We expected it to be an exciting round as the season approaches its final stages, and it was! Fantasy-wise, many managers had to swallow disappointment as the two most popular captain picks, Martinez and Almiron, failed to deliver the expected results. Nevertheless, 39 goals were produced including 5 braces from Rooney, Blanco, Picault, Diomande and Rodriguez. Philadelphia, LAFC and SKC clinched playoff spots, but the big news from this round was last year’s Champions, Toronto FC, crashing out of playoff contention. They joined Orlando, Minnesota, Chicago, Colorado and San Jose on the elimination pile. On a brighter note, the 16 year old defender George Bello scored his first MLS goal for Atlanta, which was a delight for his owners in FMLS.
16-year-old @_georgebello scores his first-ever MLS goal! #ATLvNE https://t.co/pfrJ3k1eTH
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 6, 2018
Gameweek 32 Review
Despite the usual suspects Almiron and Martinez blanking, Atlanta United still managed to take the three points against New England Revolution (2-1) to stay top, but they are closely followed by NYRB who won their away match at San Jose (1-3). In a similar situation to Atlanta, FC Dallas remained top in the West by eliminating Orlando City in a 2-0 win, while SKC booked their tickets for the postseason by drawing (1-1) with LA Galaxy. Both Portland Timbers and Philadelphia Union maintained fourth position in their Conferences with big wins over RSL (1-4) and Minnesota United (5-1) respectively. Vancouver Whitecaps knocked out Toronto FC (1-2) from the playoff contest and LAFC kept hopes up with an away victory (0-3) vs Colorado Rapids. Rooney’s brace extinguished Chicago Fire (2-1) and moved DC United closer to the top six. The round ended with a game in which Victor Rodriguez scored his first MLS brace and with two more goals from Bruin and Roldan Seattle Sounders (4-1) eliminated Houston Dynamo from the playoffs.
Why not, Ilsinho?! 5-1. #PHIvMIN https://t.co/nXeDsANILm
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 7, 2018
Gameweek 33 Preview
As always, when the rest of the football world is on an international break MLS insists on keeping us entertained, even with a tiny round including just four games 😀
LAFC ( W 15 D 8 L 8 ) vs HOU ( W 9 D 8 L 14 )
Last week the Black and Gold booked their ticket for the playoffs and that didn’t come as a surprise after they’ve been outstanding throughout the season. With a win here, they will match the 56 points Atlanta achieved last year as a team in an inaugural season. And with their remaining two games afterwards they could surpass the record of 57 held by Chicago from 1988. Of course, the fight for a second place is included in their campaign, so they have much to play for. After almost three months, Diomande scored a brace to remind everyone of the time he scored nine goals in six games earlier in the season. The rest is a large pool of well-known players to choose from. Expect to see various formation including Vela or Rossi, plus Feilhaber, Nguyen, Zimmerman, Beitashour and others. As the first game in the round, Miller (10 clean sheets) would be ideal for your keeperoo.
Too easy for Dio & @LAFC!
3-0 to the visitors. #COLvLAFC https://t.co/fQvWZk8zAK
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 7, 2018
Houston need to win all their remaining games to be in with a chance of post-season participation. And even then, that will be dependent on the results from other teams. It looks more likely that they will be eliminated from the playoffs, either by defeat to Seattle in Round 32, or by defeat to the mighty Black and Gold in this round. Either way, it’s not recommended to pick any of their players for this fixture.
MIN ( W 11 D 3 L 17 ) vs COL ( W 6 D 6 L 19 )
This will be a game between two teams already out of the post-season contest and with nothing to play for. That said, in games like this quite a few goals can be scored for fun and, if that is the case, most likely they will come from the host team. Even in a small round like this we still need 15 players and apart from the expected picks from the other games the likes of Ibarra, Quintero and a defender could appear in some teams.
DCU ( W 11 D 8 L 11 ) vs DAL ( W 16 D 9 L 6 )
Since the arrival of Wane Rooney we have seen a totally different DC United. The Black and Red are unbeaten in their last six games and are now standing only two points behind sixth-placed Montreal, with still another game in hand after this one. We hardly need to mention that Rooney will be in every team, accompanied by L. Acosta, plus others.
The Texans are currently topping the Western Conference but with SKC and LAFC not far behind they will need six points from their remaining three fixtures (which includes this one) to secure a top two place. In contrast to their excellent home record, the one on the road is not perfect. They have two losses and two draws in the last five.
2⃣ more goals for @WayneRooney, 3⃣ more points for @dcunited. pic.twitter.com/kKAWEGJE63
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 8, 2018
NE ( W 8 D 11 L 12 ) vs ORL ( W 7 D 4 L 19 )
The last game of this rather short round will surely see the Revs going all out, following their loss at Atlanta last week, as anything less than a win will see them eliminated. Given the calibre of the opponents, no doubt a home win is expected here and players like Penilla, Fagundez and Bunbury will be popular. Knighton has played the last five games in goal and made 26 saves in them. He is reasonably priced and can be used as last resort in the keeperoo.
