MLS GW21 Tips – Fantasy Major League Soccer

MLS GW21 Tips – Fantasy Major League Soccer

This last week saw some monster scores in the FMLS game — hopefully you were able to take part in the bounty. This week should see a return to more normal scoring levels as we’re without the benefit of a DGW, and two teams are on a bye (Colorado and NYRB). Without any further preamble, let’s get into what you need to know going into this week.

#1 — Is Steven Gerrard essential for your squad?
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[/three_fourth]It’s no secret that the LA Galaxy are good again. And if we’re being honest, Gerrard couldn’t have had a better debut game than what he had last week. He pretty much hit the trifecta with a goal, assist and penalty earned. And really, the interplay between Keane and Gerrard looked easy. There wasn’t anything that San Jose could’ve done in that match to lessen the effects that the two European internationals were able to do.

That being said, do you still take the chance that Steven Gerrard isn’t quite ready for for MLS play? It’s a tough call, actually. LA will now have back to back road fixtures in Houston and Colorado before coming home. But luckily, the competition isn’t anything that should give them fits. The first road fixture will be against Houston, and Houston haven’t kept a clean sheet at home since April 11th of this year. And suffice to say, Houston have probably also not faced a team as potent as LA are right now either.

For the time being, LA are giving Gerrard what he wants. He wants to play in the attacking midfield role just behind Keane — and he has enough clout to have that request granted. Will he still want that role when he gets to Houston and the Texas heat catches hold of him? We shall see.

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#2 — If you have Columbus defenders from last week, Giovinco would like a word with you
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[/three_fourth]Columbus defenders were a popular pick last week, and considering that they were going up against the likes of Harry Shipp and a recovering Mike Magee, we’ll concede that those players may have been decent gambles given the situation. But let’s not forget that the leading scorer for Chicago only has five goals on the year. So it’s not really a situation that should fool you into thinking that Columbus are actually any good in their back line.

The match this week is going to be a complete reversal as Giovinco and Toronto FC come to town. Giovinco has four goals and an assist in his last two matches, and if anybody can make Columbus look mediocre in the back, it’s him. And consider this: Giovinco has twelve goals on the year, and nine of those goals have come on the road. And if that weren’t enough, five of his eight assists have also come on the road.

Now Toronto have their own issues in their defence, so keeping your attacking Columbus players may still be a good option — but you’re really going to have to consider taking any Columbus defenders out before Giovinco comes to town. There are some players in the league that you just have to accept are going to do poorly on the road — Giovinco is not one of those players. Prepare accordingly.

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#3 — Strategising for the players on a bye
This week both Colorado and NYRB will be on byes. If you have a Colorado player at all, he’s probably in your defence (and thus probably very cheap). If you can manage it, you could bench your Colorado players knowing that they’ll have two home fixtures coming up for them. The problem for you is going to be that their home fixtures are against LA and Columbus. The safest option is to probably just drop them this week if you can get any kind of a one-for-one substitution that makes sense for you.

NYRB are a bit of a different problem though. The Red Bulls will come back next week and then have a DGW, so there is a huge incentive to keep some of those players if you can manage it. The two players that are going to give you trouble are Bradley Wright-Phillips and Lloyd Sam ($11.3 and $9.2, respectively). You really can’t afford to keep those players on your squad for a bye week. It might hurt to do so, but you absolutely should sell them and bring in proper replacements for them. If you’re still high on them going into the DGW, you can re-buy them later.

But there is still the matter of players like Grella and Miazga ($6.3 and $5.8, respectively). These two players have been wonderful little differential gems for many fantasy owners to this point. If you can manage it, leave these players on your bench through the bye week If you have absolutely no subs, you could sell these guys to give you coverage. But even if you had just a single budget defender as your first sub, both of these guys are worth the risk to keep on your bench for now.

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#4 — Speaking of DGW’s
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[/three_fourth]Not only will NYRB have a DGW coming up in GW23, but Montreal, Orlando and Toronto will also feature twice that week. If you loved Columbus in a DGW, you should really love the options we’re getting in a couple of weeks. I’m not a fan of DGW’s dictating all of my transfers, but given the options before us, there are some obvious players to take a look at.

First of all, if you didn’t have Giovinco yet (or worse if you’re thinking of selling him “to upgrade elsewhere”), this should be the bit of news that tells you how essential he’s going to be in the next three rounds. There is every possibility that his price could see another jump, so if you didn’t pick him up now, you could be looking at having to pick him up at nearly $13.0.

