Celtic and Rangers have been so dominant at the top of Scottish football that we must go back to the 1984/85 season to find the last time a club outside the Old Firm won the Scottish title.
That team was Aberdeen and the manager at the time was Alex Ferguson. Celtic have been the dominant force in recent years, winning 12 of the last 13 titles in Scotland, with Rangers the only team to stop them. However, could Aberdeen be about to come between the two Glasgow giants?
Aberdeen’s biggest test of the season came with the away trip to defending champions Celtic last weekend. Celtic opened the scoring in the 24th minute and doubled their advantage just 3 minutes later.
🌟 @AberdeenFC's Jamie McGrath is the Star Man in the @WilliamHill SPFL #TOTW!Get the lowdown on this week's XI ➡️ https://t.co/OHGe0cd5nP pic.twitter.com/Wfbp8bL8ue— SPFL (@spfl) October 22, 2024
🌟 @AberdeenFC's Jamie McGrath is the Star Man in the @WilliamHill SPFL #TOTW!Get the lowdown on this week's XI ➡️ https://t.co/OHGe0cd5nP pic.twitter.com/Wfbp8bL8ue
It appeared Aberdeen were about to be put in their place but they recovered superbly in the second half to score goals in the 50th and 60th minutes to take a point from Celtic Park. Aberdeen also had a third goal ruled our by VAR, so they could easily have won the match.
Jimmy Thelin has made a dream start as the manager of Aberdeen and the game at Celtic was always going to be the big test. There is no doubt Aberdeen rode their luck at times in the game and in the second half, the stats show Aberdeen had only 16% possession and made just 35 accurate passes, which is incredible.
However, Aberdeen’s plan was never to try and dominate the ball and they had 2 shots on target in the second half, both of which finished in the back of the Celtic net.
The draw at Celtic means Aberdeen are now 6 points clear of Rangers, who lost to Kilmarnock. Even if Aberdeen cannot win the Scottish Premiership title this season, splitting up the Old Firm would still be a major achievement.
The draw at Celtic means Aberdeen are undefeated this season. They have won 7 of their 8 Scottish Premiership matches, while Rangers have already suffered 2 defeats.
Next up for Aberdeen is Dundee United at home, who are undefeated in 7 of their 8 league games this season, followed by Rangers at home.
If Aberdeen can win both those matches, they will be at least 9 points clear of Rangers, which is something not even the most optimistic of Aberdeen fans would have predicted before the start of the campaign.
Trends show Aberdeen have been scoring plenty of goals this season and they have scored 2 or more goals in 7 of their 8 league games.
Conceding goals has become a slight concern in recent matches, having allowed 4 goals in their last 2 fixtures but if Aberdeen continue to score at least 2 goals per game, they give themselves a chance of winning matches.
Aberdeen’s next 3 Premiership games are all at home. Win those 3 matches and the talk of a title challenge at Pittodrie will be difficult to ignore.