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What is the magic number to win the Scottish Premier League?

July 31, 2026 · TaegeukGoal

We analyze the number of wins you need to aim for to win the Scottish Premier League and the performance of past winning teams. In particular, we highlight the achievements of Celtic and Rangers.

What is the magic number to win the Scottish Premier League?

BbcAccording to.

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Celtic have won the Premier League in a row over the past five years, consolidating their dominance in the league. Hearts recorded their best performance in the club's history, but left something to be desired in their competition with Celtic. This situation may change depending on investment and player recruitment strategies in the future transfer market.

Why it's important

The rivalry between Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Premier League is an important part of the league's history and tradition. Hearts' 80 points were the best in the club's history, but missing out on the title by falling short of Celtic's 82 points shows the intensity of the league. This situation provides important insight into the number of wins Premier League clubs should aim for.

Key takeaways

What is the magic number to win the Scottish Premier League?
We analyze the number of wins you need to aim for to win the Scottish Premier League and the performance of past winning teams.
What is the magic number to win the Scottish Premiership? - BBC Sport.

In the Scottish Premier League, there was a team that failed to win the league despite recording the highest points ever. Hearts is the main character. Hearts achieved the highest finish in the club's history last season with 80 points, but missed out on the title by two points behind Celtic. Celtic won their last match against the Jambos to win their fifth successive league title with 82 points.

Celtic's final score was slightly lower than the average of 97.4 during Martin O'Neill's first term as manager in the early 2000s. At that time, Celtic lost the championship to Rangers even after exceeding 90 points twice. So what is the optimal number of wins to aim for in order to win the Premier League? Let’s find out through past data. Champions from the 2000s tended to finish in the 90s. Of the last 26 Scottish Premier League titles, 20 have been won by Celtic, with the remaining six going to Rangers. The average champion score in the 2000s was 91.65 points. But there are also exceptional cases. Celtic exceeded 100 points in 2001-02 and 2016-17, while Rangers did the same in 2020-21. On the other hand, the only other time Celtic won with 79 points was in 2013. Champions' scores usually range from 80 to 99 points. Of the 21 seasons, 16 of them exceeded 90 points, and 13 of them were won in the 90s. The average championship score in the recent 2020s was 93.5 points, and the winning team this season is expected to score between 91 and 94 points. During the 2000s, the champions lost an average of 3.5 times, and a record of 30 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses would get them closer to winning the league.

However, as seen from last season, we must also keep in mind that it is possible to win even without scoring more than 90 points. The average winning margin in the 2000s was 12.12 points, and although there were cases where teams won by 25, 29, or 30 points, there were also cases where they won by 1 point. Out of 26 campaigns, only 12 of them have won by a margin of 10 points or less. This mainly shows Celtic's tendency to dominate the league. A true two-tier title race is rare, and one with three or more teams competing is even rarer. The smallest gap between first and third place was 10 points last season, and the previous lowest was 12 points in 2018. Rangers manager Derek MacInnis took charge of Rangers after finishing second at Hearts. His high scoring average ultimately gave him an advantage in the title race, but he only managed 23 games compared to 38 for Hearts. MacInnis averaged 71.67 points through his games at Abridine, exceeding the average by more than eight points thanks to the recruitment of players based on Hearts' data analysis. Rangers are hoping McInnis will increase his scores by an additional 15% as a result of their investment in the transfer market. Hearts coach Uter Branken has a win rate close to 50% in Belgium, and considering their recent performance in Trandec, attention is being paid to whether Hearts will be able to achieve good results next season as well.

It is time for Hearts to look forward once again to next season and see if they can surpass their past achievements.

future outlook

In the season ahead, Premier League clubs will need to look at past data to set the optimal score for winning the title. In particular, the rivalry between Celtic and Rangers is expected to continue, and clubs such as Hearts will also need to step up their strategies to be more competitive. These factors will have a huge impact on the overall outlook for the season.