MLS Fantasy Week 22: Home at last

Andrew Tingkang -

Hi folks, this will be an abbreviated article as I have not had as much time to write this week and the deadline is quickly approaching. Best of luck in another double-game week!

Week 22 Schedule

Single games: DC (Wed), POR (Sat) – If you want defensive scrubs, you'll want to look to DC. Portland's defenders are all regularly on the team sheet. You may get lucky with one being left out of the 18 and a couple DNPs, but it will probably be down to luck.

Double-Home: SEA, PHI, NYRB, MIN, MIA, ATL, LAG, VAN

Double-Away: CHI, HOU, NYC, CHA, RSL, STL, TFC

Everyone else is on a split.

Defenders/GKs

Teams I like for clean sheets:

  • Seattle has a nice matchup against St. Louis, who will be missing Klauss and are still without their summer additions. This is one of the most likely clean sheets of the week and should start your week right. Seattle's match on Saturday is against LAFC, which is less than ideal, but the defenders here will hopefully be in double-digits. The only two to take, though are Jackson Ragen ($9m) and Stefan Frei ($7.2m). I believe Yeimar will sit for a match and it's very possible Alex Roldan and Nouhou do as well. I think Nouhou would be the third option here if you want to triple up.
  • NYRB have matches against Montreal and Cincinnati. Montreal is one of the worst away teams in the league and Cincy may be missing Luciano Acosta (who you should probably avoid this week) to injury. Note that John Tolkin is out and Noah Elie is on YCW.
  • Miami gets home games against Toronto and Chicago. While Chicago has picked up its form (marginally – they're still second to last in the East) and Toronto can be dangerous, these are still favorable matchups for Miami. There will be some issues, as Busquets and Weigandt are suspended for Wednesday, in addition to all their other absences, but even a team like Miami has shown the ability to pitch shutouts when the matchups are favorable. Plus, Jordi Alba ($10m) and Julian Gressel ($8.7m) can get it done on offense even if the defense gives up some goals.
  • Vancouver hosts SKC and HOU. While SKC has been high scoring and has won three of their last four, it is harder to find a team better poised for shutouts than Vancouver at home. Vancouver has lit it up on the road recently, and they should continue that form in BC.

Top 10 midfielders

In no particular order, I think these are the best considerations for your midfield this week.

  • Albert Rusnak ($12m) (Captain) - Rusnak had double-digit points in the three matches before he was rested last weekend against Austin. He'll likely get 75+ minutes in both matches this week and he's averaged 11.8 points in his past five home matches. And I am of the opinion that more minutes for PDLV will help, not hurt Rusnak. He's my captain.
  • Ryan Gauld ($13.9m) (Captain Candidate) - Gauld has had some low-scoring matches recently, but he's surrounded them with fantastic fantasy scores: 16, 3, 4, 11, 3, 11 are his past six scores, and five of those matches were on the road. Back at home I expect Gauld to hit in at least one, if not both, of these games against SKC and Houston. A top captain option this week.
  • Mateusz Bogusz ($13.7m) - He was one of the victims of the Crew's flattening of LAFC last weekend (which really hurt me, as I favored the LAFC players), but he's still been ultra consistent in fantasy for the 10 previous matches. Not the best matchups for him, but he's still an integral part of a very good LAFC attack.
  • Facundo Torres ($10.1m) - Torres has been on fire recently, playing more as a wide attacking player for Orlando. He's earned double-digit scores in four of the past six weeks. Nashville on the road is a reasonable matchup and then they play NYC at home, who have been a much different road team than at home.
  • Robin Lod ($10.3m) - Lod gets two home games this week against two of the worst defenses in the league: DC and SJ. Minnesota should have players like Tani Oluwaseyi back from international duty to play one or both games. As long as Lod is up front and involved in the final third (which I'm expecting he will be) there are a lot of points on the table.
  • Riqui Puig ($14.6m) - An obvious candidate, given his playmaking gifts, but he's on YCW and hasn't quite been the same player since returning from injury. I think he's likely to get right this week with two home games, but be careful, lest a suspension come back to bite you.
  • Lewis Morgan ($10.5m) - Two favorable home matches for Morgan. He's not always the most impressive, but Forsberg is still out so Morgan is the one pulling the strings on offense. He had a goal last week, he should have some BPs and maybe a goal contribution (or three!) this week.
  • Hector Herrera ($11m) - Herrera has two road games, but he's putting up points even without goal contributions. Last week he earned 11 points without a goal contribution! That's a full 9 bonus points from 111 passes, 16 KPs and 6 crosses. That's not a normal output, but he is averaging around 4 BP a game. He's got a very high floor and should be a safe option.
  • Daniel Gazdag ($10.9m) - Another player with two favorable home matches, against New England and Nashville. If Philly do anything, it will likely be through Gazdag. His scores have been variable this year, so there are a lot of potential outcomes here.
  • Asier Illarramendi ($8.7m) - Home versus Austin and away to New England, Illaramendi was great against the Galaxy with an assist and 3 BPs. His matchups this week are great and he is probably my most off-meta pick this week.

Top 5 forwards

  • Cucho Hernandez ($13.3m) (Captain Candidate) - A big part of the Crew's demolishing of LAFC, he had a goal off an incredible first-time shot that had Lloris planted and just watched sail by. He's scoring more than anyone since returning from CCC action, with 8 goals in 7 matches. Start him with confidence. A top three captain option.
  • Brian White ($10.1m) - After nearly two months of dormancy, where White played nine matches without a goal, scoring 1-4 points in each of them, he's suddenly on a goalscoring streak. He had a hat trick in Vancouver's comeback win over St. Louis, goals against Minnesota and Montreal on the road, then tacked on two more goals last weekend against St. Louis again. He and Gauld are clicking. Beware though, he is on YCW.
  • Jordan Morris ($10.4m) - Did you know Jordan Morris has more non-penalty goals in MLS this year than Denis Bouanga? Fun fact! I'm not saying Morris is better than Bouanga, but he's also in form and will have the benefit of more Pedro de la Vega minutes to feed him through balls. Rusnak's run of form goes hand in hand with Morris scoring those goals. I am high on the Sounders this week so I am high on Morris.
  • Gabriel Pec ($13.2m) - Two home games for the Galaxy, Pec has been sharp as other players have withered. The Rapids and Timbers will be in town, a great opportunity for the Galaxy to build their lead over some of their Western conference rivals.
  • Diego Rossi ($9.9m) - Columbus's hot streak the past four games has coincided with Rossi getting on the score sheet with four goals and four assists. I don't expect him to keep up that pace, given for long stretches of this season he's been merely "present" for Columbus. But these are still good games for him and I'd like to see how long the Crew's streak lasts (all the way to the top of the Supporter's Shield standings?)

Yellow card warnings

Here are a few notable players on YCW: Sebastian Driussi, Julio Cascante, Luciano Acosta, Yuya Kubo, Luca Orellano, Paul Arriola, Petar Musa, Riqui Puig, Santiago Rodriguez, Emeka Eneli, Federico Bernardeschi, Brian White.

That's all from me this week, good luck!