The Scottish Premiership returns this weekend after what’s felt like an awfully long summer. There’s been a huge number of players moving in and out of teams that provide risks and opportunities for Sorare. There are also plenty of new signings that don’t currently have cards available limiting our options somewhat, especially for goalkeepers. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we see the new season’s cards released!

On top of all that, Sorare are making some changes to how the Capped Mode competitions work. The changes don’t go into effect until September but, in brief, all card boosts will apply including the new fitness boost and a 20% captain bonus. To adjust for that the score for a threshold payment will rise to 300 points. You can check out my full thoughts on how the changes will impact cap mode strategy here.

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.

If you haven’t signed up to Sorare and fancy giving it a go, sign up via this referral link and earn a free limited card when you collect five cards via New Card Auctions.

The Games

Celtic-Ross County The season gets underway at Celtic Park on Saturday lunch time as the reigning champions host Ross County. Celtic brought back ex-manager Brendan Rodgers after Ange Postecoglu moved to Spurs. He hasn’t made sweeping changes to the squad and we should see a similar tactical set-up this season.

Despite bringing 14 players in, it feels like a bit of an under the radar summer for Ross County. They have retained the core of the side that scraped through the relegation play-offs last season. Their incomings don’t look to have the difference makers they’d need to push for the top half. I expect they’ll be a bottom half side again this season.

This game obviously looks to be a smash spot for Celtic players and a week to avoid all Ross County players.

Dundee-Motherwell Newly-promoted Dundee kick off the season at home to Motherwell. They’ve brought in a number of new signings, some of who will start. But they also still have some starters with cards from their last spell in the Premiership in 21/22. With a newly promoted side it’s hard to know what we’re going to get, but I think they should be in the mix to survive come the end of the season.

It’s also been a busy summer for Motherwell as a number of key starters have left the club, most notably Kevin van Veen. On paper, their new additions don’t look like they’ll provide the same threat going forward. However, they do still look solid defensively. Overall, I think Motherwell’s form will drop off from the end of last year – a relegation battle could be on the cards if they don’t find a new goals scorer.

For this week’s game I expect a close game between the two sides and wouldn’t be surprised to see a score draw.

Livingston-Aberdeen Both Livingston and Aberdeen were strong at home and poor on the road for the majority of last season. Late in the year though, their fortunes differed. Whilst Aberdeen stormed to 3rd place after swapping managers, Livingston stumbled to a 7th placed finish.

Livingston have severe financial limitations and it has shown in their business this summer. They’ve brought in just 4 new players whilst 7 have left the Tony Macaroni Arena. There’s risk more will leave before the window closes if they receive a decent offer, so invest cautiously here. In terms of the season, I think it’ll be a tough one for Livi and bottom spot is definitely not out of the picture.

Aberdeen have been the talk of the Premiership this summer having brought in a number of high profile signings. Most notably, they managed to resign Leighton Clarkson on a permanent deal from Liverpool. If he and their other signings can hit the ground running, Aberdeen will be the clear favourite to retain 3rd place again come May.

My head says Aberdeen should win this one to start the season, they’re comfortably the stronger side. However, it wouldn’t surprise me too much if Livingston get a point from this one.

St Johnstone-Hearts Saint Johnstone’s year has not got off to the best of starts. They were knocked out of the League Cup group stage after losing 3 of 4 games to lower league opposition. The transfer window has been frustrating as well with just two signings through the door. It looks like it could be another long season for Saint Johnstone as they battle relegation.

Hearts also haven’t made many moves in the transfer window to date, but they do retain a strong core from last season. They looked set for third place for most of last season before they unravelled later in the year. They should be comfortably in the top half this year and in the fight for third with Aberdeen.

Given Saint Johnstone’s struggles against lower league opposition, it’s hard to see them having much success against Hearts. An away win seems the most likely result.

Kilmarnock-Rangers Kilmarnock were one of the best home sides in the Premiership last season as they finished in 10th place in their first season back in the top flight. I think they’ve made some smart moves this summer including resigning loanee Lewis Mayo on a permanent deal from Rangers. This year, I think they have a good chance of being comfortably safe from relegation.

