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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Supercomputer makes Premiership final standings predictions

The Scottish Premiership's post-split fixtures were announced this week.

On Tuesday morning, fans of all 12 teams were happy to finally get a glance at their club's games and the order that they fall in.

There are only five league matches remaining in Scotland's top flight, with the top and bottom six decided last week.

But who will finish where, as the final month of the season plays out? 

Statistical analysis website FiveThirtyEight have used their numbers to predict the final five matchday rounds of the 2022/23 campaign.

Celtic will of course want to smash their own record points haul of 106 set six years ago under Brendan Rodgers.

However, according to these predictions, Ange Postecoglou's men will fall just below this mark by reaching 103 points instead.

The site reckons Rangers will finish 14 points behind their arch-Glasgow rivals come the end of the campaign, with Michael Beale's men managing to finish on 89.

The battle for third is undoubtedly the most exciting aspect of the top six half of the split this season.

Aberdeen, Hearts, and even Hibs or St Mirren could conceivably take European qualification and all of the money that comes with it.

The Dons are currently five points clear of Hearts - and it would appear Barry Robson's men have been backed to maintain third spot come the end of this term. 

It's predicted they will finish on 58 points, with Steven Naismith's Hearts finishing in fourth on 54.

Hibs will finish fifth and will bag a Europa Conference League qualifier should the Scottish Cup winner be either Rangers or Celtic, and St Mirren are forecasted to finish sixth.

Onto the bottom six, the fight for survival is the only real talking point.

As things stand Ross County are rooted to the foot of the table, with Kilmarnock and Dundee United both four points clear of the Staggies.

St Johnstone are not out of the relegation mix either, with just two points operating the McDiarmid Park side and Killie in the play-off position.

They've been backed to maintain that advantage under Steven Maclean though, with Derek McInnes' men predicted to finish the season with a nail-biting play-off to remain in the division.

According to the site, County will go down to the Championship automatically.

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