Michael Stewart makes Rangers prediction live on BBC tonight

Michael Stewart believes that Rangers are now the “favourites” to win the Scottish Premiership but admitted that the league should have been over.

Celtic looked to be running away with the league while Michael Beale was in charge, but since Philippe Clement took over in October, the gap between the Old Firm rivals has diminished.

Following the Hoops’ draw against Kilmarnock on Saturday 17 February, Rangers have the opportunity to knock their rivals off the top spot with a win over St Johnstone on Sunday 18 February.

“The league was over, it should have been. It clearly wasn’t over because we’re now in a position where Rangers are the favourites,” Stewart said live on BBC Radio Scotland (17 February, 5:46pm).

“I think it was last week, or the week before, I said at that stage that Rangers were the favourites because you could see the shift in momentum. And as much as Celtic are missing their key players, it’s now getting to the stage where Carter-Vickers coming back in and Hatate coming back in…

“When are they going to come back in and are they going to be able to hit the ground running and give that much of an adrenaline rush and a shot in the arm of Celtic that is able to catapult them back in? I don’t know.”

Rangers take the upper hand against Celtic

Rangers fans will, rightly, be licking their lips at the prospect of taking that top spot from their rivals. Clement is unlikely to be focusing too much on the table, but the fans certainly will be.

With nine league titles from the last 10 campaigns, Celtic have been dominating the Scottish Premiership but the passing of the torch could be upon us.

The Gers have lost just one game since Clement arrived at Ibrox in October, losing the Old Firm derby 2-1 in December. However, the Belgian will have learned his lesson from the match and will be able to combat the weakened rivals.

Rangers are unlikely to fail against any of the upcoming hurdles, with Celtic presenting as their only real challenge to stop them from winning the title. And further, salt could be rubbed into their wounds, as Clement’s side still have the chance to win the Europa League.