Ruairi Daly 
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Ahead of the new season, Celtic captain Scott Brown believes Aberdeen will be Celtic’s main challengers for the league title once again as pundits also weigh-in on the discussion.
Brown spoke ahead of the league starting this weekend to Sky Sports and named the Hoops’ closest rivals, saying:
I think Aberdeen after the last couple of seasons.
They are really exciting to watch and they came to Celtic Park last season and took points and we struggled up there so we’ll need to do a bit better this season.
Sky Sports pundit Andy Walker has tipped Celtic to retain the league title for a sixth successive year under new manager Brendan Rodgers.
The former player turned pundit played for a number of Scottish clubs during his playing career, including two stints at Celtic in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Speaking about the upcoming season on the Sky Sports website, he wrote:
Much can happen between now and the end of the transfer window but as things stand, my guess is that Celtic will improve under Brendan Rodgers and retain the title for the sixth season in a row. I can see Aberdeen holding off the challenge of Rangers to again finish second with Mark Warburton`s men third.
Much has been made of the upcoming season, with the newly promoted side Rangers expected to compete in the top flight from day one as Mark Warburton strengthened their squad off the back of their Cup final defeat to Hibernian.
Celtic are still very much in the driving seat for the league title and the addition of Brendan Rodgers has brought a buzz back to the club and the fans.
It has eased off somewhat as many expected more activity in the transfer window following season ticket sales of over 50,000, but the Hoops have offloaded some deadwood and added Moussa Dembele and Kolo Toure.
More are expected to arrive in the next month before the transfer window shuts and much of that activity will depend on Wednesday’s Champions League qualifier.
Progression to the play-off round will secure European football until Christmas, but everyone will be hoping the Hoops can return to the Champions League after a two-year absence.
Celtic kick-off their title defence with a trip to Hearts this Sunday, with kick-off at 2.15pm.
Eric Knott 
