MLS Fantasy Week 21: Olympics Szn

Andrew Tingkang -

Once again international call-ups are having a shake-up of some of the top tier teams, and some of the top tier options in fantasy. This creates opportunities for other players to step up in their absence, but it also leaves holes in squads that have been performing well. It also means some other players get to play with a chip on their shoulder from the disrespect (real or perceived) of not getting a proper invitation to the squad (here's to you, Diego Luna). Make sure to check the availability report and rosters over the coming weeks, up to the Leagues Cup break!

Olympic call-ups

The three players with the biggest immediate impact are Djordje Mihailovic, Walker Zimmerman and John Tolkin. These three are already with the USMNT, along with Ben Cremaschi and Duncan McGuire. Patrick Schulte will play this weekend, then join the squad, and Miles Robinson will join after Cincy's upcoming Wednesday match. USA also has Nathan Harriel and Jack McGlynn from Philly, Caleb Wiley from Atlanta, Jacob Davis and John Pulskamp from SKC, and Josh Atencio from Seattle. I believe they are all already at camp but keep an eye on availability reports to be sure.

Other players called up: Federico Redondo (MIA - ARG), Diego Gomez (MIA - PAR), Xavier Valdez (HOU - DOM), Liel Abada (CHA - ISR), and Michael Boxall (MIN - NZL). Also note that the Argentina, Uruguay, Canada and Colombia players are still at Copa America for the 3rd place match and final.

Week 21 schedule

This week's schedule is fairly straightforward – all Saturday evening games with the strange quirk that the Timbers - RSL match is scheduled at 7:25 p.m. for some reason.

Bye: Miami

4:30 p.m.

Montreal hosts Atlanta. Montreal has been bouncing between respectable results and disappointing ones, while Atlanta keeps shedding their roster. Atlanta has sold Giakoumakis, Almada and Wiley (the latter two will be at the Olympics, anyway) and just lost their last two games. Montreal has one of the three worst defenses in the league, though, so this game is up for grabs. I'd consider Montreal's defense for a clean sheet, but Atlanta have not been shut out in eight straight matches despite the players they've lost. I also think Cincy's defense is better choice for a CS from these early games. I think Brooks Lennon ($8.9m) is the only reasonable option from this game, solely due to his offensive output. If you want a big bet you could go for Josef Martinez, but I think there are much better forward options this week.

DC United hosts Nashville. This game could be a point bonanza, as Nashville have a much worse defense in Zimmerman's absence and DC's own defense has been abysmal, allowing 47 goals on the year. Hany Mukhtar ($11.8m) has been relatively quiet as of late, averaging a respectable if unexciting 5.6 ppg over his last seven matches. This could be a week where he bounces back, though with Nashville still missing Sam Surridge and lacking the steady hand of Zimmerman at the back could be a tough matchup. On the other side, Christian Benteke ($10.7m) has been kind of bad since Week 13. Three goals in that span, two of them in the same week, while another was in the same match he earned his fifth yellow (one game suspended) and a red from his second yellow (another suspension!). In his non-goal games in that span, he's scored 5, 1, 0, 2, 1, 4 and 3 points. But he's capable of annihilating defenses when he's having a good game, and a Nashville defense lacking Zimmerman is exactly the kind of game where he can thrive.

Cincinnati plays Charlotte. The first marquee match of the week, as the first and sixth place teams in the East battle. Luciano Acosta ($16.9) is a no-brainer every week, this week is no exception. Cincinnati gets to keep Miles Robinson ($8.1m) another few games, making him and Roman Celentano ($7.2m) good early options to start on the bench and switch in if they perform. Charlotte have the second worst xG in the East and are bottom five in the league, and they are losing Liel Abada to Israel's Olympic squad and will be without Patrick Agyemang due to a stupid red card last week. Abada and Agyemang are Charlotte's top two players by G+A/90 and npxG+xA/90, responsible for 9 goals and 3 assists between them. This could be a great week for Cincy's defense.

In midfield for Cincy, Pavel Bucha came out of nowhere to score three goals in two games last week (he now has four on the year), Luca Orellano ($10.2m) had three assists to continue his strong form, and Yuya Kubo ($8.6m) had two goals against Miami after coming off the bench midweek. Any of them could have a strong week, though I don't necessarily think they are among the top five options in my mind for this game week.

