After a week off for the Scottish Cup, the Premiership is back in action with all 6 games taking place on Saturday this weekend. There’s just 5 games left until the Championship/Relegation split, so there’s a lot to play for across the league. There’s definitely some good looking match-ups to target for the Sorare Capped Mode competitions.

In the interest of openness, I do own cards some of the players I’m recommending (you can check out my gallery here) and will mark them with an asterisk (*). But, I’ll also try and include some players I don’t have. I’m certainly not Nostradamus, as evidenced by my Cap 240 results to date, so do your own research when picking up players.

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The Games

Motherwell-Rangers Motherwell are unbeaten in four since Stuart Kettlewell took charge last month, but making it five is a tough ask against Rangers. While Motherwell had the weekend off, Rangers cruised to a 3-0 win over Championship side Raith Rovers in the FA Cup. With a full week off to recover, I would expect Rangers to record another routine victory despite Motherwell’s strong form.

Aberdeen-Hearts Despite sacking Jim Goodwin in January, Aberdeen are still to appoint his replacement. Caretaker boss, Barry Robson, has them in decent form winning 3 of the last 4 with the only loss coming away to Celtic. Hearts on the other hand, have had a drop in form particularly away from Edinburgh. They haven’t won in their last 4 away games and will find it tough going against an Aberdeen side that has been strong at home all season.

Celtic-Hibernian Celtic come into this one after back-to-back comfortable wins over 3rd-placed Hearts in the League and Cup. Now facing the other Edinburgh side, the Bhoys will be expecting a similar result. Hibs having been in solid form over the last few weeks, but much like their 1-4 home loss to Rangers last time out, I don’t think the Old Firm side will have too much for them.

Dundee United-St Mirren The future looks bleak for Dundee United with them having failed to win their last 9 Premiership games. There is some cause for hope after they managed a hard fought 1-1 draw away to Livingston in their last game. They’ve also got a solid match-up against St Mirren this week, who have won just 2 and scored 12 in their 13 away games. It should be a low scoring game, and possibly a rare Dundee victory.

Kilmarnock-St Johnstone Kilmarnock have recorded all 6 of their wins this season at Rugby Park. But this week they host the leagues 3rd best away team in St Johnstone. Kilmarnock’s home games have been close affairs in general with them scoring 17 and conceding 18 over 13 games. Kilmarnock really need to win this one with them sitting just 3 points above Dundee United, but St Johnstone will certainly make it difficult. I’d expect a close game but I think Kilmarnock should have a goal or two in them

Livingston-Ross County In their last game, Livingston recorded a disappointing home draw against Dundee United despite controlling the game. They have been solid defensively at home, but they aren’t the most free-scoring averaging just one goal per game. Ross County have struggled in recent weeks outside of hammering Dundee United 4-0 at home and have been particular disappointing on the road. With Ross County scoring just 7 goals in their 13 away games, I think we should see a narrow win-to-nil for Livingston in this one.

Goalkeepers

Shamal George*, Livingston – Shamal George has featured in this column a few times already, and hasn’t often lived up to my hopes. On the plus side that does mean his L15 has been dropping in recent weeks and this weeks match-up at home to Ross County is about as good as it gets. I think he has the best chance at a clean sheet of any GK in the Premiership – hopefully, he can finally prove me right!

Jay Gorter, Aberdeen – Jay Gorter has had a decent start to his loan spell in Aberdeen with one clean sheet and two games with a single goal conceded in his four starts. Third placed Hearts might not be an obvious good match-up, but they have only scored twice in their last 4 away Premiership games. With an L15 of 41, Gorter has already shown he can outscore that when conceding a single goal and there’s a decent chance that’s the most Hearts will manage this weekend.

Other Thoughts: Kilmarnock have been solid defensively at home, so Samuel Walker* is one to consider. Hibs have scored well away from home in recent weeks, so I’d avoid Joe Hart* in Capped competitions this week. Dundee United have one of their best shots at a win and a clean sheet this week, so Mark Birighitti may be worth a look if you’re thin on the ground at GK.

Defenders

Aziz Behich*, Dundee United – Behich might be a defender as a Sorare card, but his wing-back role has him operating far more like a midfielder. The Australian is a solid player going forward and has the potential to grab goals and assists for Dundee United. With his L15 having dropped down to 43 in recent weeks, he also has the ability to outscore that with AA alone. In a game Dundee need to try and take the front foot, Behich should get plenty of opportunities to score points this week.

