We’ve missed a couple of weeks of these previews, but I’m back for the final round of fixtures before the November international break. Since the last article, St Johnstone have changed manager to the ex-Scotland manager Craig Levein. Overall, I think a pretty solid appointment and will give them a chance at survival this year. It does however, add a bit more uncertainty in their line-ups until we know who Levein prefers to play.

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

Dundee-St Mirren Dundee have kept 4 clean sheets in their last 5 games, although the outlier was a 5-0 thumping from Rangers. It’s propelled the Dees up to 6th in table and put some daylight between them and the relegation spots. St Mirren have also been impressive this year, having only lost to the Old Firm sides in the Premiership. It’s hard to see another clean sheet for Dundee this week, Rangers were the only side that have held St Mirren goalless this season. When two sides met in Paisley in August it was a 2-1 victory for St Mirren. Either a repeat result or a score draw feels the most likely this weekend.

Hibernian-Kilmarnock Despite being 4th in the table, Kilmarnock have failed to win away from home this season. It’s a continuation of last seasons form as they won just two league games over the whole season. However, they might have a chance at a result this week against a Hibs side that hasn’t won in the league since mid-September. They did pick-up a solid 2-2 draw against St Mirren on Wednesday but couldn’t hold onto a lead on two occasions. Having said that, I do like Hibs to at least keep a clean sheet, as they have in three of their last four games.

Motherwell-Hearts The wheels have well and truly fallen off the bus for Motherwell this year. Since the September international break Motherwell have failed to win any of their 9 games including 6 losses. Hearts have faired a bit better, but they still have just 3 league wins over the same period. So far this season, Hearts have beaten weaker sides or those in poor form and struggled against the stronger sides in the league. Fortunately for them, Motherwell fit firmly in the former. Hearts have a good chance at getting a win in this one and with a relatively strong defence, I think it could be a narrow win to nil.

St Johnstone-Ross County After looking dead and buried, St Johnstone have started to find some form in recent weeks. Now the injury list is beginning to subside, they’ve picked up 6 points and lost just once in their last 5. They have still looked shaky at the back, particularly in throwing away a 2 goal lead at home to Motherwell on Tuesday. For their part Ross County have struggled in recent weeks after a strong start to the season. They’ve failed to win their last 8 in all competitions. However, they have scored (and conceded) multiple goals in each of their last two away games. This should be a game with goals for both sides and plenty of Sorare value if you can find the scorers!

Livingston-Rangers Like Ross County, Livingston have struggled over the last month or so after a strong start to the season. Livi have lost their last 4 game and scored just one goal in the process, including home and away losses to newly promoted Dundee. Rangers however have looked much improved under Phillipe Clement. They’ve won three in a row in the league, made it to the Viaplay Cup Final and scored multiple goals in every domestic game. They should have no issues brushing Livingston aside this weekend.

Celtic-Aberdeen Fresh off a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Atletico Madrid, Celtic will be determined to head into the international break on a positive note this weekend. Aberdeen have also struggled in Europe this season, but have at least started to put results on the board in the Premiership. Expecting them to get anything from this game is probably asking a bit much, but they could put up a decent fight against Celtic. With Celtic being pretty hit and miss at the back this year, I think we could see an Aberdeen goal but ultimately a Celtic victory.

Goalkeepers

David Marshall, Hibs – There’s a little bit of uncertainty with Marshall as Jojo Wollacott was favoured over him in their last league game. However, Marshall did regain his starting spot for the League Cup Semi Final against Aberdeen so I think he should start this week. Marshall is a pretty cheap option at 39 points and has shown some potential to get above that with AA in recent weeks. Having said that, he most likely needs at clean sheet to provide a positive return and should have a decent chance it against Kilmarnock at home.

Zander Clark, Hearts – With Craig Gordon yet to return to the match day squad, Zander Clark remains the starter for Hearts. I typically would prefer to find a goalkeeper in a home match-up, but Hearts have been defensively solid wherever they play. The match-up against Motherwell could be a little better than it looks on paper. Motherwell have scored well at home in recent weeks, but they have played shaky defences in Aberdeen and Ross County. On the road they’ve struggled to score against Kilmarnock and Livingston in recent weeks. So at home to a strong defence, I think we could see Motherwell struggle especially with a growing absentee list.

