MLS GW34 Tips – Fantasy Major League Soccer

*NOTE* Game-week 34 starts Sunday at 5.00PM ET (USA), that’s 9.00PM in the UK.

Well here we are, the end of the road. We began this MLS journey all the way back on March 6 with a match between LA and Chicago. LA won that match 2-0 with goals by Keane and Villareal — and Omar Gonzalez earned a clean sheet and an assist. And that scoreline was probably the last predictable occurrence that the MLS season had in store for us for the entire season.

Ever since that match, we’ve been treated to some bizarre schedules and results. We’ve had frustrations and more DGW’s to navigate than any manager should ever have to plan for. But there were good things too. We got to see Cyle Larin break the rookie scoring record. We got to see Kaka and David Villa score goals on U.S. soil. And we were treated to Sebastian Giovinco completely shattering the previous American ideal of what soccer/football/futbol could be for our domestic league.

And all of that leads us here. We’re now nearly done. Even though the playoffs will stretch into the winter months, the fantasy season is nearly at an end for us all. Some folks will be lost without their weekly MLS fix, and some of us will finally be able to give our FPL teams a bit of the attention they deserve. No matter how you feel about the MLS regular season coming to an end, you can’t deny it’s been a fun ride. So without any further ado, let’s get into the advice this week.

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#1) This week’s playing field

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[/three_fourth]Even when the MLS gets the schedule right, they still manage to get it wrong. This week, all of our matches will be played on Sunday. The Eastern Conference matches will kick off at 5PM ET, and the Western Conference matches will kick off at 7PM ET. It should be noted that the Chicago vs NYRB match has been moved back into the Western Conference times because Dallas and NY are both in contention for the Supporters Shield.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a pretty exciting day of games. And somehow, the MLS found a way to coordinate all of the matches into a proper end-of-year format. The only problem is that they scheduled all of the matches smack dab in the middle of the NFL coverage. And for those of us that have to fight for viewing priority, that could be an issue.

It’s just an odd choice of day. Nobody goes up against the NFL and tries to land good ratings. But it is what it is. Just be aware of the start times and the fact that all of the games will be played on a single day this week.

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#2) #BecauseMLS

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[/three_fourth]We coined this hashtag over here on our FMLSFI podcast. Essentially it means that when something that happens that simply doesn’t make sense, it happens…because MLS. A few possible examples:

– You captain Feilhaber on a double and he gets a red card in the first half of the first game…because MLS.

– DC United refuse to start the same eleven players at any point during a DGW…because MLS.

– Poku scores well in a pair of games and gets benched for old man Lampard…because MLS.

You get the idea. Basically, this running line is our fantasy soccer version of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a redneck” gag. Some things in the MLS will just never make sense. Look at the final game of GW33 between SKC and Colorado as a prime example. Colorado are in last place, and SKC could have sealed up a decent playoff spot with a win. But incredibly, Colorado won the match 2-0 after going down a man. The result? SKC are now in sixth place in the West and they need a win to maintain that position. SKC couldn’t fend off the last place team at home…because MLS.

What I’m trying to say is this: before I give you the scenarios for which teams are really playing for something, understand that the MLS loves to keep you guessing. You simply can’t plan for a team like Colorado showing up and winning on the road like that in these final games. That being said, even though the league loves to be random, it’s still better to have a plan than not have one.

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#3) The playoff picture

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[/three_fourth]The MLS website has a great little primer on the possible playoff scenarios HERE so I won’t go over every point that they have laid out. But what I will say is that there are plenty of teams that still have a sufficient amount of motivation to play hard this weekend. Of the twelve playoff spots up for grabs, four are still up in the air — and the eight teams that have already clinched will be jockeying for that first round bye. Really, outside of the teams that have already been eliminated, every team still has something to play for.

