Football 22 Jul 2026 · 6 min read

Scottish Premiership 2026/27 preview: new faces, old scores, and Europe to juggle

The Scottish Premiership returns on 31 July with a genuinely different look — three fresh faces in the dugout, a newly promoted side aiming for an instant impact, and five clubs balancing a busy European fixture list with the day job. Here’s everything worth knowing before a ball’s kicked, plus the full opening-weekend TV picture and title odds for all 12 clubs.

St Johnstone’s instant return

St Johnstone were relegated from the Premiership at the end of 2024/25 and came straight back up, winning the Championship at a canter under Simo Valakari — just three defeats in 36 games and a title wrapped up with two matches still to play. Immediate bounce-backs like that are genuinely rare in Scottish football, so there’ll be plenty of interest in how quickly Valakari’s side can adjust back to the step up. They open with a real litmus test of a fixture at home to Kilmarnock.

Three new dugouts — and two interim spells made permanent

Rangers, Hearts and Motherwell have all changed manager since last season ended.

Rangers — Derek McInnes

McInnes left Hearts, where he’d led the closest title challenge to Celtic in decades, to take the Ibrox job on a three-year deal, replacing Danny Rohl. He won’t be pitchside for his first competitive matches in charge, though — on 22 July, the SFA handed him a four-match touchline ban over comments he made about a penalty decision while still at Hearts, with three matches to be served immediately and the fourth suspended until the end of the season.

Hearts — Wouter Vrancken

The Belgian coach fills the vacancy McInnes left behind, taking over a squad that’s lost some big names of its own (more below).

Motherwell — Alfred Johansson

Jens Berthel Askou departed for Ligue 1’s Toulouse after guiding the Steelmen to fourth place and a first European campaign in years. Swede Alfred Johansson, most recently of Rosenborg, replaces him — with the existing backroom staff kept on for continuity.

At Celtic, Martin O’Neill — who took interim charge in January and inspired a remarkable run-in to pip Hearts to the title on the final day — was confirmed as permanent manager in June, on a one-year deal.

St Mirren have made a similar call. After Stephen Robinson left for Aberdeen in March, academy coach Craig McLeish took interim charge, steered the Buddies through a relegation play-off win over Partick Thistle to keep them up, and was rewarded with a permanent three-year deal in June.

Five clubs, one packed early fixture list

European football adds an extra layer for almost half the division this season. Celtic enter the Champions League at the play-off round as champions, while Hearts’ runners-up finish earns them a Champions League second qualifying round tie against Sturm Graz — played out before their Premiership campaign even starts. Rangers are in the Europa League third qualifying round, and both Motherwell and Hibernian, the division’s fourth and fifth-placed finishers last season, have Conference League second qualifying round ties to navigate (Motherwell face Faroese side HB Tórshavn first up) — all while adjusting to new bosses of their own on the domestic front.

The transfer window so far

Rangers have been the most active side in the market by some distance. There’s an obvious theme to it too: two of McInnes’s six confirmed signings, captain Lawrence Shankland and midfielder Cammy Devlin, have followed him through the door from Hearts. He’s added further depth with Dan Neil on a free transfer from Sunderland, goalkeeper Ivor Pandur from Hull City, the returning Ross McCrorie, and a loan deal for Ben Godfrey from Atalanta — with more business expected before deadline day, albeit within a budget McInnes has described as “not unlimited”.

Celtic’s window looks very different by comparison. As it stands, their only permanent addition is Colombian striker Camilo Duran in a £6m deal, alongside Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain re-signing on a new contract — a notably quiet summer that club board members have publicly acknowledged, admitting they’re “struggling to compete” with English Championship sides on both fees and agent negotiations.

Elsewhere, Aberdeen have moved for Moroccan striker Ayoub Mouloua on a three-year deal, hoping he can have something like the impact fellow Moroccan Hamza Igamane made at Rangers. The rest of the division is still shaping its business as the window runs through to 3 September — we’ll keep an eye on how that develops.

World Cup latecomers — or not?

Mid-July brought genuine concern that Rangers could be without Thelo Aasgaard (Norway) and Nicolas Raskin (Belgium) for the opener, depending how far their countries went at the 2026 World Cup. As it turned out, both were eliminated at the quarter-final stage — Norway lost 2-1 to England, Belgium 2-1 to Spain — so both should have had time to rejoin Rangers’ pre-season well ahead of kick-off at Tannadice.

For everything that’s actually changed under the laws of the game this season, and whether Scotland applies the same rules as everyone else, see our 2026/27 football rules explainer.

Every match live for the first time — the opening weekend on TV

Sky Sports is showing every one of the six opening Premiership fixtures live — a first for Scottish football.

Fri 31 Jul, 8:00pm

Dundee United v Rangers — Derek McInnes’s first league match in charge

Sat 1 Aug, 3:00pm

Falkirk v St Mirren

Sat 1 Aug, 5:30pm

Aberdeen v Hearts — Wouter Vrancken’s first league match in charge

Sun 2 Aug, 2:00pm

St Johnstone v Kilmarnock — Saints’ return to the top flight

Sun 2 Aug, 4:30pm

Hibernian v Motherwell — two of the division’s Conference League sides meet on day one

Mon 3 Aug, 7:30pm

Celtic v Dundee — Martin O’Neill’s first league match as permanent boss

Premier Sports shows its first live game of the season on 9 August, when Rangers travel to Hibernian.

Bet365 title odds — every club

Celtic remain warm favourites to make it six titles in a row, with Rangers the clear second favourites under their new manager. Odds correct as of 22 July 2026 and liable to shift as pre-season and the transfer window continue.

To win the 2026/27 Scottish Premiership (bet365)

Celtic — 4/5
Rangers — 11/8
Hearts — 6/1
Hibernian — 66/1
Aberdeen — 80/1
Motherwell — 250/1
Dundee United — 450/1
Dundee — 500/1
Falkirk — 500/1
Kilmarnock — 500/1
St Mirren — 500/1
St Johnstone — 1000/1

New to reading odds like these? Our betting jargon guide runs through what fractional odds actually mean, plus terms like “evens” and “overround”.

18+ only
Odds correct at 20:11, 22nd July 2026, and subject to change. Please gamble responsibly. If gambling is affecting you or someone you know, visit BeGambleAware.org for free support and advice.

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Written by Graeme Geddes

An avid sports fan from Glasgow, who created Watchsport because he was tired of hunting through countless platforms and channels to find where to watch sporting events.