Celtic won the Scottish Premiership by four points over Rangers; Hearts, Dundee United and Motherwell secured European football; St Johnstone finished in the play-off place; Dundee were relegated after one season back in the top flight
Monday 23 May 2022 13:19, UK
The Scottish Premiership season is over with Celtic reclaiming the title from Rangers after another dramatic campaign in the top flight.
It is no surprise that the Old Firm dominate the WhoScored.com 2021/22 team of the season with nine players making the best XI.
Hearts impressed in their first season back in the top flight, finishing third and securing European football.
It was not the season Aberdeen imagined with a managerial change and sitting 10th at the end of the season, but one player does make the team.
Here, we take a look at the WhoScored.com best-rated XI for season 2021/22...
Hearts finished the 2021/22 Scottish Premiership season as the best of the rest, an impressive feat following their 2020/21 promotion. The experienced Craig Gordon was key in such a fine return to the Scottish top-flight as he made more saves (135) and returned a better save success rate (75.8%) than any other goalkeeper. In addition, only Joe Hart (19) kept more clean sheets than Gordon (14) to help return a rating of 6.93.
With a rating of 7.70, James Tavernier is the WhoScored.com Scottish Premiership Player of the Season. Tavernier ranked first for both key passes (111) and assists (13) in Scotland's top tier, and ranked among the top 10 players for both tackles (66) and possession won in the defensive third (125) to cap another solid campaign for the Rangers star.
Cameron Carter-Vickers is the first of three new signings to make the Scottish Premiership Team of the Season having been key in Celtic's title success. The centre-back joined from Tottenham last summer and adjusted to the rigours of Scottish football seamlessly, earning a rating of 7.32 in the process.
Another new arrival partners Carter-Vickers at the heart of the defence. Carl Starfelt was key alongside the American in Celtic's triumph, finishing first for passes per game (96.4) and third for pass accuracy (90.5%) in the Scottish Premiership to feature at the heart of the defence with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.19.
Rounding off the defence is Rangers left-back Borna Barisic. The 29-year-old finished the campaign with three assists to his name, with those coming from an average of 1.8 key passes per game, that the 10th best in the division. In addition, the Croat averaged a respectable 2.1 tackles per game, that ranking 11th in Scotland's top tier, to return a rating of 7.22.
The third of five Rangers representatives, Joe Aribo was again superb for the Gers despite finishing 2021/22 second. The Nigeria international had a direct hand in 13 goals for Rangers, scoring eight times, while his five assists came from 61 key passes, that the fourth best in the division. 48 successful dribbles was the joint-fourth best as Aribo ended the campaign with a rating of 7.23.
The only player to finish in the relegation group to make the cut, Lewis Ferguson makes the grade in the WhoScored.com team of the season having returned a rating of 7.15. The 22-year-old netted a respectable 11 league goals for Aberdeen and he was willing to chance his luck where possible for the Dons, with 3.3 shots per game the second best return to contribute towards his inclusion.
Completing the midfield is Celtic's creator in chief David Turnbull. Only two players created more goalscoring chances than Turnbull (80) in the Scottish Premiership this season and while he only registered five assists, it clearly wasn't for want of trying. An 89.1% pass success rate ranked among the top 10 players as Turnbull features with a rating of 7.46.
Jota finished the season as the only player to register double figures both goals (10) and assists (10) to contribute towards a WhoScored.com rating of 7.61. The Portuguese winger enjoyed a superb debut campaign in Scotland as he ranked first for clear-cut goalscoring chances created (17), fifth for key passes (59) and joint-fourth for successful dribbles (48) to round off the Celtic contingent.
Injury meant Alfredo Morelos played no part in Rangers' end to the season, but he put in a series of excellent performances prior to the premature end to his campaign as he netted 11 goals for the Gers. 4.3 shots per game was more than any other player, while five WhoScored.com man of the match awards was also a respectable return for the Colombian, who returned a rating of 7.35.
Ryan Kent may have endured a drop in performance levels from 2020/21, but the Rangers winger still registered the fifth most assists (8) in the Scottish Premiership this season. Only Martin Boyle (53) completed more dribbles than Kent (52) as he finishes the best XI for 2021/22 with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.17.
