright selections. However, with the season rapidly approaching keep an eye out for our SPFL acca tips to kick off this campaign.
If you want to get set up ahead of the new SPFL season, check out our best accumulator bookmakers article for the best welcome offers in one convenient place.
We also have plenty more predictions and tips ahead of the new season, so be sure not to miss out on our host of EFL predictions, including our Championship 24/25 predictions, League One 24/25 predictions, or League Two 24/25 tips.
🏆 Scottish Premiership Winner – Celtic
Celtic come into the season in by far the strongest position of any team. While fans may have been disappointed with a transfer window lacking in ambition so far, closest rivals Rangers are in a state of crisis. The Gers have stadium problems, a seemingly disgruntled manager, and a squad that is set to be overhauled just days before the season begins.
Celtic, on the other hand, offer solid guarantees about where they will be when the campaign begins. And they already begin the campaign with something of a headstart, having won last season’s title by eight points and the one before that by seven.
The Hoops have shown excellent pre-season form, recording wins over Manchester City and Chelsea in friendly matches, and while these results will ultimately mean nothing when the season gets going, they contrast strongly to Rangers, who lost against Birmingham and have shown signs of huge defensive problems.
Celtic’s squad going into the campaign looks almost as strong as it did at the end of last season, with the addition of Kasper Schmeichel in goal providing an experienced replacement for the outgoing Joe Hart. They could do with another centre forward, but there is plenty of time left in August to solve that issue.
Rangers, on the other hand, have gone backwards and are heading into the campaign in a state of uncertainty.
🏆 Celtic to win outright
🥉 To win without Celtic & Rangers – Hearts
Hearts firmly established themselves as the third-strongest force in Scottish football last season as they finished comfortably ahead of the pack chasing the Old Firm clubs. Expect more of the same from Steven Naismith’s side.
The Edinburgh outfit have assembled a formidable squad that should be the envy of their Premiership rivals.
In Lawrence Shankland, they have perhaps the best finisher in the whole league, and yet if he were to depart or pick up an injury, others can step in and perform. This depth is echoed throughout the squad, which has two players capable of filling in virtually every role. Outside the Old Firm, no other team can lay claim to having such strength in depth.
The Jambos are likely to be particularly strong at home, where last season they lost only three of 19 league games.
European football will provide them with an additional challenge – they are guaranteed to be playing in the group stage – but the numbers in their squad should help shield them from its rigours.
Aberdeen, in particular, could offer a challenge, but new manager Jimmy Thelin is something of an unknown quantity and it would be an impressive achievement if he were to turn around a Dons side that was so poor for so long last season and produce a squad capable of finishing third.
Hearts are priced at 2.70 to win outright without Celtic and Rangers, which looks great value considering the strength they have in their squad.
🥉 Hearts to win outright without Celtic and Rangers
📈 To finish in the Top 6 – Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock were arguably the revelation of last season as they took advantage of the struggles of Aberdeen and Hibs to secure a top-six finish. Not only did Derek McInnes’ side move into the leading half of the table, they did so comfortably, and they should be backed to repeat those heroics this time around.
McInnes is a capable operator in the dugout, doing a solid job for years at Aberdeen before moving to Rugby Park in January 2022. Since then, Killie have only improved.
The Ayrshire side have once again built a strong squad for the 2024/25 season. On the whole, they have the same personnel that played them into the top six last time around. Indeed, the only likely change to the strongest XI comes in goal, where Robby McCrorie has been recruited from Rangers to take over from loan goalkeeper Will Dennis, who returned to parent club Bournemouth at the start of the summer.
Throughout the squad, there is a seam of players who have a strong competitive mentality, but that is not to say there is a lack of quality. In Danny Armstrong and David Watson, they have classy difference makers in the midfield, while forwards Marley Watkins and Kyle Vassell will score a steady stream of goals and should be backed up by new addition Bruce Anderson ably.
Perhaps the only concern with Killie is a lack of depth in their defensive unit, yet there is still time to address this before August is out.
Given the progress they have made, they look a great bet to move into the top 6 once again and are priced at 1.80 to do so.
📈 Kilmarnock to Finish in the Top 6
You can back Killie to finish in the top 6 at 1.80 on bet365.
📉 Scottish Premiership Bottom Finish – Ross County
Ross County have flirted with disaster in each of the last two seasons, finishing in the play-off spot on each of those occasions. Only a dramatic comeback against Partick Thistle kept them afloat a couple of years ago, while they edged Raith Rovers out over two legs back in May.
Striker Simon Murray was their inspiration in those encounters, and indeed over the course of the last two campaigns. The prolific forward, though, has left for Dundee, citing personal reasons. Across all competitions last season, Murray scored 23 goals. No one else in County’s ranks had more than eight.
Further harming County is the departure of Yan Dhanda to Hearts on a free transfer. The creative midfielder was another key offensive cog, with six goals and eight assists last season. He is another player who is seemingly impossible to replace.
Don Cowie, then, is seeking to rebuild an attacking unit that was County’s clear strength last season, and the differentiating factor in the relegation battle. Ronan Hale has arrived from Northern Irish football as Murray’s replacement and there is significant pressure on his shoulders to be prolific. It seems improbable he will succeed.
St Johnstone are the other major contenders against the drop, but the pragmatism of manager Craig Levein will help them grind out points. That is liable to be more difficult for County, and it could, finally, prove their downfall.
⬇️ Ross County to finish bottom
You can back Ross County to finish bottom at 3.75 on bet365.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing *
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