Reid, Mike and Blayne get a little verbose as they ramp up the conversation for the Round 4 bye-heavy round. This is a two-part episode because there was so much good conversation. The show starts with a review of the top fantasy points from Round 3, includes a fantasy take on the trouble in Atlanta, adds Blayne's thoughts on the new value system and ends with our housekeeping section focusing on the international window.

Week 4 of MLS Fantasy throws us the first curveball of the season as fantasy managers are forced to deal with a condensed schedule and multiple international absences. Despite the lack of options, we have some exploitable matchups to target when selecting our squad. Let’s take a closer look at the top players at each position to help your squad make some moves up the leaderboards.

Goalkeepers

Tyler Miller is the top GK option this week | USA Today Sports Images

Tyler Miller is in prime position to post his first shutout of the season, facing a battered Real Salt Lake attack on Saturday (10:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info) that has just two goals through three games and will be missing multiple key attackers due to suspension and international call-ups.

Rank Player Team Opponent Price 1 Tyler Miller LAFC vs. RSL $5.7 2 Luis Robles RBNY vs. ORL $5.9 3 Jesse Gonzalez DAL vs. COL $6.4 4 Brad Knighton NE vs. CIN $4.7 5 Carlos Miguel Coronel PHI vs. CLB $4.5 6 Joe Bendik CLB at PHI $4.5 7 Tim Howard COL at DAL $5.9 8 Spencer Richey CIN at NE $5.3 9 Brian Rowe ORL at RBNY $4.7 10 Nick Rimando RSL at LAFC $6.0

Defenders

Walker Zimmerman is averaging three bonus points per game to start the season and he has a good shot at contributing to a clean sheet against that depleted RSL front line. Combine that with his aerial threat on set pieces, and he gives us a high-upside defender that we can justify paying up for.

Rank Player Team Opponent Price 1 Walker Zimmerman LAFC vs. RSL $7.3 2 Reto Ziegler DAL vs. COL $6.7 3 Tim Parker RBNY vs. ORL $6.3 4 Steven Beitashour LAFC vs. RSL $5.9 5 Matt Hedges DAL vs. COL $7.5 6 Eddie Segura LAFC vs. RSL $5.6 7 Kyle Duncan RBNY vs. ORL $5.2 8 Jordan Harvey LAFC vs. RSL $5.5 9 Amro Tarek RBNY vs. ORL $4.8 10 Connor Lade RBNY vs. ORL $4.5 11 Gaston Sauro CLB at PHI $6.0 12 Auston Trusty PHI vs. CLB $5.6 13 Ryan Hollingshead DAL vs. COL $5.8 14 Edgar Castillo NE vs. CIN $5.6 15 Harrison Afful CLB at PHI $7.7 16 Antonio Delamea NE vs. CIN $5.4 17 Michael Mancienne NE vs. CIN $6.0 18 Marquinhos Pedroso DAL vs. COL $4.6 19 Brandon Bye NE vs. CIN $4.4 20 Jack Elliott PHI vs. CLB $4.8

Midfielders

Carles Gil has had a hot start to his MLS career | USA Today Sports Images

Carles Gil has wasted no time in establishing himself as New England’s top fantasy target this season. The former La Liga attacker has three goals in his first three games in MLS, and with the Revs desperate for a win on Sunday, we can expect him to continue to be active at home against expansion side FC Cincinnati (4 pm ET | TV & streaming info).

Rank Player Team Opponent Price 1 Carles Gil NE vs. CIN $9.7 2 Daniel Royer RBNY vs. ORL $8.0 3 Marco Fabian PHI vs. CLB $9.0 4 Lee Nguyen LAFC vs. RSL $8.2 5 Federico Higuain CLB at PHI $9.4 6 Marc Rzatkowski RBNY vs. ORL $7.5 7 Alex Muyl RBNY vs. ORL $6.7 8 Vincent Bezecourt RBNY vs. ORL $5.5 9 Nani ORL at RBNY $9.2 10 Paxton Pomykal DAL vs. COL $6.7 11 Diego Fagundez NE vs. CIN $6.8 12 Michael Barrios DAL vs. COL $7.6 13 Sean Davis RBNY vs. ORL $7.8 14 Santiago Mosquera DAL vs. COL $7.0 15 Kenny Saief CIN at NE $7.6 16 Eduard Atuesta LAFC vs. RSL $7.6 17 Andre Horta LAFC vs. RSL $7.5 18 Haris Medunjanin PHI vs. CLB $7.8 19 Artur CLB at PHI $7.9 20 Pedro Santos CLB at PHI $6.9 21 Damir Kreilach RSL at LAFC $7.6 22 Brenden Aaronson PHI vs. CLB $5.5 23 Wilfried Zahibo NE vs. CIN $5.4 24 Jacori Hayes DAL vs. COL $4.7 25 Leonardo Bertone CIN at NE $7.5 26 Kellyn Acosta COL at DAL $6.5 27 Roland Lamah CIN at NE $7.5 28 Scott Caldwell NE vs. CIN $5.4 29 Alejandro Bedoya PHI vs. CLB $6.6 30 Ilsinho PHI vs. CLB $5.6

Forwards

Carlos Vela has three goals and two assists over his last two games, and with a lack of standout options this week there’s no need to overthink rostering him at home against a RSL defense that was lit up for five goals in Week 3.

Rank Player Team Opponent Price 1 Carlos Vela LAFC vs. RSL $11.8 2 Adama Diomande LAFC vs. RSL $9.8 3 Bradley Wright-Phillips RBNY vs. ORL $10.8 4 Diego Rossi LAFC vs. RSL $9.1 5 Latif Blessing LAFC vs. RSL $6.9 6 Dominique Badji DAL vs. COL $6.5 7 Fafa Picault PHI vs. CLB $6.9 8 Teal Bunbury NE vs. CIN $6.7 9 Kei Kamara COL at DAL $9.3 10 Dom Dwyer ORL at RBNY $9.5 11 Kekuta Manneh CIN at NE $5.9 12 Juan Agudelo NE vs. CIN $5.5 13 Cristian Penilla NE vs. CIN $5.5 14 Patrick Mullins CLB at PHI $5.3 15 David Accam PHI vs. CLB $5.3 16 Juan Fernando Caicedo NE vs. CIN $8.1 17 Matias Jorgensen NYRB vs. ORL $6.7 18 Santiago Patiño ORL at RBNY $5.3 19 JJ Williams CLB at PHI $4.5 20 Andre Shinyashiki COL at DAL $4.7

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