Morgan Boyes*, Livingston – Boyes has a very affordable L15 of 40 and has shown the potential to outscore that with either decisive actions or AA alone. He hasn’t been the most consistent scorer, but if he can get the 10 points for a clean-sheet, he shouldn’t have any issues getting past 40 points.

Other Thoughts: Scott McMann has some solid AA performances, and if Dundee are to get a win he’ll have a good choice at a strong score. Yuki Kobayashi could be in line for a start for Celtic after he replaced the injured Carl Starfelt at half-time of last weekends FA Cup game.

Midfielders

Daniel Armstrong*, Kilmarnock – Daniel Armstrong is the best attack minded player in the Kilmarnock side and a strong scorer on Sorare. At home he very rarely scores under 50 points and has an L15 of 47 this week. He can get his scores through AA scoring alone, so should be a pretty reliable option this week against St Johnstone.

Ylber Ramadani, Aberdeen – Like Armstrong, Ylber Ramadani is a really consistent scorer on home turf. At home, he also is a very good bet for 50+ points and routinely does it via AA score alone. At a cost of 45 he’s a really solid value pick and also has a bit of decisive upside to hit a monster score.

Other Thoughts: Jason Holt* is a solid performer in the Livingston midfield when he does start – he might get one this week with Sean Kelly on the way back from an injury. If Dundee United do have a good game at home, Craig Sibbald could put up a strong score.

Forwards

Bojan Miovski*, Aberdeen – Miovski is my favourite of the two Aberdeen forwards, but Duk Lopes isn’t a bad play either. I prefer Miovski, because he comes in at a lower L15 (43) and has penalty taking duties to boost his chances of a decisive action. At home Aberdeen score well and whilst Hearts aren’t completely useless on the road, they are definitely aren’t as strong as at home.

Joel Nouble, Livingston – I like Livingston to score against Ross County and Joel Nouble could be the beneficiary. He’s looks solid since returning from injury last month scoring a couple of goals in his last 5 whilst moving around the attacking positions. He doesn’t do much in the way of AA, so we’re really looking for a decisive to outscore his price of 42.

Other Thoughts: Daizen Maeda was absent from the Celtic squad last weekend, I would expect Liel Abada to get the start in his place this weekend. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Kilmarnock concede, Steven May* is the safe option but Connor McLennan is an interesting option if he starts.

My Cap 240 Line-Up

I wasn’t dead set on a Premiership-only side, but it’s worked out that way this week with a number of the players discussed above making the cut. Firstly, the Livingston duo Shamal George and Morgan Boyes hoping we can finally get that Livingston clean sheet. Of the available keepers in Scotland, George is the best for a clean sheet I think and if he gets it Boyes should be a lock to outscore his L15.

Daniel Armstrong and Bojan Miovski bring two forward looking players to the side. Bojan Miovski has a decent shot at grabbing a decisive, and won’t put us too far behind if he does fail to get it. Armstrong has a great chance to outscore his L15 as a really strong home performer. If he can grab a decisive, he should smash past it.

Finally, my first four picks came in well under budget allowing me to go big for my final player. Reo Hatate comes in at a huge 64 point price, but his upside in the Celtic midfield is a 90+ score as he has managed in 5 of his last 15 games. At home to Hibs there should be plenty of time on the ball for Hatate to score big.

Gameweek #352 Recap

The midweek fixtures didn’t leave too many viable options in Gameweek #352. With Hibs and Hearts facing the Old Firm teams they weren’t likely to score well, that left Celtic, Dundee United and Livingston as licensed clubs on Sorare. With Celtic likely to rotate significantly, that landed me on Livingston hosting bottom of the league Dundee United.

I went for the full stack with two defenders, expecting a good chance at a clean sheet. Overall, Livingston controlled the game as I expected, however, the result didn’t follow. Despite being in control of the game, Livingston conceded with Dundee’s only shot on target. Going forward Livingston managed 17 shots on goal, but managed just the one goal from 4 shots on target.

Despite the result, I think this was the right approach to the Gameweek for my gallery. If I had mixed some Celtic players in, Reo Hatate would have been top of my list who surprised me in being rested. Also, outside of Scotland I didn’t have other options for the week. Given Livingston had such a good match-up and controlled the game, I think I made the best team I could this week.

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