The Scottish Premiership returns from the international in Gameweek #359 with a full set of 6 fixtures. I think there could be some rotation in the starting XI with a number of players travelling back from international duty. In particular, there are a decent number of Asian and Australian players across the league who will be travelling back from their home countries during the week. With that might come some opportunities to find some great value plays for capped mode!

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

Hibernian-Motherwell Both Hibs and Motherwell had been in great form before some tough matches against the Old Firm prior to the international break. Hibs at least managed to score against both Old Firm sides and get midfield star Joe Newell back from injury for this one. Motherwell gave Rangers a better game than the scoreline suggests, taking an early lead and bringing the game back to 2-2 before Rangers finally took control for good. Each side is scoring well and conceding a fair few as well; I like both teams to score in this one with Hibs the most likely to edge it.

Kilmarnock-Hearts In contrast, this game sees two teams in poor form at either ends of the table. After returning from the World Cup break strong, Hearts have struggled over the last month with three losses in their last 5. Kilmarnock have been shocking of late, with their last win coming at the start of February. However, at home they have only lost 1 of their last 5 (and only won one as well) whilst Hearts have lost their last 3 away games and failed to score in 3 of 5. It should be a close game, and maybe even a surprise win for Killie.

Rangers-Dundee United This one should be a cakewalk for Rangers, at home against the worst team in the league. The only downside is there aren’t a lot of Rangers players with cards on Sorare. It goes without saying that Dundee United cards should be avoided across the board this week.

St Johnstone-Aberdeen It’s a case of weakness against weakness in this game. St Johnstone have been better away than at home, whilst Aberdeen have easily the worst away defence in the league. Despite St Johnstone’s poor home form and Aberdeen’s uptick in form since sacking Jim Goodwin, I think this will be a close game. I expect St Johnstone will score, and perhaps even earn a rare home win.

St Mirren-Livingston This game stands out as a huge tie to decide who will make it into the top half before the split. Both St Mirren and Livingston are strong home teams who don’t score very freely at home or away. So, advantage home team – St Mirren concede less than a goal a game at home whilst Livingston concede almost 2 games on the road. A narrow St Mirren win seems like the most likely option here!

Ross County-Celtic Like their rivals, Rangers, Celtic return from the international break to face one of the worst teams in the league. Ross County have picked up a couple of home wins in recent weeks, but they came against fellow relegation strugglers Dundee United and Kilmarnock. I can’t see them having success this week, it should be a comfortable victory for Celtic.

Goalkeepers

Trevor Carson, St Mirren – Outside the Old Firm, St Mirren have the best chance at a clean sheet this week. Livingston are goal shy on the road whilst St Mirren have a really strong home defence. With an L15 of 41, a clean sheet is obviously a great result, but even if he concedes one he should be right around his cost. Carson is a high upside pick without much risk, an easy addition to any Capped Mode line-up.

Samuel Walker*, Kilmarnock – Betting on Kilmarnock might be a strange choice given their recent form, but Sam Walker has been a solid SO5 choice. His L15 is currently 43 and he’s surpassed that in 3 of the last 6 with a mixture of clean sheets and strong AA performances. There should be saves to be made for Walker to grab AA and given Hearts’ struggles on the road, a clean sheet isn’t out of the question.

Other Thoughts: Joe Hart* is an expensive option at a 51 L15, but he has a strong chance at a clean sheet against Ross County. Of the remaining GKs with cards on Sorare, David Marshall of Hibs is worth a look but I’d steer clear of the rest. It’s a shame the Rangers and St Johnstone starters don’t have cards.

Defenders

Alistair Johnson*, Celtic – Johnston is a very expensive option at 59, but he should still provide good value this week. Since moving to Celtic, he’s scored less than 64 twice in 9 appearances with one of those coming against Rangers. Against a poor Ross County side, he should have a strong chance of hitting 60+ points again.

Paul Hanlon*, Hibernian – When Hibs perform well defensively, Hanlon is a consistently strong AA scorer. In games where Hibs score one or less goals Hanlon is a pretty safe bet to outscore his L15 of 45. I do think Motherwell have a good chance at a goal, but Hibs should have a strong chance at keeping them under 2 goals.

Other Thoughts: With St Mirren one of my favourites for a clean sheet, Scott Tanser is a solid choice. I’d keep an eye on Ryan Strain, he’s flying back from international duty in Australia so could be on the bench for this one. Killie’s Lewis Mayo* can put in some strong scores at home and this week could be one of them. Andy Considine* is another that has monster games in him and a positive match-up.

