After a week off for the Scottish Cup semi finals, the Scottish Premiership returns for the first of the post-split game weeks. Between European qualification and relegation almost everyone has something to play for (for this week at least). For a full round-up on what each team has to play off, check out my Post-Split Preview.

This week see’s Celtic have their first chance to seal the title, albeit in a tricky away game at Hearts. A loss in that game, will give Rangers the chance to spoil the party for another week next weekend in the final Old Firm derby of the season. In the relegation group, Ross County have one of their best opportunities to close the gap on 11th place at home to Livingston. We’ll check out potential Capped Mode value plays in those games and the other 6 below.

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 I recommend you do your own research when picking up players.

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The Games

Hibernian-St Mirren The fight for 5th place takes centre stage on Saturday as Hibernian and St Mirren face off. They’re tied on points at the moment and know if Celtic can beat Inverness in the Scottish Cup final, 5th will qualify them for Europe. Given St Mirren have won just 3 games on the road, it’s advantage Hibs in this one.

Motherwell-Kilmarnock Kilmarnock might have got their first away win of the season just before the split, but it’s hard to see them adding a second here. Motherwell have been fantastic in recent weeks, including a 1-1 away draw with Celtic in their last game. It should be an easy win for Motherwell in this one.

Ross County-Livingston With just 2 home games left and 4 points adrift from safety, Ross County desperately need a result in this one. Livingston have been poor on the road all season, although their last win away from home was a 2-0 victory over Ross County back in January. Ross County have kept just one clean-sheet in their last 5 home games, whilst Livingston have conceded in each of their last 6 on the roads. I think we could see goals from both sides in this one.

St Johnstone-Dundee United St Johnstone’s poor form has them firmly in the relegation fight. Dundee United, on the other hand, have found some form at the right time. Just a few weeks ago they looked nailed on to finish bottom, but three wins on the bounce have them in 10th. It looks to be a nervy, close affair with St Johnstone poor at home and Dundee poor on the road. Given recent form, I’d given Dundee United a slight edge but it could really go either way.

Hearts-Celtic Hearts have five games to overturn Aberdeen’s five point lead in third place. It seems unlikely they’ll make a dent in it against a Celtic side that knows a win will secure them the Premiership title. On the plus side, it’s unlikely Aberdeen will pick up points either. From a Celtic perspective, this should be a trickier game than the average with Hearts being a very strong home side so they may not be the best options for Capped Mode this week.

Rangers-Aberdeen After a shock 2-0 loss to Aberdeen in their last Premiership game, Rangers get a chance for revenge at the first opportunity. It’s hard to imagine Aberdeen repeating their heroics, especially at Ibrox. Aberdeen have tightened up their defence on the road over the last couple of months, so it could be a low scoring affair in this one, but Rangers should get the three points.

Goalkeepers

Liam Kelly*, Motherwell – Kelly is my favourite Goalkeeper of the week facing Kilmarnock. Their opponents are the only side to have scored less than 10 goals away from home this season so the match-up couldn’t be any better! Motherwell have managed to keep 3 clean sheets in their last 8 games and have conceded multiple goals twice in that time. If he does concede, Kelly shouldn’t be too far off of his L15 (40) but he will need the clean sheet to outscore it.

David Marshall, Hibernian – Hibernian haven’t been the most defensively solid side over the past few weeks, however they have played a lot more on the road than at home. At Easter Road they’ve actually kept a clean sheet in three of their last five games. Their opposition, St Mirren, haven’t failed two score away from home since January so it’s not a slam dunk match-up. However, Hibs did beat St Mirren 1-0 in Paisley back in February.

Other Thoughts: It’s not the most inspiring set of fixtures for goalkeepers. I will be staying away from Joe Hart* in Capped Mode, he may well keep a clean sheet but I don’t think he provides much value at a 52 L15. Both Ross Laidlaw and Shamal George* could keep a clean sheet in the Ross County – Livingston game but it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see both sides concede.

Defenders

Andrew Considine*, St Johnstone – Andy Considine has the potential to put up monster AA scores, even when St Johnstone concede he’s shown the potential to score 60+ with AA alone. Despite an uptick in form recently, I don’t think Dundee United will blow St Johnstone away. So with Considine’s L15 down at 38, he’s got a great chance at providing value this week.

Yuki Kobayashi, Celtic – Cameron Carter-Vickers, has been ruled out for the rest of the season leaving an opportunity in the heart of Celtic’s defence. I think Kobayashi will get the first crack at a starting spot. With his L15 at 43, he has a great chance of providing value regardless of whether Celtic keep a clean sheet. In his only two starts for Celtic he’s scored 51 (with a clean sheet) and 62 (no decisive, with one goal conceded)!

Other Thoughts: Paul McGinn* has been great for Motherwell recently with an L15 of 50 he probably does provide some value, but, it’s pretty thin. His teammate, James Furlong, would be a better value pick from the Motherwell defenders. Hibs duo Lewis Stevenson and Paul Hanlon* should both be solid performers this week. I would avoid the rest of the Celtic defenders in Capped Mode, with L15s of 59 or more I don’t think there is much value there.