Other Thoughts: I’d can’t imagine Trevor Carson* will have a strong performance against his old club this weekend. In fact there’s not a lot else I like in the goalkeepers this week. Liam Kelly* is at least cheap now and Hearts haven’t been the most free scoring this season. It looks Shamal George* is firmly on the outside for Livingston at the moment. His replacement, Jack Hamilton, isn’t worth considering against Rangers.

Defenders

Lewis Miller, Hibs – Since Hibs made the change to Nick Montgomery as the manager, Lewis Miller has been in great form when Hibs are at home. Miller has hit a 21+ AA score in all 4 of his home games under Montgomery and added an assist to boot. His form away from Easter Road has been significantly worse which has kept his L15 down to 48 points. He should be good value again this week against Kilmarnock and should get forward more than usual to add some extra decisive potential.

Stephen O’Donnell, Motherwell – Stephen O’Donnell put up some solid scores early in the season, but like the rest of the Motherwell side it’s been tough sledding over the last month or so. When Motherwell have managed to keep the opposition to one goal or less, O’Donnell has generally been good value. Whilst that hasn’t often been the case in recent week, I think they have a good chance at it against Hearts. Hearts scored two past St Johnstone in the first week of the season, but since then they haven’t scored more than once and have been held goalless twice. If Motherwell can hold Hearts this week, O’Donnell should provide a good value on a 40 point cost.

Other Thoughts: Alex Cochrane* is just 36 points in the Hearts defence and has great potential playing as a wing back. I like Scott Tanser* for St Mirren, he gets some set pieces and should score well against Dundee. Alongside Miller, Rocky Bushiri* is another promising option from Hibs.

Midfielders

Joe Newell*, Hibs – Joe Newell at home is generally a strong bet for Sorare scoring. He does split a little more set pieces this year with Martin Boyle back in the squad, but he still takes a fair amount of corners and most of the free-kicks. Newell costs 50 points against the cap and has averaged 54 in home Premiership games over the last year. Hibs should control the game against Kilmarnock this week and I expect Newell to have plenty of time on the ball to hit a big AA score. If he can grab a decisive, a 90+ score is a real possibility – he’s a perfect captain choice for the week!

Sven Sprangler, St Johnstone – Sven Sprangler is a bit of an interesting player on Sorare. He played in a non-covered league the last season, so his L15 actually includes games played for Wolfsberger in the 2021/22 season. His L15 is at 43 right now, and that includes a few sub appearance for his old club where he played single digit minutes. At St Johnstone he’s topped 43 points in 5 of 6 games this season and topped 50 points in 4 of those games. He’s done it with just AA scoring, mostly on the back of strong defensive play. Against Ross County is an interesting spot because you might expect less oppotunities for Sprangler to win the ball back against a weaker opposition. However, he put up 56.9 points at home to a similarly weaker Livingston side. I think this can be guide for what we could see from Sprangler this week.

Other Thoughts: Over the last three weeks Beni Baningime* seems to have established himself as a starter in the Hearts midfield. He has a good scoring history in the Premiership and is very affordable now. Paulo Bernardo looks to be the favoured replacement for Reo Hatate* in the Celtic midfield. Unfortunately, his scores have been pretty terrible so far! I still like Luke McCowan* at home this week, even if St Mirren is a tricky game.

Forwards

Simon Murray, Ross County – Whilst St Johnstone have improved recently they have still be fragile at the back. They haven’t kept a clean sheet at home this season and just threw away a 2-0 lead at home to Motherwell. Really this could be either of Ross County’s starting forwards, both are decisive dependant options and cost about the same. I’d lean towards Simon Murray this week, he’s one point cheaper against the cap and has managed a couple more decisives than Jordan White. Both should get chances to score this week and you’d expect Ross County to score at least one this week.

Danilo, Rangers – Danilo has been brought back into the Rangers team slowly after fracturing his cheekbone in September. But over the last couple of weeks he’s staked his claim to lead the line going forward. Danilo scored in a 45 minute sub appearance against Hearts, before starting against Dundee and adding a goal and an assist in their last league game. Danilo continued to start against Hearts in the Viaplay Cup Semi Final last weekend and won the penalty to open the scoring. At 40 points, he obviously provide great value if he grabs another decisive against Livingston.

Other Thoughts: Nicky Clark has been excellent on his return from injury, but he’s completely unaffordable for Capped Mode. Motherwell’s Conor Wilkinson has had a run in the team recently and is just 38 points. Dazien Maeda* at 49 points is borderline value now, his L15 should drop after the international break at least.

My Cap 240 Line-Up

Coming Soon…

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