New England plays Orlando, a game that could have big playoff implications. Orlando is firmly in seventh place, earning 10 points in their last five games, but the Revs are five points behind them with two games in hand. The Revs weren't terrible in Seattle, at least by xG, but are still missing a ton of players (10 players on the injury list, six are out, including both Gil brothers). I think Orlando is slightly favored here on the road, but Duncan McGuire is their leading scorer and will be with the US. Orlando will need Martin Ojeda or Facundo Torres to step up. New England will need the same from Giacomo Vrioni, who had a massive midweek game and then was ineffective in Seattle. I am not confident in the outcome of this game, so I am staying away.

Toronto gets to play the Union this week. Philly has been plummeting down the rankings, finally earning a point last week after five straight losses. Of course, Toronto has done the same, losing six in a row and going winless in nine. Defense has been the problem for both sides, with Philly finally getting a point by blanking the NYRB (though obviously they were blanked themselves). I think the game in Toronto is a high-scoring game, both sides scoring 2-4 goals. I like Federico Bernardeschi ($11.4m) for a bench forward option, as I think Toronto has the edge with Philly missing McGlynn and Harriel. I am considering Kai Wagner again, but his bonus points have faltered lately and I think Philly is getting worse before they get better.

5:30 p.m.

Austin gets the pleasure of hosting Seattle after a midweek game in Sacramento's heat. Austin are clinging to a playoff spot, benefitting from Minnesota's slide and the continued ineptitude of the bottom four teams in the West (Dallas, St. Louis, SKC and SJ). Austin's xGD is -15.6, worst in the West, and their -6 GD is catching up to the underlying numbers. They just beat a good NYCFC team at home, and now Seattle comes in on its own hot streak. I think one of the deciding factors here is whether Seattle comes in with strong lineup or plays a bunch of kids on the road in the middle of a busy stretch of games. Although Seattle has historically done well in Austin when playing a young and rotated squad, I don't think that is predictive for future games.

Sebastian Driussi has been mediocre at best lately, so I can't endorse him even if Austin has a stronger midfield. You can probably go with some Austin defenders, in Hines-Ike, Gallagher or Stuver at GK. Zardes had a brace last week and is a $4m forward possibly due for a price rise, but I don't think he's suddenly good again. If Seattle puts out a strong lineup with Pedro de la Vega, Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnak starting, I do like Rusnak's chances of getting another goal contribution. This one is tough to tell now without seeing the lineups.

Chicago plays NYCFC this week, a relatively uninteresting game for fantasy to me. NYCFC are a much better squad at home and Chicago has been up and down in recent weeks. Chicago's defense is bad, but NYCFC has just 8 road goals in 10 games. The only teams with fewer road goals are Nashville and Austin. It's hard to trust either team in this game since NYCFC is good enough to get a result, but Chicago is also showing signs of life and could get a statement win at home.

FC Dallas is at home against the Galaxy, with Dallas fresh off a miserable extra-time loss midweek in Open Cup on the road to SKC. Dallas played SKC to a scoreless draw in the first half, then early in the second half the game was delayed for almost two hours due to lightning. The game resumed, ended 1-1 in regulation, then SKC scored the winner in the second period of extras, which finished at about 12:45 am local time. Both sides used more-or-less first choice lineups, with key players Musa, Lletget, Arriola and Illaramendi going 120 minutes for Dallas. The two teams also played a league match in SKC last Saturday before the USOC match, though both played a relatively rotated lineup in that game in preparation for the midweek match. Despite that qualifier, this game looks like a green flag to go with Galaxy players on the road this weekend. Riqui Puig ($15.1m) is back and flying, and Joveljic is out so take Gabriel Pec ($12.7m) with confidence. You can probably even go with Galaxy defenders, despite the road fixture.

Houston plays Minnesota. The Loons will still be missing their Canadian players and will be without Michael Boxall, their captain in every match this year, as he joins New Zealand's Olympics squad. Minnesota has lost six in a row, scoring seven goals in that span while allowing 16(!). I don't see things getting better for them this week. Hector Herrera ($10.5m) has been racking up a ton of bonus points, getting two passing BP at a minimum each week, adding plenty for KPs and some for crosses and shots. He's been lacking in goal contributions though, with just one goal and one assist this year. He'll probably give you a floor of 5 points, with the potential for plenty extra if it is as good a game for Houston as I think it could be. Micael dos Santos ($7.2m) is the best defender option if you think Houston is likely to get a clean sheet. Otherwise, there are some budget options I'll highlight below.