The teams that you might want to watch out for this week when picking your teams are obviously going to be the teams that aren’t playing for anything. In a league without relegation, the teams that didn’t make the playoffs are simply going through the motions at this point. Some coaches will undoubtedly trot out their stars from these teams to give the fans one final show. But other coaches will mess with the lineups to give the younger talent a chance to prove that they belong on the team next year. Really, it’s anybody’s guess as to how hard these eliminated teams will play on Sunday.

From the Eastern Conference, NYCFC, Philadelphia and Chicago have all been knocked out (and Orlando are only hanging on by the thinnest of margins). Most people have already abandoned trying to play with any Philly or Chicago players on their teams — but over 15% of all players still have David Villa on their teams from NYC. Truthfully, I’m not sure what to expect out of NYC this weekend. Will Villa, Lamps and Pirlo give it one more go this Sunday? Or do Poku and Angelino get more of the focus? Unless you’re an NYC insider, it’s probably best to drop any player from this team and focus on the teams that are still in contention.

From the West, Houston, RSL and Colorado are completely out of playoff contention (San Jose still have a great chance of making the playoffs – so don’t count them out yet). Colorado being on the outside looking in doesn’t come as a surprise to anybody who has watched the league for any length of time — but Houston and RSL are surprising teams to see at the bottom of the table.

Getting rid of your Houston and Colorado players will be an easier call than selling off your RSL selections (re: Jorales). If you still have a player like Brad Davis or Will Bruin, you simply sell them off and get in a player from a better team. But what do you do with Javier Morales? Morales, if he’s on your team, is costing you $12.3 for his roster spot. It’s a tough call. Morales might still come out and produce good points simply for pride. But at his cost…I’d say you have to sell him and spread that money around a bit for your final week.

Outside of those teams listed, all other teams will have sufficient motivation to play at full strength this weekend.

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#4) Player picks

Without the benefit of a bye week or DGW to steer this section, I’m just going to give you my top picks with complete bias and prejudice from the teams and players I like. I can’t cover every team and every player. So the fact that I don’t mention somebody like Michael Barrios from Dallas doesn’t mean that I’m not endorsing picking him (by the way, he’s totally a steal at $8.4 — and he’s averaging 6.8 points per game over his last five). There are just too many players and scenarios to have to account for.

In Giovinco we trust. His $13.6 price tag is still astounding, but the 242 points he racked up this year are no joke. Let’s face it, Giovinco is the greatest talent that the MLS has ever seen. Period. We’ve all seen Landon Donovan dominate in LA. We’ve seen Beckham and Villa and Kaka come in late in their careers. But not one of those players has ever matched Giovinco’s combined totals in goals and assists in a single year. Currently sitting at 22 goals and 15 assists, Giovinco played well enough in an American league to still garner a call-up to the Italian national team. He’s simply the best we’ve ever seen in our league. And because of all of this, he’s the most obvious captain choice. He’s so good, I may start to learn some basic Italian just on the off-chance he’ll play a game in Portland and I might get the chance to say a few words to him as he come out of the tunnel.

Fanendo Adi, for reals? Adi went off this last week, and a sputtering Portland team has now put itself into a position to actually have a chance at overtaking both Vancouver and LA for the second spot in the West if the chips fall a certain way. Adi is going to cost you $9.9, but right now he may be worth the investment. He scored 24 points in this last DGW — and even though his penalty shot looked a bit shaky, all of his goals felt inevitable. Portland has very quietly abandoned the notion that a single striker system is the way to go, and Adi is reaping the rewards of having a player like Lucas Melano up top close to him giving him service.

Robbie Keane will score on Sunday, I’m calling it. LA travel to SKC to play their final game, and SKC are just a complete mess again. Every time SKC starts to tidy up a bit they go and do something stupid like lose to Colorado. And now they get to face Robbie Keane who just watched his two goal effort against Portland count for nothing. LA will need to win this match to ensure the bye in the first round of the playoffs. And for old dudes like Keane and Gerrard, it’s probably more critical for them to achieve a bye than for nearly any other duo in the league. If Keane plays even his standard game, SKC could be in trouble. If you want to be a hipster and not captain Giovinco because everybody else is, then I suspect that Robbie Keane is your man.

