It’s been a busy international for Scottish Football, both on the pitch and off. Scotland qualified for the 2024 European Championships despite a controversial loss to Spain. In the Premiership, Rangers have hired Phillipe Clement as their new full time manager. Legendary goalkeeper Craig Gordon returned to training after the gruesome leg break he suffered on Boxing Day and will be hoping to earn starts for both Hearts and the National team in the coming weeks.

Whilst on Sorare, the new season’s cards have been released for all licensed clubs, with Rangers remaining the only missing side. It’s going to open up a lot more options for building Capped Mode line-ups, particularly in the goalkeeper position and players from newly-promoted Dundee. There are still some notable players missing, such as Aberdeen’s Richard Jensen, generally players that joined their new sides later in the transfer window.

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.

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The Games

Kilmarnock-Livingston After beating Rangers in the season opener, Kilmarnock have failed to record another win this season. They have at least been competitive, drawing 4 games and losing 2 by a single goal, their only multi-goal defeat came at Celtic Park. Livingston have got off to a strong start this season, much like last year, including an impressive 2-0 victory against Motherwell before the break. They’ve lost just two of their 8 games this season, so they’ll be no pushover even on the road. Expect a close game at Rugby Park, probably a narrow victory either way!

Rangers-Hibernian Rangers’ new manager Phillipe Clement takes control of his first game at the club. He will obviously be expecting to beat Hibs, but it’s not the easiest game to start. Hibs have scored in all bar one league game this season, but they’ve also conceded multiple goals in 5 of 8 as well. I do expect a Rangers win in this one, but I think there’s a good chance they’ll concede as well. For Sorare, I’ll be steering clear of Rangers’ players this week. I don’t really have a feel for who will start and with the number of options they have in midfielder and up front it’s a bit of a minefield.

Ross County-St Mirren The Premiership’s surprise team St Mirren travel to Ross County after losing their first game of the season before the break. Ross County have looked good in spells this season, but have lost four of the seven they’ve played including their last two to nil. After some early hope, they seem destined to be involved in the relegation battle again this year. St Mirren haven’t been the most free scoring of sides recently, but I think they’ll have enough to beat Ross County this weekend.

St Johnstone-Motherwell The Premiership’s only winless side return from the break to host Motherwell. St Johnstone are three points adrift of 11th and could really do with getting a win on the board sooner rather than later. One reason for optimism for St Johnstone fans; they are getting healthier after a bit of an injury crisis to start the season. For their part Motherwell are on a bad run of 4 defeats in a row after a promising start to the season. They did play the top 3 sides in that run, but losing to Livingston was certainly a disappointment. I think St Johnstone will be competitive in this one, but a win might be a struggle against a Motherwell side that is usually strong defensively.

Aberdeen-Dundee After a rough start to the season Aberdeen have found some form in recent weeks. After picking up 2 points in the first 5 games, they’ve earned 7 in the last 3 including a great win over Rangers. Newly promoted Dundee look like a side that could stay up this season and have been in games for the most part. As you’d expect they’ve been a weaker away side than at home, having lost two and drawn two on the road. Aberdeen shouldn’t have any issues getting a victory here, but I don’t think it’ll be a hammering by any means.

Hearts-Celtic Finally, Hearts host Celtic on Sunday afternoon in what should be an interesting fixture. Despite what feels like a disappointing start to the season, Hearts sit in a solid 4th place albeit 4 points behind 3rd. They’ve suffered with injuries through-out particularly to both full-back positions, if they can get healthy they’ll be in the mix for third again this season. Celtic feel like they haven’t got out of first gear so far this season, but despite that they sit 7 points clear at the top of the table. They should be good for a victory in this one, but Hearts away is one of the trickier games they’ll face all year. I’d stay away from Celtic players in capped competitions for the most part.

Goalkeepers

Kelle Roos, Aberdeen – After a purple patch at the end of last season, Kelle Roos has had a pretty tough start this season. Fortunately for us that has brought his L15 down to a pretty affordable 44 points. Aberdeen have started to look better over the last few weeks and Roos has two clean sheets in his last three league games. This week they host newly-promoted Dundee who have failed to score in 2 of 4 away games this season. Aberdeen should be in control of this game giving Roos a good chance at a clean sheet. He’ll mostly likely need it, I can’t see him making enough saves to get there with AA if he does concede.

Will Dennis, Kilmarnock – The first of the players with new cards to be featured is Will Dennis of Kilmarnock. After keeping clean sheets in their first two games of the season, Killie have conceded in each of their last 6. However, this week they host Livingston, a team that typically struggles away from home. We’re purely hunting a clean sheet with Dennis, his L15 cost is 49 a mark he hasn’t surpassed without a decisive.

Other Thoughts: Of the rest of the new player, Dimitar Mitov is actually pretty expensive at 54 points – definitely one to avoid. Zach Hemming is a lot cheaper against the cap and a clean sheet against Ross County wouldn’t be a huge surprise. Liam Kelly* is down to 47, and against St Johnstone is well worth a look. Ross Laidlaw is one of the cheaper options in the league at 42 points and could do alright at home to St Mirren this week.