St. Louis hosts the Whitecaps this week, in a rematch of a wild comeback 3-4 Whitecaps win in Vancouver two weeks ago. I favor the Whitecaps here, though I don't think this game will be quite as high scoring. St. Louis got out to an early lead on some half chances in Vancouver, which set the tone for that match as Vancouver pushed and pushed to come back and win. I think St. Louis will play more conservatively at home and cover Brian White better (though if he has a ridiculous back heel rainbow goal again, nothing you can do about that), and Vancouver will have less incentive to throw numbers forward and attack with fury. This looks more like a 1-1 draw to me, which is what Vancouver had in Montreal last Saturday and what St. Louis had at home against Atlanta a few weeks ago. If you take anyone here, take Gauld, though I think he'll be on limited minutes ahead of Vancouver's double at home next week and could score another 3 or 4 (which he's done three of the last four games, including that crazy 3-4 game).

6:30 p.m.

Colorado hosts NYRB, an interesting and marquee game for the weekend, as each team is currently fourth in their conference. NYRB have not lost in their past 5 games, though four of those were ties including two 0-0 draws. Colorado just beat SKC and St. Louis at home relatively comfortably in both, but they did surrender goals to each of them. Colorado is now missing Mihailovic, but they did get a 4-1 win while he was suspended for yellow card accumulation. The only two players I'm interested here are Cole Bassett ($12.5m), who has been strong when playing as Colorado's primary playmaker (goal and assist against STL with Djordje sitting), and Andreas Maxso ($7.4m), who had 8 points in last week's DGW despite no CS, with 4 BPs (2 from passes and 2 from clearances). I think Colorado has at least a reasonable chance at CS with Forsberg still injured and Maxso has the best chance at a BP floor.

7:25 p.m.

Portland welcomes RSL to Providence, the third marquee matchup this weekend, 2nd and 5th in the West and a potential playoff preview. Both teams have offenses that have been firing more or less on all cylinders. Portland's defense has been generous at home, allowing 18 goals (third-most in the West), which they've made up for by scoring 27 goals at home (also third-most in the West). RSL have scored 20 goals on the road, most in the West. I'm a certified Portland hater but I still have Evander ($15.2m) in my squad, especially since he got a nice rest last weekend after taking a 90+7' yellow to get an accumulation suspension last week. All the Portland and RSL options are on the table – Cristian Arango ($16.2m) is a top-tier option as always, and you probably will not go wrong with Jonathan Rodriguez, Felipe Mora, Santiago Moreno, Andres Gomez or Diego Luna. I don't have any of those others on my team right now, but they are all worth consideration.

7:30 p.m.

San Jose takes on Kansas City. SKC had some key players play 120 minutes in their midweek USOC match, including Johnny Russell, Tim Melia, Robert Voloder and Dany Rosero. Though, as noted above, SKC prepared by resting most of their first team last Saturday, these will still be somewhat tired legs. These two teams are in strong competition for worst defenses in the league, giving up 56 and 48 goals, respectively, with the Earthquakes the worst in the league. I don't think you can trust either of them, though Cristian Espinoza ($12.7m) has stepped up for San Jose the games they've found success and Erik Thommy ($9.5m) has been better for SKC lately and only played the last three minutes of the Open Cup match. Each player will be central to their teams' success, if either team has any.

And finally, the top billing of the night, LAFC hosts the Columbus Crew. LAFC did have a midweek USOC game against New Mexico, but they were rested after their Saturday game in Houston was postponed and they secured a relatively comfortable 3-1 win midweek. Bouanga and Tillman played 90, and Bogusz played 79, but I am confident they are still comfortable starting a full-strength squad and going the distance against Columbus (note that Tillman is suspended). Though the Crew have been very good on the road, winning five of ten and +8 GD despite their CCC struggles, LAFC have been lights out at home, 9-0-2 and +21 GD. Denis Bouanga ($16.9m) is a top home option regardless of the opponent and Mateusz Bogusz ($13.2m) must be considered as well. Cucho Hernandez ($12.8) remains in incredible form and Diego Rossi ($9.4m) is possibly in even better form. I think Cucho and Rossi are a little less desirable this week but Columbus could be the first visiting team to win in LAFC. If you think that happens, they could be great differentials.

