Is it really gameweek 4 already? And with the arrival of another gameweek, there is an arrival of yet another headache. Celtic still have to wait until next week to return but Aberdeen will play their second game of the season on Thursday night against St. Johnstone, who are the first side to have a double gameweek.
Fixtures
Saturday 15th August
Hamilton V St. Mirren
Kilmarnock V St. Johnstone
Ross County V Dundee United
Hibernian V Motherwell
Sunday 16th August
Livingston V Rangers
Thursday 20th August
St. Johnstone V Aberdeen
Hamilton Accies v St. Mirren - Saturday 15:00
Bottom placed Hamilton welcome the Buddies to New Douglas Park. I don't see any reason to own a Hamilton player aside from as a bench filler. If you are looking for a quick one week rotation for players then St. Mirren might be the place to look. With a solid defence options like Jak Alnwick (£2.5m), Joe Shaughnessy (£2.7m) and Richard Tait (£2.8m) could they be the differential picks to help your side. In what I suspect will be a low scoring affair could Jonathan Obika (£4.1m) be the player to break the deadlock?
Kilmarnock v St. Johnstone - Saturday 15:00
Chris Burke (£5m) has scored in each of the first three games of the season, so look for that run to continue against a Saints side looking for their first win of the season.
St. Johnstone are an interesting decision, with a double gameweek do you bring any players in from a side that hasn't shown much this season? With a very bare bones squad there isn't much worry of rotation. Callum Hendry (£4.9m) would be the most obvious player to back, but David Wotherspoon (£4.2m) has found himself playing in a much more advanced role in Callum Davidson's 5-2-3 system and could be a bold pick.
Ross County v Dundee United - Saturday 15:00
The Staggies are undefeated after three games and offer tremendous value for defenders, Josh Reid (£2.2m), Alex Iacovitti (£2.3m) and Connor Randall (£2.3m) all seem to be nailed on starters and have kept two clean sheets in their first three games. Could they make it three with United missing top marksman Lawrence Shankland.
Micky Mellon's three at-the-back system and tendency to play on the wings and cross the ball makes Luke Bolton (£3.7m) an attractive option. The on-loan Man City winger has the pace and trickery to create space for himself on the wing, so look at him as a long term option.
Hibernian v Motherwell - Saturday 17:30 - Sky Sports
Hibs have got off to a flying start picking up the maximum 9 points, so surely you must have some Hibs players in your side. Josh Doig (£2.2m) is a bargain with the way he is playing, involved in seemingly everything they do. Kevin Nisbet (£5.3m) and Christian Doidge (£5.8) look like a great partnership up-top, and it's a coin flip on who will be the best option each week.
I have be very big on David Turnbull (£4.8m) so far this season and finally he delivered. Is his goal in mid-week what he needs to kick on and return to the form that almost landed him a move to Celtic last summer. However, the Steelmen have had a poor start to the season with manager Stephen Robinson bemoaning an apparent lack of effort and fight that his players have shown. For this reason I'd look to stay clear of doubling up on them until results have improved.
Livingston v Rangers - Sunday 16:30 - Sky Sports
You should end to stay away from any players that are facing the Old Firm, especially when Robby McCrorie (£2.1m) is unavailable to face his parent club.
Rangers are without Leon Balogun (£2.6m) due to an injury but they still have plenty options to replace him and keep their clean sheet streak active. Borna Barisic's (£4.4m) fine form continued against St. Johnstone, and still seems an obvious captain pick for the third week straight. Ryan Kent (£6.2m) has two goals already this season and with no Celtic players this week, seems an easy choice in anyone's midfield.
St. Johnstone v Aberdeen - Thursday 19:45 - Sky Sports
Having to wait until Thursday for Aberdeen to play is a big red flag, not knowing which players will be available and which won't be. The only two I would feel safe about is goalkeeper Joe Lewis (£3m) and Lewis Ferguson (£4m), but I'd hold off another week before bringing any players back in.
Scout XI
It was a hard choice to pick between Nisbet and Doidge, but Nisbet being 0.5m cheaper was the deciding factor.
Doubling up on St. Mirren is bold but I am confident of a solid return.
Will it be Tavernier's turn to have a great contributiom? But, yet again, another coin flip between him and Barisic.
Vice-Captain could have really be any of 6 players but having both on Rangers defenders seemed risky.
Last weeks Scout XI scored 49 points.
"Is it really gameweek 4 already? " - is that your excuse for missing the last two?