Scottish Premiership: How competitive is this season's top flight?

This season's Scottish Premiership title race is far tighter than last term

The second half of any football league season throws up the same talking points. Who will win the title? Who is going down? Who is qualifying for Europe?

The main benefit about the 2021-22 Scottish Premiership campaign is there are no crystal clear answers to any of the abovementioned questions at this stage.

With a potentially season-defining midweek card on the horizon, BBC Scotland crunches the numbers behind the league's many intriguing battles.

Allow us to highlight why all signs point towards a blockbuster conclusion.

Tantalising title race

The most glaring difference between this season and last is we appear to have a post-Christmas title race.

Going into matchday 22, current champions Rangers and nearest rivals Celtic are separated by just four points.

On this day last year, the Ibrox side held a 23-point lead over their city rivals, albeit Neil Lennon's men had three games in hand.

However, even with a narrow four-point margin, statisticians Euro Club Index believe Rangers have a 75% chance of retaining their crown, with Celtic's rated at 25%.

With a tantalising Old Firm derby looming next Wednesday, will we see a swing between now and then?

Rangers have back-to-back games against bottom-six opposition - Livingston at home (Wednesday) and Ross County away (Saturday) - to navigate prior to the clash at Celtic Park, while Ange Postecoglou's side face a tough trip to face Hearts on Wednesday before welcoming Dundee United on Saturday.

Since Giovanni van Bronckhorst's appointment as Rangers boss in November, his side have dropped just two points in eight league games.

Celtic have maintained pressure, though, by racking up a 15-game unbeaten run. That will have to continue if Postecoglou has any hope of halting a Rangers side that have lost just one of their last 59 Premiership games.

Will the bottom two drift away?

While the gap at the summit has narrowed 12 months on, the same cannot be said at the other end of the table.

This time last year, the Premiership's bottom three clubs - Ross County, Motherwell and Hamilton Academical - were split by just a point. Fast forward a year, a bigger gap has emerged.

Last season's double cup winners St Johnstone are rooted at the bottom on 14 points after an extraordinary downturn of events, while Dundee are a place above on 16.

For guaranteed safety, 10th place is a minimum. That spot is currently occupied by County, who have opened up a five-point gap on James McPake's Dark Blues and a seven-point cushion on Callum Davidson's Saints.

With both St Johnstone and Dundee set to face-off in a mammoth Tayside relegation clash on Wednesday, that could open the door for County to increase the gap between themselves and the bottom two.

On the flipside, a win for either in the crunch encounter could springboard a route to survival, dragging those hovering over the safety net back into danger.

Eyes on Europe or mid-table mediocrity?

Robbie Neilson's Hearts side look formidable in their hunt for European football.

The Tynecastle team - who currently sit third - have an eight-point advantage over fourth-placed Motherwell, while city rivals Hibernian and Aberdeen have 10 points and 11 points to make up respectively.

However, fourth spot is well within the reach for both Hibs boss Shaun Maloney and Dons counterpart Stephen Glass, with both their sides within a win of reaching Motherwell.

That leaves us with the battle for the top six. Hibs and Aberdeen would aim for finishing in the top half as a minimum, but they are involved in a five-team cluster that is split by just six points, ranging from fifth spot down to Livingston in ninth.

If last season is anything to go by, the push for a top-six spot can hang in the balance until the last breath.

Glenn Middleton's late St Johnstone goal at home to County, coupled with Hamilton's last-minute equaliser against St Mirren, meant Davidson's Saints leapfrogged Jim Goodwin's Buddies into the top half.

Is it too much to ask for the same level of drama again?