Cyle Larin will look to cement his rookie scoring record this week; the previous mark for an MLS rookie was 11 goals, and that was set in 2003 by Damani Ralph. Larin comes into this weekend now with 17 goals in his maiden campaign, and he’s already on a good path to ensuring that his record may not be broken for decades to come. Considering that Larin has six goals in his last three weeks, he’s really showing that he’s actually in the best form of his season. Added bonus: the miracle that Orlando needs to qualify for the playoffs is to erase a -8 GD and a New England loss. If Larin and his squad could somehow put 4 or 5 scores on the board this weekend, they’d at least give themselves a chance.

Jorge Villafana is a steal for $6.5. Portland will be entertaining Colorado this week — and really nobody expects Colorado to pull off back to back road games with wins in each. Colorado were fortunate against an SKC team in disarray, but Portland should be solid this week. Portland finding a bit of offense is only going to aid their defensive side — and let’s face it, they held LA to a pair of goals last week. That’s always a tough ask. I singled out Villafana because he’s now come back into form with his scoring. His last two outings have seen returns of 7 points each — and I think he can build on that this weekend with a probable clean sheet.

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#5) The wrap-up

There you have it, guys. The final MLS article of the year. Like I said, I could’ve written a paragraph on 20-30 players that will be contending this weekend, but I had to pick my personal top 5. The main thing is that the MLS has really gifted us with a competitive final weekend — so you can safely put in any of your favorite guys and expect to see some good returns.

Let me just say that it’s been an absolute honor writing for you all this year. Having this platform was a real blessing. I really can’t wait to do this all again next year. I really hope that my advice and tips didn’t treat you too badly — and even if they did, I would just claim #BecauseMLS as my defense.

Good luck this week guys.

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MLS GW34 Tips – Fantasy Major League Soccer This article was written by Guy Sanchez (FootyFantastic)

Follow @Guy_M_Sanchez



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A word from FF247…

Our special thanks to Guy

We just wanted to take this opportunity at the end of the MLS season to extend a special thank you to Guy himself for his truly fantastic articles and also for becoming a part of our community this season. He only joined up part way through this MLS season but that was mainly our fault for not spotting his immense talent earlier. His articles speak for themselves in terms of both writing quality and actual fantasy advice which are the two things in combination that we try to pride ourselves on at FF247. We hope Guy enjoyed it as much as we did and we will welcome him back next year with open arms if he doesn’t get any better offers in the meantime! In the interim, Guy is a man of many fantasy talents and as such we are delighted that he will be joining our Captain Picks writing team for the rest of the FPL season. Cheers Guy!

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Good luck FF247, the MLS variety!

We don’t often (ever) mention how our own site team is faring in MLS which is odd because we do a whole article telling you how bad our EPL team is doing every week!!! This week is different though as we have been quietly playing along all season and you’ll never guess what? We only find ourselves #1 in the world going into the final GW! Credit for this goes pretty much entirely to Mito although if you ask him how he’s done it you’d be quite shocked…

Either way we find ourselves sat with the slenderest of 2 point leads but this is fairly amazing given that the guy we’ve been chasing nearly all season had a 30 odd point lead going into last week. In some respects we feel for Dan as he’s been up there for ages but got a mauling this week! If he goes on to reclaim that spot then fair play to him and in typical FF247 fashion we will shake his virtual hand and say well done. In the meantime we hope we absolutely batter him!

In the picture you may well have noticed that Mito’s own team is also doing rather well as is our good friend and sometime writer Chins. In fact it was brought to our attention that we are represented in the top 100 overall by no less than 8 site members! Well done to FF247 (1st), Mito (4th), Chins (6th), Init (24th), Pathetico Morbid (51st), Griff (56th), Fergies Henchman (67th) and the man himself Guy (79th).

Thanks for reading our MLS articles this season and we hope you enjoyed the ride. Good luck this week to all.