Piatti from Montreal should see another ownership increase the closer we get to his DGW — but Kaka is going to be the problem for many teams. Kaka already costs $11.7, and if he does anything at all in these next two weeks he could just be out of reach for a few teams by the time we get to GW23. And it’s not like picking up Kaka is a bad thing this week. Orlando will travel to NYCFC, and we all know how spotty that defense is….just ask Giovinco.

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#5 — New players to watch this week
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[/three_fourth]Leaving aside Lampard and Pirlo (who may honestly never play for NYCFC as much as they drag their feet), there are a few players that absolutely should be on your radar this week. First and foremost, continue to look at Steven Gerrard. If he gets anywhere from 70-80 minutes this week in Houston, you can expect that he’ll contribute something to the scoreline. Nobody is doubting his ability in this league, but we’ll have to closely monitor how he goes from the Texas heat to the Colorado mile-high air in just one week.

Secondly, Lucas Melano is set to make his debut for Portland. Melano was bought for the huge sum (by Portland’s standards) of $5 million. At that price, there is little doubt that he’ll be expected to play full minutes sooner rather than later for the Timbers. There are a lot of positives for this kid’s transition into the league that could make him a viable cheaper option for many fantasy owners.

Not only is Melano already in some degree of match fitness, but he’s joining a very Argentina-centric lineup with Valeri, Papparatto, Fernandez and Urruti already in place. Add to that the fact that Chara and Villafana are both native Spanish speakers, and we shouldn’t expect to see any kind of confusion from Melano trying to communicate with his team. And the fact that he’s coming from the same club that Valeri came from just means that there will be that little extra added familiarity to their game. And let’s not kid ourselves, Portland needs a forward to get goals. He has his mission, and if he succeeds he could be a great pickup at $9.0.

Finally, Erick “Cubo” Torres is finally in Houston for the Dynamo. Torres was a great talent to watch for the now-defunct Chivas USA side. His game has only matured while in Chivas of Guadalajara, and he could be an instant impact player. The best thing about Torres is that he’s already played in this league, so there won’t be any surprises for him once he gets started. At $10.0, he’s actually reasonably priced for his level of talent.

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#6 – The Captain Picks
The Top Tier — Giovinco. There is no doubt in my mind that Giovinco’s ability to produce on the road will not net some kind of a positive gain for his owners this week. Truly, like I said above, Columbus do not have that great of a defence. Look for Giovinco to extend his scoring streak another game.

The Differentials — Robbie Keane and David Villa. In reality, either of these two guys could be at the top with Giovinco, but the problem is that LA are on the road and in David Villa’s last game he looked rather…human? I still think that both of these guys will get some points this week, but they’ll really have to do something special given their fixtures.

Honorable mentions — Feilhaber and Valeri. Benny Feilhaber had himself a great game last week, but traveling to RSL could pose a few problems for him this week. And Valeri? He did get a goal last week and he’s truly the best player Portland has. Can the addition of the new striker help him in Dallas? Maybe.

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Just a reminder from Lawdogg as to who is on Gold Cup duty. Basically don’t go picking up these guys as they Please find below a team-by-team breakdown of MLS players competing in the Gold Cup:

JAMAICA
1. Andre Blake (GK, Philadelphia Union)
5. Alvas Powell (D, Portland Timbers)
8. Michael Seaton (F, DC United – on loan to Orebro)
9. Giles Barnes (F, Houston Dynamo)
11. Darren Mattocks (F, Vancouver Whitecaps)
12. Demar Phillips (D, Real Salt Lake)
15. Je-Vaughn Watson (M, FC Dallas)
20. Kemar Lawrence (D, New York Red Bulls)
21. Jermaine Taylor (D, Houston Dynamo)

PANAMA
1. Jaime Penedo (GK, LA Galaxy)
7. Blas Pérez (F, FC Dallas)
8. Gabriel Torres (F, Colorado Rapids)

USA
3. Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy)
4. Michael Bradley (Toronto FC)
5. Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake)
8. Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders)
10. Mix Diskerud (New York City FC)
12. Nick Rimando (GK, Real Salt Lake)
14. Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo)
16. Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders)
17. Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC)
18. Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
19. Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
20. Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

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MLS GW21 Tips – Fantasy Major League Soccer This article was written by Guy Sanchez (FootyFantastic)

Follow @Guy_M_Sanchez

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Don’t forget that Guy does have his own MLS blog and we highly recommend a visit as it expands even more upon the current GW – http://www.footyfantastic.com/