Scottish Premiership: Is Rangers' battle with Aberdeen key as Celtic's dominance continues?

Rangers have made a struggling start to the season, while Aberdeen are revitalised under new boss Jimmy Thelin. Can the Dons split the Old Firm again?

Philippe Clement's side fell to a 3-0 defeat at Celtic on Sunday with Sky Sports' Kris Boyd stating his former club can "forget" their Old Firm rivals, believing the Gers are "in a battle to finish second".

While the Rangers fans are fed up, there is delight for the Dons who are on a nine-game winning run under the new manager and are level with the Hoops at the top of the table.

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Clement regularly stressed the potential he can see in his squad but after their defeat to Celtic he admitted they need to "improve a lot of things".

Aberdeen last split the Old Firm in the 2017/18 campaign, when they finished ahead of Rangers for a second season running. Do they have enough to do it again this season?

What has changed at Aberdeen?

After four games of last season, Aberdeen were second bottom of the Scottish Premiership and without a win.

It was a dismal campaign in which Barry Robson was sacked before a failed experiment with Neil Warnock, who lasted just over a month.

Jimmy Thelin inherited a squad low in confidence and was quick to point out it would be a long-term project at Pittodrie, but it has been the perfect start.

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They eased through the League Cup group stages before beating Queen's Park to reach the last 16 and they have scored eight goals across four wins in the league.

There were concerns they would miss the attacking threat of Bojan Miovski following his departure for Girona, but a tweak in playing style means the goals are coming from other areas too.

Jamie McGrath, Pape Gueye, Topi Keskinen and Shayden Morris in those attacking areas are all playing further forward and in more of a compact unit, supporting the striker - with Kevin Nisbet showing he could be the Dons' new number nine hero after his winner against Ross County on Saturday.

Scoring more goals is just one area of improvement under Thelin. The Dons are also passing the ball better with around 50 more passes a game - including 12 more in the attacking third as they look to cause teams more problems.

At the back they're more robust too. Thelin's side have conceded just two goals - working out at an average of just 0.5 goals a game - with an expected goals against of 0.86, much less than the 1.54 last season.

You might think improving on last season's woes is not impressive but Aberdeen are ranking among the top three teams in the country when it comes to chances created and goals scored - and as well as winning the ball back further up the field - they've completed the second most crosses too as they look to play more on the front-foot.

While it has been the perfect start to the Thelin era at Aberdeen, there is a long way to go before we know if they can make the league more competitive at the top end.

What has gone wrong at Rangers?

Clement has continually stressed the need for patience as he revamps the squad with younger players.

The Belgian has had a tough task since he took charge last October and a lot of the current problems at Rangers do not lie with him.

Poor decisions and high wages under previous regimes mean he has had to offload players but failure to reach the Champions League means he has not been allowed to spend enough on his squad to compete with Celtic.

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A number of first-choice players left in the summer, many for free, with nine new players arriving at the club, plus Oscar Cortes and Mohamed Diomande returning after loans last season.

Four of Clement's new summer signings have yet to make an appearance, although Connor Barron, Jefte and Vaclav Cerny have made an early impact.

Delays to improvements at Ibrox have been another headache for Rangers with them forced to start the season at Hampden Park.

The board hope to return to Govan this month as it is expected that will help with performances and confidence on the pitch.

Lack of investment, Ibrox issues and no clear game plan mean the Rangers fans are losing faith with their club.

Can they turn things around on and off the pitch before they lose some of the support?

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Can the Dons finish ahead of Rangers?

It is a while before Aberdeen and Rangers meet for the first time this season, with the first match at Pittodrie on October 30. They are then due to face each other again at Ibrox on December 14.

You need to go back six years to find the last time the Dons finished ahead of the Gers in the top flight.

Their start to this season has given them every chance of repeating history - but improvements at Ibrox will soon arrive, meaning it will be no easy task to split up the Old Firm at the top of Scottish football once again.

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