Celtic captain Scott Brown claims Aberdeen -- and not resurgent Rangers -- will be the biggest threat to their title defence this season.
The Hoops are going for their sixth consecutive title and have a new challenge in the form of a rejuvenated Rangers following their four-year journey through the lower leagues.
But Brown cited the Dons and Hearts as the ones to watch out for ahead of his side's opening Premiership game at Tynecastle on Sunday.
When asked to pick one team who would be Celtic's biggest challengers, Brown told Sky Sports: "I think Aberdeen after the last couple of seasons. They have been exciting to watch, they have come to Celtic Park and got points and we have struggled up there. So hopefully we can do a little bit better this season."
When asked how he thought Rangers would fare, the midfielder said: "We'll see that when it comes, that's the fifth game of the season so we have got a few before that and, as I said, Aberdeen have been great the last couple of years and so have Hearts after coming back up last season."
On that Sept. 10 derby at Celtic Park, Brown added: "It will be good. It's always good, a Rangers-Celtic game, especially with the atmosphere. But there's lots of huge games coming up for us and that's way down the line."
Rangers captain Lee Wallace was relaxed about Brown's assessment of their title credentials, though he stressed that the newcomers could not be more ready for the top flight.
In response, Wallace told Sky Sports: "That's fine, this is the scenario we are going to be faced with. We are going to get that now we are back in the top flight, but we are ready for the challenge.
"We are going to make sure we are highly competitive, that we are the best prepared we can be every match, and we'll see where it takes us."
Rangers have made nine signings since winning the Ladbrokes Championship and manager Mark Warburton is still looking for a defender and a striker before the transfer window shuts.
They warmed up for the league season with an impressive Betfred Cup showing, scoring 10 goals without reply to top their group ahead of Motherwell.
But the defensive frailties that were exposed by Hibernian in the William Hill Scottish Cup final were still evident when Burnley won 3-1 at Ibrox in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
When asked if Rangers should be expected to mount an immediate title challenge, left-back Wallace said: "What you can expect is what Rangers always do. That's to be highly competitive, to make sure we go into every game being hard to beat, playing the right way and make sure we can be the best we can every single time.
"That comes from how we train, that comes from our working week.
"There's no doubt we have added well and no doubt we are training well, so preparations have been great and we'll certainly go into every game hoping to win and making sure we are highly competitive."