The games come thick and fast in December and we have 5 games in the first midweek game week of the month. Livingston and Dundee are the two sides that don’t play after they played their fixture at the start of November. We will need to look out for rotation over the month, but I think for the most part we should see the core players involved in these fixtures.

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

Ross County-Motherwell Ross County didn’t play at the weekend as their game at Livingston was called off, so come in better rested than their opposition. Motherwell fought back to earn 3-3 draw against Dundee on Saturday, but it was a result that flattered them. They were clearly the worse side and should have lost. Motherwell are winless in 9 and have conceded a league worst 25 goals this season. However, only three teams have scored more than Motherwell, so expect goals in this one.

Aberdeen-Kilmarnock It was another away trip to forget for Aberdeen on Sunday as they lost a back and forth game 2-0 to Hibs. They’ve at least been better defensively at home, whilst Kilmarnock struggle away from Rugby Park. Kilmarnock had more of the possession against Hearts and arguably created the better opportunities in the game. However, they failed to capitalise on them and conceded an unfortunate Will Dennis own goal. I’m not sure you can have much faith in Aberdeen on recent performances, but I would expect a low scoring game at Pittodrie.

Celtic-Hibernian Celtic continue to underwhelm in terms of performances, but they continue to grind out the results. They let St Johnstone take a first half lead at the weekend, before turning it around in the second half. Outside of the Old Firm Hibs are the highest scoring side in the league with 22 goals in 15 games. That has come with some defensive fragility as they’ve conceded 21 goals. I think we could see a Hibs goal in this one, but most likely a Celtic win regardless.

St Johnstone-St Mirren As mentioned St Johnstone gave a good account of themselves against Celtic. They took an early lead and came close to equalising late in the game before Celtic got their third. They can take plenty of positives into the game against St Mirren, but it’s likely to be a tough game. When the two sides met in Paisley at the end of October it was a 4-0 St Mirren victory. However, St Mirren haven’t been as strong a side on the road, so I’d expect a closer game than that. St Mirren remain the clear favourites.

Hearts-Rangers For Hearts, it’s been close games more often than not this season. They’ve scored 14 in 14 and conceded just 12, the best mark outside the Old Firm. Unsurprisingly, only 3 of their 14 league games have been decided by a 2+ goal margin. However they did lose 3-1 to Rangers at the start of December in the Viaplay Cup Semi-Final. Rangers have been really solid domestically of late, having drawn one and won the rest since Phillipe Clement took over. I would expect Rangers to win this one, but I wouldn’t expect a high scoring game. There may not be a lot of value from either side in this one.

Goalkeepers

Zach Hemming, St Mirren – Hemming is the best option available this weekend. St Johnstone are tied for the league’s worst goalscoring record with Livingston. There is definitely some risk in this one still, St Mirren have conceded 13 goals in 8 away games and Hemming probably needs a clean sheet to provide value. He costs 46 against the cap, and has only topped that without a clean sheet against Rangers and Celtic. He should have less to do against St Johnstone than the Old Firm, so I can’t see him putting up a big AA score in this one.

Kelle Roos, Aberdeen – With Aberdeen’s recent form, this one is obviously a risk. Aberdeen don’t have a clean sheet since playing St Johnstone back in early October and have conceded multiple goals in 7 of 8. It does at least mean Roos is pretty affordable at 40 points. He won’t kill you if he can avoid conceding 3 goals. Without a negative decisive Roos generally managed a positive AA score. Kilmarnock have only scored 5 goals away from home this season, so I expect Roos can avoid the negative decisive this week.

Other Thoughts: On a weekend game week it’s going to be tough to have a lot of options for most people, but there are question marks with everyone left. I’d look toward the cheaper options such as Dimitar Mitov or Liam Kelly*.

Defenders

Jack Baldwin, Ross County – Baldwin is an interesting budget option from a team I tend to steer clear of defensively. He offers some AA potential as part of Ross County’s three man backline, although he is pretty up and down as you’d expect. He comes in at a very affordable 40 points against the cap and has topped that in half his games this season (7/14) without any decisives. There should be plenty of work to do for Baldwin against Motherwell and there’s an outside chance of a clean sheet as well.

Nicholas Devlin*, Aberdeen – Nicholas Devlin has had some bright spots for Aberdeen, including a pair of goals and a pair of assists. However, the consistent AA scoring hasn’t been there to date. The amount of goals Aberdeen are conceding has a lot to do with that, so in a game we could see a rare clean sheet, this is definitely a game I think Devlin can outscore a cost of 42 points. Like Kelle Roos it is a gamble for sure, but with his potential to get forward from right wing back he has decisive potential as well.

Other Thoughts: Andy Considine* is an injury risk for St Johnstone, but Liam Gordon is an interesting budget option if you have him. I like Stefan Gartenmann as another option in the Aberdeen defence.

Midfielders

Conor McMenamin, St Mirren – Conor McMenamin has been playing as a right midfielder in recent weeks in place of the injured Ryan Strain. He hasn’t been the best AA scorer this season, but a lot of his performances have been as a centre forward. In midfield he’ll have more chances to get AA and has also taken over some of the corners Ryan Strain usually takes. At 40 against the cap, McMenamin is very affordable in any Capped competition this week.

Maksym Kucheriavyi, St Johnstone – We have another corner taker in Max Kucheriavyi for the second midfield option. When he starts for St Johnstone he’s generally been a strong Sorare scorer, but has had some sub appearances over his L15. He costs 44 against the cap and usually gets into the high 40s/50s when he does start. I expect him to start against St Mirren and I think he should see enough of the ball to put up a good score. Even in the 4-0 loss against St Mirren earlier in the season Kucheriavyi managed to score 45 points.

Other Thoughts: Leighton Clarkson has managed a couple of solid AA scores, hopefully the start of him re-finding form. Harrison Paton was sent off on Saturday and won’t be available for Motherwell, but Callum Slattery should be back.

Forwards

Jordan White, Ross County – I expect Ross County will be able to score against Motherwell on Tuesday, the question is which of their front two to go with. They’ve both scored 3 this season so I’ve taken Jordan White as he’s three points cheaper this week. He costs 39 points and is entirely decisive dependant, we have to go back to early March to find a 40 point AA score. But with the cost savings here you can look to spend up elsewhere and hope the goal falls White’s way.

Kyogo Furuhashi*, Celtic – By his standards it’s been a poor run of games for Kyogo the last few weeks. He managed just one goal in November, but did score at the weekend against St Johnstone. For Capped Mode, it does mean he’s down to a 47 point cap hit. As the centre forward in the Celtic attack that feels like too cheap a price. He should see opportunities as usual against Hibs, hopefully he can convert again!

Other Thoughts: White’s strike partner Simon Murray is worth a play as well. Bojan Miovski* is another decisive dependant option for Aberdeen, but he does take penalties as well!

My Cap 240 Line-Up

Coming Soon…

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