Club football returns this weekend with an interesting set of games in the Scottish Premiership outside of the two games involving the Old Firm. Over the break Hibs have found their new manager, Nick Montgomery who was managing in Australia and will hope to get their league campaign back on track.

So will Hearts and Aberdeen who face each other at Tynecastle. High-fliers Motherwell and St Mirren do battle at Fir Park in another really exciting game. Sadly none of which will be televised in the UK.

In the interest of openness, I do own cards some of the players I’m recommending (you can check out my gallery here) and I 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

St Johnstone-Rangers It’s been a tough start to the season for St Johnstone as they’ve dealt with a number of injuries to starters. They’ll be hoping the week off has helped them get some players back at least. It’s hard to see them getting anything from Rangers, but I said the same a couple of weeks ago when they played Celtic away. In that game they weathered the storm to earn a very good 0-0 draw. Since then they scored their first goals of the season as they earned a draw after being 2-0 down to Dundee at home. Rangers players will definitely be ones to play in Capped Mode – the challenge is working out who the starters are, especially up front!

Celtic-Dundee No need to overthink this one, Celtic hosting newly promoted Dundee should be as one sided as they get. Dundee have been pretty competitive to start the season, and despite Celtic drawing 0-0 with St Johnstone a couple of weeks ago, they should have too much for Dundee. For the most part, I guess Celtic cards will end up used in All-Star and Challenger Europe rather than Capped competitions. That’s certainly my plan at least.

Hearts-Aberdeen Last years 3rd and 4th placed sides have disappointed early in the season, both in the league and Europe. It’s an odd game to look at it, Hearts haven’t scored in the Premiership since the first week of the season, whilst Aberdeen haven’t kept a clean sheet since then. I do think Hearts will score this weekend and would give them a slight edge in the game. But with both sides struggling a draw feels the most likely in this one.

Kilmarnock-Hibernian Kilmarnock we’re cheated of a goal last time out, when the referee blew for a penalty as the ball was in mid-air heading into the net. They’ll like their chances of scoring this weekend against a Hibs side that kept a surprise clean sheet against Aberdeen last time out. Whilst Hibs have struggled defensively, they’ve been great going forwards as Aston Villa side are the only side to keep a clean sheet against them. It should be a fun game at Rugby Park and I think we should see goals from each side.

Motherwell-St Mirren Perhaps the most interesting game of the week sees 2nd and 3rd face off in Motherwell. The two sides faced each other already this season in the Viaplay Cup as St Mirren winning 1-0 in Paisley. With the home advantage this time, Motherwell will fancy their chances of flipping the result on Saturday. In the Premiership both teams have scored in all 4 of St Mirren’s games and in 3 of 4 Motherwell games, so I expect goals from both in each. A draw or 2-1 win to either side feels the most likely outcomes.

Ross County-Livingston When you consider who they’ve played, Ross County’s 6 point start to the season is pretty impressive. They lost to the two Old Firm sides but managed wins to nil against St Johnstone and away to Kilmarnock. Livingston have also started well for a side I expected to struggle a lot early in the season. They’ve only lost to Rangers in the league and taken 5 points so far. We don’t have too much to go on from this season, but Livingston really struggled away from home last season. With that in mind, I fancy Ross County to win this one quite possibly to nil.

Goalkeepers

Joe Hart*, Celtic – Joe Hart is a no brainer despite costing 51 points against the cap. This weekend, Celtic have the best chance at a clean sheet of any side in the Premiership. The only question is whether you want to play Hart in Capped Mode or whether he fits in an elite All-Star team this game week.

Ross Laidlaw, Ross County – Ross County players aren’t often in this article, but facing Livingston at home is as good a spot as any to target their defenders. Laidlaw is a decent enough keeper and comes in at a reasonable 45 points against the cap. He’s capable of beating that mark with AA scoring if Ross County do concede, but I like his chance of recording the clean sheet this weekend.

Other Thoughts: Shamal George* remains a really cheap option at 32 points, although his chances of a clean sheet aren’t great. Liam Kelly* and Zander Clark are both worth a look in home games.

Defenders

Connor Randall, Ross County – Despite having defender cards on Sorare, Randall has been used in central midfield role for Ross County this season. He comes in at 40 points against the cap this weekend and certainly has the potential to surpass that. He’s been a solid AA scorer in his new role, scoring 8 points in 3 of 4 games so far. Against Livingston, with the potential for a 10 clean sheet score, I think he has a great chance to provide another strong score.