Rangers were a clear second to Celtic, only managing to beat their rivals after the title was decided. They’ve spent big this summer to attempt to regain the title. I think they have closed the gap somewhat, but will still be underdogs to Celtic in the title race.

Either way Rangers should have no issues dispatching Kilmarnock to get the season started right.

Hibernian-St Mirren Last seasons 5th and 6th placed sides face off in the final game of the opening weekend. Hibs got their season started in the Europa Conference Qualifiers with a humiliating 2-1 loss against Inter Escalades. They’re still to play the return leg, but the pressure is on from the get go in Leith. They lost star forward Kevin Nisbet to Millwall, but do get Martin Boyle back from long term injury. I think they’ll be right around where they were last season – mid-table with a chance at Euro qualifiers.

St Mirren have had an eventful summer with a number of starters leaving including goalkeeper Trevor Carson. However, they have brought in a number of new players including a replacement keeper for Carson. In the League Cup they’ve done very well at home winning two game 4-0, whilst recording a 1-0 win and a 1-0 loss on the road. The big home/away split was there in the league last season and I see no reason why it won’t continue this year. Like Hibs, a season in the middle of the pack is the most likely outcome for St Mirren.

With St Mirren’s poor away form looking like it could continue this year, I’d give Hibs the edge in this one. But it should be a close game.

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart*, Celtic – Joe Hart has the best match-up of any goalkeeper this weekend and comes in at a very reasonable 48 points. Even with some question marks on who will play in the Celtic defence, Ross County shouldn’t have many opportunities in this one. Hart is a clear favourite to get a clean sheet and a minimum 60 point score.

Zander Clark, Hearts – Hearts weren’t great on the road last year, but St Johnstone have been appalling in the League Cup. Clark’s L15 is down at 31 points so he’s very affordable. He can easily top that score when he does concede one or even two goals. He’s a very safe option this week that should have no trouble staying above 35 points.

Other Thoughts: Kelle Roos is a solid keeper but his L15 of 63 makes him unaffordable for Capped Mode for the next few weeks at least. Shamal George* on the other hand can concede and still beat his 31 point cost. If David Marshall starts for Hibs on Thursday, I’d feel pretty confident playing him against St Mirren at the weekend. Liam Kelly* isn’t too bad a choice for Motherwell. If he starts, the same is true for Dundee’s new signing Trevor Carson who should start immediately.

Defenders

Michael Devlin, Livingston – The oft-injured Devlin moved from Hibs to Livingston this summer and was named the club captain. The match-up against Aberdeen might not be the best, but his L15 is down at 24 on the back of a single sub appearance for Hibs. He should be able to outscore that mark as long as Aberdeen don’t run rampant on Saturday.

Andy Considine*, Saint Johnstone – Considine is a really useful defender that can put up 60+ point scores with AA alone. He is even capable of it in games where St Johnstone concede. Near the end of last season he dropped a few shocking scores to pull his L15 down to 37 points. Given Hearts were pretty low scoring on the road last year, this looks like a good spot to play Considine.

Other Thoughts: Nicholas Devin* has moved from Livingston to Aberdeen and should have a more AA friendly role going forward. Nathaniel Atkinson* looks set to start at right back for Hearts and should outscore 37, in fact most Hearts defenders are worth a look. The ever-green Lewis Stevenson has the potential for some big scores for Hibs.

Midfielders

Luke McCowan*, Dundee – Luke McCowan plays as a left midfielder for newly-promoted Dundee. He took plenty of free kicks and corners for Dundee last season and should get his fair share again this year. McCowan has a L15 down at 34 from playing in the Premiership two seasons ago, so he doesn’t need to do too much to give a positive return. At home to Motherwell I think Dundee should see enough of the ball for McCowan to have a good chance at a nice score.

Nicolas Raskin, Rangers – After joining Rangers in January Nicolas Raskin took a couple of months to get up to speed. But, from April onwards he scored 45+ in every game, except against Celtic. Raskins L15 has dropped to 45 thanks to some substitute appearances for the Belgium U21 side this summer. So, he shouldn’t have too much trouble getting past that mark against Kilmarnock.

