Scottish Football / John Girvan / 01 May 2009 / Leave a comment

A thrilling climax looms in Scotland's top league with so much riding on this weekend's games.

It's crunch time in the SPL and time to separate the men from the boys. Every team has played 33 games and every one, Motherwell aside, has found their level. With five matches remaining only one point separates Celtic ([1.71] for the title) and Rangers ([2.36]).

As well as one last showdown at Ibrox next week, the Glasgow duo face four other meetings against the rest of the sides who make up the top six and it makes for a thrilling climax.

Setanta Sports are covering every kick of the title race this weekend. The cameras will be at Ibrox on Sunday where Hearts visit for a third time this season but Celtic have the chance to set the bench mark on Saturday by grabbing three points from their lunch time kick-off in the Granite City.

Celtic generally have an excellent recent record at Pitoddrie. They lost here in January and needed a late equaliser to force a Scottish Cup replay last March, but in the six meetings prior, going back to December 2005, they pulled in a massive 16 points. Rangers, in comparison, have only managed one victory here in there last eight visits.

Gordon Strachan's men look well placed to get back to winning ways at this ground as Aberdeen are a bit thin on the ground. The Dons are unbeaten in their 11 home games but they go into this one without Zander Diamond, Derek Young and Jamie Smith not to mention first-choice strike duo Darren Mackie and Lee Miller. Mark Kerr returns but it looks a tall order for the remainder of the squad to keep that unbeaten run going.

Everything points to Celtic on this one. The stats suggest that, at [1.67] in the Match Odds, they should be opposed perhaps but the circumstances dictate otherwise on this occasion. Aberdeen virtually always score in this fixture however so that also draws the attention to Over 2.5 goals at [1.93].

Rangers threw away two points in their last Ibrox meeting with Hearts just six weeks ago. Walter Smith's men were 2-0 up and cruising after 45 minutes and Novo should have made it three shortly after the break. He struck the post however and Hearts went on to snatch a point with two goals in three minutes.

Kyle Lafferty was exceptional that day and scored the opener before being stretchered off on 35 minutes after an attempted quick turn in the area. He hasn't featured since but is available for selection once again and returns to the squad along with Sasa Papac, Lee McCulloch and Pedro Mendes whose knock sustained against St Mirren isn't as bad as first feared.

Last Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final victory signalled five consecutive wins for Rangers and matches their best run this season, first chalked in September. The Hearts game was the last time Rangers dropped anything, it was a sore one at the time and if the players have anything about them they have a score to settle.

As expected, the home side are strong favourites in the Match Odds at [1.42]. Hearts have decent players, particularly Aguir who could make the grade in Glasgow, but Rangers should have enough about them to see the game through this time. They are scoring freely, hitting the net 12 times in that run of five straight wins, and on this basis both Over 2.5 goals and Rangers HT/FT are worth backing at [1.9] and [2.16] respectively.

In essence, the final Old Firm game of the season kicks off this weekend. Both sides will have an edge to them, the players selected want to be involved at Ibrox next week and you find, more often then not, that both sides take the three points ahead of such crucial meetings. They both face tough opposition but the Rangers/Celtic multiple is worth backing this weekend at [2.2].

It would be doing the rest of the division a disservice if the almighty tussle for survival that we are about to witness didn't get a mention. Here, only six points separate bottom club Falkirk ([1.36]), Inverness ([4.6]), St Mirren ([11.5]), Hamilton ([12.5]) and eighth-placed Kilmarnock ([13.0]). The unique nature of the SPL finale means they have all still to play each other so anything can happen and Falkirk could prove a good lay at this stage.

The Bairns face Motherwell this weekend so that's at least two of their relegation rivals who won't take three points and a win could kick-start the great escape. John Hughes' side made it through to the Scottish Cup Final last weekend and the win should breed confidence in a side that looks to have turned the corner after taking four points from the last two home games.

You can talk all you want about Mark McGhee being a tough personality, demanding a strong finish from his side and building for next season, but the fact is Motherwell have nothing to play for. A home win at [2.48] throws the relegation fight wide open but the safe bet appears to be to lay Motherwell at [2.94].