Midfielders

Sean Goss*, Motherwell – Goss has been fantastic since Stuart Kettlewell took charge of Motherwell back in February. He’s scored 50+ points in 8 of 9 games and scored 70+ in all three games he recorded a decisive action. Kilmarnock at home is a great opportunity for Motherwell to dominate a game and have a great chance to score multiple goals. Goss should be right around his L15 of 52 at the very least and has the potential for a great day.

Jason Holt*, Livingston – Holt has been ever-present in this article over the last few weeks, but why move away from a good thing. Since returning to the starting XI in March he has scored 46+ points in 4 of 6 games. Livingston haven’t been strong on the road this season, but Ross County haven’t been great either so they’ll definitely be in the game this week. Barring a negative decisive, Holt should have no issues outscoring his L15 cost of 37 points.

Other Thoughts: Joe Newell* should have good week, but he may be a bit overpriced at 58. James Jeggo had his red-card overturned and might be a better choice, his L15 is down at 38 and has the potential to do well with AA alone. Blair Spittal is also worth a look at Motherwell, he needs a decisive to provide value, but he has managed that in 5 of his last 9 games.

Forwards

Bruce Anderson*, Livingston – For the most part Bruce Anderson has been a decisive dependant option this season. With Ross County struggling defensively, there is a really good chance for Livingston to get a goal or two in this one. Anderson has done really well against Ross County this season scoring 49 points at home and scoring a brace the last time the teams played in Dingwall.

Kevin Nisbet*, Hibernian – Kevin Nisbet is another decisive-dependant option, one that has been in great form since the World Cup break. Nisbet has scored in over half of his starts since December and gets the benefit of a St Mirren team that has kept just one clean-sheet away from home in their last 8 games. He’s not a slam dunk by any means, but with an L15 of 48 I think Nisbet is a good play this week.

Other Thoughts: Joel Nouble is also worth a look from Livingston, he adds a bit more AA game than Anderson so might be a safer option. Kevin van Veen* has a good chance at continuing his great form this week, but, his L15 is up to 58. Given he doesn’t usually score much AA, I don’t think he’s great for Capped Mode this week.

My Cap 240 Line-Up

With Motherwell having the best match-up of the week, they have taken centre stage in my Cap 240 team this week. First off, as mentioned above, Liam Kelly is my pick of the goalkeepers in the Scottish Premiership and should have a good shot at a clean sheet.

Despite my reservations on the thin value, I’ve paired him with Paul McGinn in defence. McGinn is a bit expensive at 50 points, but he has had a really strong AA game over the last couple of months. If Motherwell do get the clean sheet he shouldn’t have an issues getting past 50, but if they don’t it’s not a guarantee. When they played in Kilmarnock in February, McGinn scored 39.6 points in a 1-1 draw.

Sean Goss, in midfield, is my third Motherwell player in the team. Like I mentioned above he should be right around his L15 at worst. He can outscore it with AA alone as well as with a decisive.

I opted with Kevin Nisbet upfront rather than continuing the Motherwell theme with Kevin van Veen. He’s a full 10 points cheaper and I think his chances of a decisive are pretty similar.

Finally, I’ve moved away from the Scottish Premiership with my final player in the line-up. Jens Toornstra plays for Utrecht in the Eredivisie as a forward minded central midfielder. This week Utrecht visit bottom of the table Cambuur who have lost 13 of 15 games at home this season and are currently on a 6 game losing streak. Toornstra should get right around his cost of 50 with AA alone in a worst case scenario, and has the potential to smash past that with either AA or a decisive.

Gameweek #365 Recap

Sadly it wasn’t to be 4 threshold rewards in a row as my line-up came 15.80 points under the target back in game week #365.

The game week got off to a poor start as Andrew Halliday was left on the bench by Steven Naismith. It was definitely a surprise for me after he started in the interim manager’s first game and played reasonably well. He did manage to come off the bench but lost AA points over his 15 minute outing.

Barrie McKay did start for Hearts and had a really solid day as the 3rd placed hopeful’s battered Ross County 6-1. Despite the 6 goals, McKay didn’t manage a decisive and one would have been enough to get the threshold.

I didn’t like any of my goalkeeper options this week, so I took Shamal George as the cheapest of the options. I knew it was a bit of a punt with Livingston away from home, but was hoping he’d get close to his L15 of 36. He outscored that by 1 point despite conceding 2 goals, so mission accomplished on that front.

Paul Hanlon also kept his end of the bargain with a solid 50 point score away to St Johnstone. Fellow defender Jelle Bataille was the top scorer of the team, putting up 63.4 points – 5 above his L15.

All in all, the Hearts game was the one that killed us this week. Halliday not starting was a surprise, but it was only the second game under the interim manager so a more secure starter might have been wiser. With Hearts scoring 6, it was also a little disappointing to see McKay not get a decisive. Overall, I think I’m happy with my decision making this week even if the result didn’t come.

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