Midfielders

Daniel Armstrong*, Kilmarnock – Danny Armstrong has been a regular feature in this article. He has a really strong home/away split and with him playing at home this week he’s a strong bet to outscore his L15 of 46 again. He regularly does it via AA alone as well as having decisive potential, so he should be a pretty safe option this week.

Drey Wright, St Johnstone – Wright doesn’t offer much in the way of AA, but he has managed 4 decisives since the World Cup, tied with Steven May for the most for St Johnstone. Against Aberdeen’s woeful defence, he should have a solid chance at adding a 5th this week. He is a bit of a risk at an L15 of 50, but there are goals to be had this week.

Other Thoughts: Todd Cantwell is borderline now his L15 (59) has mostly caught up to his new club, although the match-up is great this week. Joe Newell* should be back for Hibs but his L15 is super high at 57, he’s probably not a value play this week.

Forwards

Steven May*, St Johnstone – As mentioned above, Steven May jointly leads St Johnstone in decisive actions since the world cup. But unlike Drey Wright, May has a path to outscoring his L15 (46) through AA as well. He also takes penalties to boost his decisive chance ever so slightly. As with Wright, the opportunities will be there against Aberdeen and May is one of the best placed to take advantage.

Curtis Main, St Mirren – After a slow start to the season, Main has found some form after the World Cup racking up 6 decisives. Livingston have been poor defensively of late, having failed to keep a clean sheet since January. So, goals for the usually low scoring St Mirren could be on the cards. As the starting striker, Main is the best bet to grab one.

Other Thoughts: Celtic forwards are strong choices against Ross County, but it might be tricky picking the right ones. Daizen Maeda* pulled out of international duty with injury, whilst Oh Hyeon-Gyu has a long journey back from Korea this week that may see him on the bench. I expect Kevin Nisbet* to return to the starting XI for Hibs with Elie Youan suspended.

My Cap 240 Line-Up

I’ve discussed in previous articles that stacking multiple players from team might not best the way to reliably hit the threshold. It makes the line-up more boom or bust and is something I might want to avoid where possible. This week I am stacking once again, I think with the options I have available this is my strongest build within the cap.

I’ve gone with three players from Kilmarnock in a home match-up against Hearts. I don’t think this is as bad a match-up as it looks on paper with Hearts struggling away from home. Samuel Walker has potential to score well even if he concedes a single goal and Lewis Mayo can put in some monster home scores from AA alone.

Daniel Armstrong brings takes set pieces and is the key attacking player for Killie. He brings some decent decisive potential and the chance at a really strong score. With his L15 having dropped in recent weeks, he’s a great value.

Upfront, I’ve gone with Kevin Nisbet from Hibs. He should return to the starting line-up with Elie Youan suspended for this game. Nisbet was in excellent form before he picked up a thigh strain. If he starts, he should get some chances against Motherwell.

I’ve rounded out the team with a non-Scottish Premiership player in Jelle Bataille. He plays as a full back for Royal Antwerp in Belgium and this week they visit second from bottom Zulte Waregem. He’s a bit of risk to be on the bench, but if he starts he can put up some monster AA scores. Hopefully there’ll be some clear indication closer to the game week locking, but I may swap him out if it’s still murky.

All in all, I’m not too confident in this line-up. I think Kilmarnock could surprise against Hearts but it’s not a slam dunk by any stretch of the imagination. Jelle Bataille’s uncertainty also doesn’t help. I think there’s a decent chance I make some changes before Fridays deadline.

Gameweek #355 Recap

It was another frustrating failure before the international break. My highest cost player, Reo Hatate, went off injured after just 13 minutes for Celtic to put the team in a hole from the start.

Livingston got off to a strong start, taking a 2-0 lead into the break. But as seems to be common with Livingston, they slipped after half-time and conceded with just over 20 minutes to play. Morgan Boyes put up enough AA that the goal conceded didn’t matter, but, Shamal George didn’t fair so well. I should probably learn my lesson and stop going back to the Livingston defence!

In the midfield, Daniel Armstrong was the second solid performer of the team. Putting up a very respectable score in AA alone. Finally, I knew Bojan Miovski was a decisive-dependant option and, given Aberdeen scored 3, the chances were there in the game. On another day, it could have been a much better score from Miovski.

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