Wednesday could be a pivotal night in the Scottish Women's Premier League 1 title race.

Celtic's title dreams are hanging by a thread, Hearts are threatening a revival and one man is desperately hoping to seal his dream job.

Celtic Park will open its doors to the women's team as they host arch rivals Rangers and nothing less than a win will do for the home side.

Champions Glasgow City, now top of the table ahead of Rangers on goals scored, face old foes Hibernian as they chase a 14th consecutive title.

With the bottom two also facing off, BBC Scotland takes a look at a big night for Scottish women's football.

A huge Old Firm showdown

The most competitive title race in history was promised and, up until now, that has rung true with a wafer-thin advantage at the top. Glasgow City edged ahead of Rangers on Sunday after an impressive 8-0 win over Motherwell put them equal on goal difference, but City have scored six more.

It was meant to be a three-way fight for the title. Yet, come Thursday morning, Celtic's dreams of winning the league may be all but over.
Table

Fran Alonso's side have lost twice to Glasgow City this season and also dropped points in a draw with Forfar Farmington. That has left them trailing the top two by five points.

Celtic beat Rangers 1-0 earlier in the season with a late penalty. Repeat that victory and they are two points behind their Old Firm rivals and, not only are they still in the title race, but one of the two lucrative Champions League spots available to Scottish clubs is within touching distance.

Lose and they are eight points off the top. With 10 games to go, arithmetically it would still be possible. But in a season where the top two have only lost once each so far, it would be a huge task.

Alonso accepts the title may be beyond his side this season, saying: "I never said we were here to win the league - I just want to win every game. The pressure is on Rangers. I think for them it's a massive failure if they don't win the league - the same for Glasgow City.

"Are we good enough to fight for it? I don't know. Our history and investment hasn't been as good as those two clubs. We are the only team that has beaten Rangers and are playing very good football. So we are not going to be intimidated."
What's happened so far?

Rangers emerged as early favourites, setting their stall out with a 5-1 opening-day victory over Hearts and winning all but one game from then on, with the only blot being that defeat at home by Celtic.

But they then signed three players from Glasgow City - Kirsty Howat, Rachel McLauchlan and Sam Kerr - and the three subsequently played against their old club as they hammered the champions 5-0 before the winter break.

They have now won six games in a row by an aggregate scoreline of 29-1.

But City then went continental. Players arrived from Costa Rica, South Africa, Sweden, Iceland and Republic of Ireland. And three games on from that humbling defeat by Rangers, Scott Booth's side have won them by an aggregate of 18-0.

Hibernian, so often their main rivals for the league and domestic cups in the past few years, have fallen away this season. But after running Rangers so close on Sunday and going down narrowly 1-0, they remain a challenge for City on Wednesday.
Hall hoping to land dream job

There is no relegation this season with the top flight due to expand to 10 teams next season, although that in itself could be in doubt with the SWPL2 not yet returning following the most recent coronavirus lockdown.

After winning promotion last term, Hearts for much of the season have been the top flight's strugglers.

They have suffered a 10-0 loss to Celtic, 5-1 and 6-0 defeats by Rangers and a 5-0 thrashing by Glasgow City. Yet, they won the Edinburgh derby with a late goal from Paige McAllister and, on Sunday, drew with Forfar Farmington - with only a last-minute goal denying them the win - to raise themselves off the bottom of the table for the first time.

They now travel to Motherwell, who have fallen to bottom. They lost head coach Eddie Wolecki Black days before the return of the league from the enforced four-month break, with Stewart Hall put in interim charge.

The lifelong Motherwell fans wants the job permanently. But after three defeats so far - including Sunday's 8-0 hammering by Glasgow City - a loss to Hearts would leave his side four points adrift and may possibly end his chances.