It’s hard to remember the last time the Lions won a game [Ed. It was the 15th July; 2-1 at home against Toronto]. They have shipped 14 goals on the road in the last five games and that bad record is only likely to increase in this game.
Captain Suggestions
1. Wayne Rooney (DCU)
2. Carlos Vela (LAFC)
3. Cristian Penilla (NE)
Deadline
Friday 12.10.18 at 10PM EDT – Saturday at 3AM BST
Best of luck to all Managers.
Thanks for reading: MLS Tips Fantasy Major League Soccer GW33. This article was written by Ivan The Terrible
***New MLS Article***
Many thanks Ivan and of course Chips. Is that just a couple left for you now? Really hoping they looks at these rules properly for next season and I can start to play again.
When this does finish do you both want to take a bit of a rest or would you like adding onto the regular FPL rotas? Have a chat and let me know as I’m doing the next batch of rotas (GW9 through to Christmas) imminently. There are spots open on any of them for you if you want in, as I say though have a natter and let me know.
Cheers init. The final day of the regular season is on the 28th. Of course, there are playoffs after that but the games are not included in the fantasy game. We’ll definitely have a chat and let you know.
Please do mate and let me know asap if you can as I’ll need to do those rotas by Wednesday I think. It’s not a weekly job though so not as taxing as this, it usually means an article about once a month or so depending on which one you want to do – Capos, Fixtures and Tips are the 3 btw.
No probs init. We will email you by tomorrow night.
WARNING
For all MLSers
Due to international call ups some key players from the last game tonight could be missing. If you have any of them (especially from Seattle) and if for some reason you are still awake before the 3.30 AM K.O in the UK check the lineups.
https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sounders/sounders-head-into-important-houston-clash-minus-some-key-regulars/
Thanks for the heads-up Ivan. This will potential derail my already horrendous gameweek, as I am significantly behind in both my H2H comps, with 4 SEA players still to play.
As this is the last round to qualify for H2H playoffs, I’ll need to set an alarm for the lineups tonight
Well done chaps, great job as ever.
Many thanks Ivan and Chips!
I see Wazza has settled nicely and has found his level!
Thanks Cookie. He certainly has and quickly turning into a MLS star.
Has he replaced Villa, BWP etc to become the ‘must have’?
Villa has been disappointing this season. BWP is still very reliable. I would rank Roo up there with BWP. The nice run of home fixtures seem to be helping him too.
Lodeiro 13 points for one assist. Because MLS !
Otieno, unlike FPL players in FMLS get awarded properly 😉
Minutes played-2
Assists-3
Passes-2
Key passes-1
Crosses-1
Big chances created-2
Recovered balls-1
Was fauled-1
Total=13.
I suppose I didn’t complain when Zusi kept giving the ball away early in the season and i was getting loads of recovery points. Just wanted a whinge because it cost me my H2H against GM
I really hope Lodeiro’s points get adjusted. If it goes up by 1pt, I will tie my H2H and end up in the playoffs. If it goes down by 1pt then GM will tie his H2H instead of winning, which would also get me in the playoffs. Otherwise, I miss out for the sake of a single point 🙁
Isn’t there another week before playoffs? I’ve not been against Potty yet
It’s updated on the site now Dave. Playoffs start 3wks from the end of season, regardless of whether we’ve actually all played against each other or not.
It’s the quarter finals, so the top 8 teams are matched up in the playoffs. I was mistaken in thinking it was just the top 4 (which is lucky for me, as I’m only 5th 🙂 )
Ok that’s a bonus for me too as I was 6th. I was just about to post my first draft but better not now as I don’t know who I’ll be against
You’re playing Ivan 😀
Presumably I’ll play 3rd (Ivan) and he’ll be posting his team so to be fair I’ll not change my choices unless nonstarters My team is :
V – R – P
F – S – A – A – C
B – Z – B – B – M
S – K
Good luck
That’s very sportsmanlike of you Dave.
Most teams will likely be very similar this week anyway, given there are only 4 matches to choose from. It will be hard to find a differential :manic:
Chipster, I think we can easily decode David’s cryptex :lurker: 😉
Great article Ivan. Short turn-around for this GW. You should have comfortably thrashed your mini league opponent as I think you got highest in the league. All the best for this GW
Thanks Shrivathsa. This time was better, managed 98 points which moved me back closer to top 100. Three crucial rounds to go.
Best of luck mate!!!
Wish you the same Ivan.
In my ML quarter finals, the funny thing is that all of the top four lost to those between 5-8. I squeaked through by 2 points, so, now, onward to semifinals.
Wish you the very best in winning your ML.