Alex Cochrane*, Hearts – As expected Alex Cochrane returned to the Hearts starting XI in their last game. His 45 points provided a solid 12 more than his cap cost thanks to a lot of attacking AA. He should be solid value again this week at 35 points and provide another positive AA score. There is also the potential for a decisive with the amount of attacking output he has!

Other Thoughts: It’s unclear who the starting centre back pairing will be for Celtic this weekend – I’d avoid Liam Scales to be safe. Motherwell will be without Paul McGinn* due to suspension. Jack Baldwin is another solid option from Ross County.

Midfielders

Daniel Armstrong*, Kilmarnock – Armstrong is usually a great scorer at home for Kilmarnock regardless of match-up. He looked set for a solid home score again last week, before he missed a penalty against Ross County. Still, I like him to perform well this weekend against a Hibs side that has been very suspect defensively so far this season.

Callum Slattery, Motherwell – Callum Slattery has been excellent for Motherwell so far this season. He has managed 47 or more points in each of his 4 games to date, so at a cost of 45 points he’s an obvious choice. The game against St Mirren looks like it will be a close fought one, but Motherwell should see enough of the ball to let Slattery put up another strong performance

Other Thoughts: Slattery’s teammate Blair Spittal could also have a good day for Motherwell. Jose Cifuentes* is very reasonably priced in the Rangers midfield if he starts. Yan Dhanda is the Ross County midfield card to play if you want one.

Forwards

Cyril Dessers, Rangers – Cyril Dessers is the forward to trust for Rangers at the moment. The Nigerian has started 7 of 8 covered games for Rangers including each of the last 4 games and should lead the line again this weekend. Against St Johnstone you fancy Rangers to score multiple goals and Dessers is as likely as anyone to have a hand in one or or more of them. At a cap cost of 34 he should be great value this week.

Liam Boyce, Hearts – Liam Boyce, like most Hearts forwards, has been pretty quiet over the last few weeks. He has started 4 of the last 5 Hearts games as an attacking midfielder, a role that typically has the potential for big Sorare scores. Given Aberdeen have struggled defensively over the last few weeks, I like Hearts’ chances of getting back to scoring ways this weekend. If they do Liam Boyce should have a good chance at outscoring his 40 point cap cost – either with AA or a decisive.

Other Thoughts: Marley Watkins remain an interesting option for Kilmarnock. If Hearts do get back to scoring Yutaro Oda is another forward with potential. Either of the Ross County pairing of Simon Murray and Jordan White could be among the goals, but offer little in the way of AA.

My Cap 240 Line-Up

This week I have a mixture of Challenger Europe players in my Cap 240 Line-Up. There are three from the Scottish Premiership included plus one from both Portugal and Belgium.

In goal it’s Warleson of Cercle Brugge in Belgium. They are away from home this week, but against newly promoted Molenbeek. Cercle have been in great form to start the season and should have a good chance of a clean sheet this weekend.

My defender is Porto left back Wendell. He comes in at 50 points against the cap for his away game against Estoril. Estoril has won just one of their opening 4 games and struggled all last season as well. Wendell should have plenty of opportunities going forward this weekend and may even get the 10 points for a clean sheet as well.

My midfield pair have both been mentioned above. Danny Armstrong is a no brainer at home to Hibs. Jose Cifuentes is a bit more of a risk after being on the bench for Ecuador on Tuesday night. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Rangers press conference, if he does start he should be solid value against St Johnstone!

Finally, it’s Daizen Maeda up top for me. With Liel Abada’s injury I’m confident of Maeda starting this week despite Celtic adding reinforcements for the wide positions. Celtic should have no troubles beating Dundee and Maeda will have his chances to score and assist.

GW #403 Recap

It was another poor week for me in Cap 240.

Dundee took a two goal lead against St Johnstone, but there was no clean sheet for Trevor Carson as they threw the lead away.

Both defenders weren’t on sides that kept a clean sheet sadly. Stelios Andreou was a particular disappointment as he recorded a terrible AA score.

In midfield Danny Armstrong missed a penalty for Kilmanock, whilst Bojan Miovski managed two shots on target but no goals for Aberdeen.

Overall, one to forget for me.

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.