Captain Considerations

  • Luciano Acosta ($16.9m) - Charlotte will struggle to generate any attack this week and Cincy showed what happens when they get a ton of the ball, destroying Miami, 6-0. Charlotte is a better defensive team than most, but I think Cincy has the tools to carve them up anyway. I like Lucho.
  • Denis Bouanga ($16.9m) - I expect a marquee player like Bouanga to decide a marquee matchup like the one in store for tomorrow. This will be one of the toughest matchups for LAFC, but they still are killing everyone at home. He's not my captain this week, but I think there's a lot of good arguments for him to be yours.
  • Evander ($15.2m) - Another top player in a top matchup, he's at home and rested. RSL have been good but aren't the stingiest team out there and Portland has scored at home with ease. He's had four straight games with double-digit scores, and two of those games were on the road. If you can stomach a Portland player as your captain, he's a top choice this week.
  • Cristian Arango ($16.2m) - As prolific as Portland have been at home, they have also been generous. Arango hasn't been as good lately as he was for most of the season – since Week 10 he's had three games where he scored 15, 18 and 21 points, then every other game he's had 7 points or less and is averaging 4.5 points in those games. He's had some injury concerns and has been rotated proactively to keep him fresh, so you have to keep in mind he isn't reliable week-to-week. Still, this looks like a great matchup for Arango to have another monster game.
  • Christian Benteke ($10.7m) - As I noted above, Benteke has not been particularly good lately. He hasn't scored much and has taken some cards as DC have fallen to last place in the East. But he's still capable of monster games – he's DC's penalty taker and his xG/90 and npxG/90 are each top 10 numbers for the league. If you want a potential differential lottery ticket for your captain, this is the best week in a while to run with him and try and strike gold.

Bargain Bin

  • William Yarbrough (SJE GK $4m) - As cheap as it gets, he's in the nightcap match against a team that played 120 minutes midweek. San Jose had a CS last week against Chicago and Yarbrough was fine in that game, only needing to make one save. You should probably look elsewhere, but if you are desperate for a very cheap option, he's serviceable and probably better this week than other cheap options like Tyler Miller (DC) or Chris Brady (CHI).
  • Raheem Edwards (MTL DEF $5.1m) - Edwards has brought some improved play to Montreal recently, with two assists in his past five games and seven BPs in his last three. Atlanta is notoriously weak on the road and this could be a good time for him to join up his offensive contributions with a CS.
  • Kyle Smith (ORL DEF $4.0m) - Starting Orlando's past two games, he was a key contributor in their 5-0 win over DC United. Playing on the road in New England is one of the best times for a road defense to get a CS. Plus he's an early game so you can put him on the bench and see if it works out. If he isn't starting, you could check in on Rafael Santos $4m for Orlando (who seems to have fallen out of the starters) or look to Sigurd Rosted or Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty at $4m for Toronto.
  • Sebastian Kowalczyk (HOU MID $5.9m) - He has not been a regular starter, but had an assist in his last outing and two goals in two matches in Week 15. If he's starting as Houston is hosting Minnesota, he could be in for another big game on his way to more playing time.
  • Sebastian Berhalter (VAN MID $5.6m) - Another Sebastian, this one with a very familiar last name. Gregg's kid has been a mainstay in Vancouver's midfield for the past seven games, going 90 in each one. He has two goals in that span (one an absolute screamer) and is averaging over five KPs a game, with 10 BPs through those games. Berhalter recently turned 23 and may be turning a corner in his third year in Vancouver. He only had 2 points in the previous match against STL, but this could be a good matchup for him to show his stuff and get his first assist of the year.
  • Kei Kamara (LAFC FWD $5.8m) - Kei had a goal against the Galaxy, good for 8 points in LAFC's shortened DGW, and played 90 (which may be an indication they planned to rotate him in Houston). This week he came off at half against New Mexico, so he should be starting against the Crew. He's been crucial to LAFC's recent attack, providing the central hold up play they had lacked, letting Bogusz do what he does best in attacking from the wing. He might not blow the doors off and have a massive point haul, but you could do worse than take the starting center forward for one of the three best teams in the league.