Celtic legend Chris Sutton believes a strong start to the season will be key for the Hoops to retain their title.

Rangers have strengthened their squad over the summer but they do have to negotiate Champions League qualification at the beginning of the campaign, while Brendan Rodgers’ side are already in the group phase. Sutton claims that could allow his former team to get an “important” advantage over their Glasgow rivals at an early stage:

“We know Glasgow is unforgiving and there can only be one winner so it’s going to be a really interesting season. The most important thing is Celtic start strongly as they don’t have the burden of the Champions League qualifiers while Rangers do.”

There are plenty of unknowns about how the new season will unfold. While Celtic are the reigning champions, we still need to find out more about how the squad will perform under Rodgers, especially as most of them were recruited by previous manager Ange Postecoglou.

In contrast, Gers boss Michael Beale has already had his bedding in period but he has spent £15m over the course of the summer and there are plenty of new signings that will need time to gel together.

Celtic’s fixture list is kinder

While the Hoops have just three more games before the first Glasgow derby on September 3rd, the Gers have five due to their legged tie against Servette.

Considering it is so early in the season, you wouldn’t think that tiredness would be a factor, but there is no doubt that Celtic will be the fresher of the two teams heading into the derby next month.

That game at Ibrox will, of course, be a major early test for Rodgers but, if they do get a result, it will be a massive boost for the club going into the international break.