Needing some help with deciding who to pick for the first round of Scottish Premiership fixtures? Well, let us help you with our first scout xi of the season.
Some basic rules of our Scout XI,
It will be published the day before for weekend gameweeks and the day of for mid-week gameweeks.
The four bench players will be made up of the cheapest available at their position
The 15 man squad will all fit within the £60.0 million budget.
The three players per team rule still applies.
Goalkeeper - Vasilis Barkas
Despite being the most expensive keeper in the game, he is the obvious choice this week and most. Due to the lack of points for saves and bonus points, the five clean sheet points is all they can achieve, so why not go for the team least likely to concede? We are so confident of him having a good start to his hoops career that we handed him the vice-captain.
Defenders - Borna Barisic, James Tavernier and Scott Tanser
Doubling up on defenders seems like a risky strategy, but when it's against a side that have lost their two best strikers, it is a sensible one. Factor in both of them taking set pieces and it has potential for a double digit haul.
Scott Tanser seems to have regained penalty duty under new manager Callum Davidson, and in his 5-2-3 system could find himself flourishing. With the start of the season after a long lay-off he could see a lot of 0-0 draws and low scoring affairs. So stocking up on defenders could provide a strong start.
Midfielders - Joe Aribo, Craig Conway, Alan Forrest, Mohammed Elyounoussi
Aribo is the last of the Rangers trio, whilst Ianis Hagi is a more appealing option, Aribo is in budget and can take over games with his long powerful runs. Steven Gerrard will look to have a strong start to the season and we see Rangers scoring at least three to start off the campaign. Craig Conway has been earning praise for his quality and production in the pre-season, and he could have a big part to play as one of St. Johnstone's only two out and out wide player, with United's weakness in defence we believe their fullbacks could face a long day. Alan Forrest had a lot of success at Ayr and was a popular target for Premiership clubs, he is the first of the Livingston duo that we back to score big against a St. Mirren team who narrowly escaped relegation last year. We are still on the Mohammed Elyounoussi hype train, and he has the chance to show everyone his true potential when Hamilton visit Parkhead on Sunday.
Attackers - Chris Long, Lyndon Dykes, Odsonne Edouard
The trend of picking players that are against teams we think will struggle continues. This time we go for Long and Dykes who face Ross County and St. Mirren respectively. Dykes was involved in 41% of Livingston's goals last year, and you have to feel the rainbow haired striker will continue his form into this season. Do I even need to justify Edouard. Handing him the armband is one of the easiest decisions you could ever make.
Differential Captain Picks
Looking to get out to a strong start, consider handing them armband to one of these players
Callum Hendry - Dundee United (A)
Lyndon Dykes - St. Mirren (A)
James Tavernier - Aberdeen (A)
Lawrence Shankland - St. Johnstone (H)
Christian Doidge - Kilmarnock (H)
David Turnbull - Ross County (A)
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