Rangers finish at home to Aberdeen, final derby with Celtic on 2 May

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Rangers' Borna Barisic and Celtic's Callum McGregorImage source, SNS
Image caption,

Rangers and Celtic finished the post-split fixtures with a 1-1 draw on Sunday

Rangers will finish their title-winning season at home to Aberdeen on 15 May, with their final derby against deposed champions Celtic on 2 May at Ibrox.

It follows publication by the SPFL of the final round of Scottish Premiership fixtures after the top flight splits into two sections of six teams.

The bottom six will conclude on Sunday, 16 May.

Hamilton Academical, currently 12th, will host Kilmarnock, presently one place above, on that day.

Ross County, a point above the Ayrshire side and two clear of Accies, will visit Motherwell in their final game.

The two legs of the Premiership play-off final, involving the side finishing second bottom and the second-top side in the Championship, will follow on Wednesday, 19 May and Sunday, 23 May.

While the SPFL is not always able to ensure all sides finish the season with 19 games at home and 19 away, it has managed to balance the fixture list this time.

However, Celtic will host Livingston for a third time, Rangers will travel to Livingston for a third time, while St Johnstone will play Aberdeen at McDiarmid Park for a third time.

In the bottom six, Dundee United will travel to both Kilmarnock and Hamilton for a third time.

Battle for Conference places

With Celtic only two points away from securing the second spot in the Champions League qualifiers for finishing runners-up, the real battle is for the two spots in the new third-tier Europa Conference League.

With a seven-point lead over fourth-top Aberdeen, Hibernian appear to be assured of finishing third, especially with the Dons in turmoil after parting with manager Derek McInnes.

Having scraped into the top six on Saturday, it would appear St Johnstone have too much to do to bridge the nine-point gap between themselves and faltering Aberdeen, but Livingston will be fancying their chances.

However, they will need to take something from difficult games away to Celtic and Hibs if they are to narrow their five-point deficit and make the 1 May visit of Aberdeen a potential showdown.

Three-team fight to avoid drop

It seems unlikely that two of the three clubs below can make up the ground necessary to drag Motherwell into the battle to avoid automatic relegation or a play-off.

Second-bottom Kilmarnock's home game against County on the first weekend after the split could be crucial in deciding whether it is a two or three club fight.

County at home to Hamilton on 12 May is another potentially pivotal fixture before Accies host Kilmarnock on what will surely be a final-day decider for at least one of them.

Scottish Premiership fixtures

15:00 BST kick-off unless stated

Saturday 10 April

Celtic v Livingston

St Johnstone v Aberdeen

Hamilton Academical v Dundee United

Kilmarnock v Ross County

Motherwell v St Mirren

Sunday 11 April

Rangers v Hibernian

Wednesday 21 April (19:45)

Aberdeen v Celtic

Hibernian v Livingston

St Johnstone v Rangers

Hamilton Academical v Motherwell

Kilmarnock v Dundee United

Ross County v St Mirren

Saturday 1 May

Hibernian v St Johnstone

Livingston v Aberdeen

Dundee United v Ross County

Motherwell v Kilmarnock

St Mirren v Hamilton Academical

Sunday 2 May (12:00)

Rangers v Celtic

Wednesday 12 May (19:45)

Aberdeen v Hibernian

Celtic v St Johnstone

Livingston v Rangers

Dundee United v Motherwell

Kilmarnock v St Mirren

Ross County v Hamilton Academical

Saturday 15 May (12:30)

Hibernian v Celtic

Rangers v Aberdeen

St Johnstone v Livingston

Sunday 16 May (12:00)

Hamilton Academical v Kilmarnock

Motherwell v Ross County

St Mirren v Dundee United

Wednesday 19 May

Premiership play-off first leg

Sunday 23 May

Premiership play-off second leg

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