John Hartson believes that Celtic could win the SPFL title by 25 points.
Brendan Rodgers side are already seven points clear of Aberdeen and have two games in hand- at home to Inverness Caley Thistle and Partick Thistle- on Derek McInnes side.
Having beaten Aberdeen twice already it’s hard to take a challenge from Pittodrie seriously with the other ‘contenders’ closer to the bottom than the top of the table.
Hartson played in title winning sides under Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan and is in no doubt about the quality of the side built by Brendan Rodgers.
“Last season Celtic won the league by 15 points, the season before the margin was 17,” he stated in The Sun.
“The way Brendan Rodgers has the Hoops playing they could be 25 points clear at the end of the season.
“If they keep going the way they are — with the likes of Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele terrorising defences every week — it could be a massive margin.
“Celtic need to keep the foot on the pedal to do that, but even if they don’t they could still finish 17 or 18 points clear.
“They are already nine in front after playing ten games, and most teams have played at least one more than that.”
With their current advantage some fans have speculated that Rodgers’ side could go through the entire campaign undefeated.
So far Dundee and Ross County have given Celtic most problems although today’s opponents, Inverness Caley Thistle did hold the hoops to a draw in September.
With Rodgers looking to strengthen his squad in January the signs are that Celtic are only going to get stronger.
Hartson added: “They could win the Premiership with the team they had last season — but that’s not their biggest concern. Their main concern is to get back in among the big boys in Europe, and qualify for the KO stages of the Champions League.
“Like Gordon Strachan achieved, like Neil Lennon achieved. Rodgers wants to do the same and to do so he realises he needs a better quality of player but believe me, Celtic are thinking big.”
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