Defenders

Andrew Considine*, St Johnstone – Andy Considine is a really nice option from St Johnstone when they have a chance at keeping it competitive. Considine’s L15 is down at 42 points right now, but he regularly scores in the high 40s to low 50s when St Johnstone can keep it close. He also has the potential to hit 60+ scores with just AA scoring when it all goes right. Despite looking good for the most part this season Motherwell have been goal-shy away from home. They’ve scored 2 goals in 4 games and failed to score in their last two so there is some potential for that 10 point clean sheet score here.

Lewis Mayo*, Kilmarnock – When Kilmarnock keep a clean sheet Lewis Mayo is pretty much a guarantee for 50+ points. He can even get into the 60s and 70s with AA alone. As mentioned with Will Dennis, there is a definitely a decent chance at a clean sheet at home to Livingston. If they do, Mayo should provide good value on his 47 point cost.

Other Thoughts: Mayo’s teammate Stuart Findlay is also worth considering from Kilmarnock. Stephen O’Donnell is pretty cheap for Motherwell and has put up some strong AA scores recently. Nicholas Devlin* remains cheap for Aberdeen and has done well in games they’ve controlled this season.

Midfielders

Jamie McGrath, Aberdeen – Since starting on the bench in the first game of the season, Jamie McGrath has been ever-present in the Aberdeen midfield. Operating predominantly as a central attacking midfielder Mcgrath has scored a couple of goals so far this season and put up some solid AA scores as well. This week’s home game against Dundee should give McGrath plenty of opportunities to rack up AA scores and potentially even add another decisive. He is a pretty expensive option at 52 points, but he’s got potential to get there via AA as well as a decisive.

Daniel Armstrong*, Kilmarnock – Daniel Armstrong is a regular feature in this column when Kilmarnock are at home. This week Killie host Livingston and will have a decent chance to score multiple goals. If they do, Armstrong is likely to be involved in at least one of them. Armstrong takes all the set pieces for Kilmarnock, including penalties, and is the focal point of their attack from open play as well. He comes in at 53 points against the cap, so not cheap by any means. But, he’s averaging a decisive every other game over the last year and he won’t get many better opportunities than this all season.

Other Thoughts: If St Johnstone are to have a good day, it probably means Drey Wright* will as well. If you’re looking for a Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller is suspended – I’d go for Harrison Paton this week. Todd Cantwell is hoping to be back for Rangers this weekend, I’d avoid playing him until we see him back starting.

Forwards

Duk Lopes, Aberdeen – It’s been a tough start to the season for Duk. In 12 games this season, he’s topped 44 points just three times, well down on his excellent form at the end of last season. However, the talent is clearly there with Duk and now Aberdeen seemed to have turned a corner he hopefully will too. He doesn’t typically add much AA, so we will need him to get a decisive. At home to Dundee, Aberdeen should have no issues creating chances for him. If Duk can convert one of them he’ll provide a great return on his 43 point cost.

Thelonius Bair, Motherwell – Make no mistake, Bair isn’t a great striker in the Scottish Premiership. But he does have two things going for him, he’s cheap at 36 points and he starts every game. Playing St Johnstone, even away from home, is obviously a good match-up to have so there is some potential for a decisive this week. With his cost so low he doesn’t necessarily need one to provide a positive return, he’s topped 40 twice with AA in his 8 starts this season.

Other Thoughts: It’s a bit of a tough week at forward. There’s value somewhere in the Rangers forwards, but with a new manager in charge it’s tough to predict who will be the starters. Daizen Maeda* remains a low cost way into the Celtic attack. I’d be happy playing Bojan Miovski* alongside Duk, especially as he takes penalties. Kyle Vassell has a nice match-up but is decisive dependant.

My Cap 240 Line-Up

This week I’ve gone with a mix of players from the Premiership and elsewhere. Starting off with Motherwell’s Liam Kelly in goal. He hasn’t had the best of season’s so far, but St Johnstone have scored just 3 goals this season.

In defence, I’ve taken Jamal Lewis, playing for Watford. They host bottom of the table Sheffield Wednesday who have scored just 5 goals in 11 games this season. Watford should have a decent chance at a clean sheet and with Lewis playing as a full back he may have opportunities to get forward as well.

I’ve gone with two midfielders this week, first Danny Armstrong who we have discussed above. I’ve also captained him given his strong AA potential.

Alongside him I have Javier Aquino from Tigres in Mexico. He actually plays as a right-back for Tigres and has a really solid AA floor. He does get the odd decisive, but it’s primarily AA scoring. This week Tigres host Cruz Azul who sit in 16th of 18 places in the Liga MX.

Finally, I’ve got Daizen Maeda up front. Even in a tougher than usual match-up for Celtic, his 45 point score makes him worth a play. He obviously has plenty of decisive potential, and has also shown a little more AA scoring this season. He has a chance of outscoring 45 with AA if he doesn’t have a part in a goal.

GW #413 Recap

Not too much to discuss with this one. The Dundee game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, and with three Dundee players my line-up was dead.

With Daizen Maeda’s goal, the remaining two players got halfway there. So I think there’s a good chance I would have made the threshold if Dundee did play.

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.