Other Thoughts: Joe Newell* is usually a pretty strong option for Hibs playing at home. When Livingston’s Jason Holt* starts he’s a good bet for a positive score and he should do this week. His teammate, Stephen Kelly, is also worth a look. Beni Baningime* looks set to return from a knee injury that cost him all of last season, in the 2021/22 season he was an excellent scorer on Sorare.

Forwards

Daizen Maeda*, Celtic – Maeda looks set for a big role under Brendan Rodgers this season. He should start on the left of the Kyogo in Celtic’s attacking three and has been sharp in pre-season so far. Maeda’s L15 is down at 42 right now and at home to Ross County he has a great chance of grabbing a decisive and 60+ points.

Jonathan Obika, Motherwell – Jonathan Obika has big boots to fill in Motherwell as he steps into Kevin van Veen’s starting role. Expecting him to perform like van Veen did last year is obviously a long shot, but he should get his chances in front of goal at least. With an L15 of 33 to start the season, he should have a decent chance at providing value against Dundee. UPDATE: Obika is doubtful to play this weekend. Theo Bair might well be the next man up.

Other Thoughts: Hibs’ Martin Boyle looks set to return from long term injury this weekend Hearts should score against St Johnstone, Lawrence Shankland is the obvious pick to get it. If he’s fit to start I like Barrie McKay* to have a good game as well. Newcomer Sam Lammers should start for Rangers, and has an L15 down at 40 from last season at Atalanta.

My Cap 240 Line-Up

Here’s my current plan for game week 395, it’s not set in stone yet especially with Hibs to play on Thursday. Barring an injury or some team news before the game week locks I think I’m pretty set on these 5.

It feels like I’m a bit short of goalkeeping options this week. I do have Joe Hart, but he’s going into an All-Star line-up as part of a Celtic stack. So it’s Liam Kelly away to Dundee for me. At 50 points he’s a pretty pricey option and more or less needs the clean sheet to provide a positive return.

I haven’t paired Kelly with anyone, but I’ve gone with a Hibs double of Paul Hanlon and Joe Newell. Starting at home to St Mirren gives Hibs a great chance to earn an early win. Hanlon is a really solid central defender that can put up 60+ scores with just AA whether Hibs keep a clean sheet or not. Newell is an excellent midfielder for Hibs and takes the majority of set pieces. He’s got a great AA game to go along with plenty of decisive potential.

I’ve gone with a second midfielder in Livingston’s Jason Holt. Holt’s got a pretty low L15 at 39 brought down by a few sub appearances. When he does start his L15 rises to 42.5 and that even includes two negative decisives. At home his performances improve further, so I feel pretty confident he can outscore 39 points this weekend.

For my forward I’ve moved away from the Scottish Premiership and gone with Olivier Deman from Cercle Brugge in Belgium. Deman actually plays a left midfielder and puts up solid AA scores. Brugge get a home game against Charleroi this week and should have plenty of the ball, so I like Deman to at least meet his cost of 49. With a decisive he could put up a monster score!

Hopes for the Season

The hunt for thresholds got off to a slow start for me last season. Over the first seven Scottish Premiership gameweeks I failed to hit the 250 point mark once! My fortunes turned after that point and I earned the threshold in 6 of the remaining 9 game weeks to close the season. I had the best success using a midfielder as my extra outfielder and going for a partial stack with GK with DEF and/or MID.

Looking to this season, I am hoping I can keep up the form I had at the end of the season and win thresholds in two thirds of the Scottish Premeirship game weeks. The upcoming changes may change what’s possible for my gallery. I have some questions about whether my gallery is deep enough to make the most of the collection experience that will be added to Capped competitions in September. But I think this is a reasonable target before we get a feel for how the changes will impact scores.

One thing I won’t be doing in Cap 240 is targeting card rewards. I will be looking to put a team in that I think can hit the 250/300 point mark, but not focusing on my best high-upside players. For the most part I will be using those players in other competitions where I can put my strongest players together to aim for high tier rewards.

If you haven’t signed up to Sorare and fancy giving it a go, sign up via this referral link and earn a free limited card when you collect five cards via New Card Auctions.