We all like to score points in fantasy. What I mean is, that is the point of fantasy. If you’re not scoring points then you’re losing, and no one likes that. Most of us probably won’t crack the top 100 in the Global Overall league. In fact, I’d be happy to just hit the top 1,000. However, we all have the capability to achieve #1 in our private leagues against our friends, coworkers, and fellow club supporters. I am here to help you achieve that by recommending the Best Bang for the Buck Options at each position (Price paid/Points earned).

Week 4 Value Play Examples (Week 4 price) –

Goalkeeper: Paying $6.1 for Robles NY who scored 9 pts compared to paying $4.5 for Van Oekel RSL who scored 8 pts

Defender: Paying $6.0 for Delamea NE who scored 2 pts compared to paying $5.1 for Long NY who scored 12 pts.

Midfielder: Paying $7 for Fagundez NE who scored 14 pts compared to paying $10.3 for Valeri POR who scored 1 pt.

Forward: Paying $8.4 for Agudelo NE who scored 14 pts compared to paying $10 for BWP NY who scored 4 pts.

Recap of Week 4 Value suggestions: Big win was suggesting Nguyen NE going off for 12 points, tied for third most points of the round by any player. It would have been an even bigger win had I remembered so save my team after my final tinker on Friday. I had put in Fagundez NE in my line up as well on Friday only to look at my team Saturday after New England and Minnesota had started to see my initial team from Monday. Big swing and a miss was mentioning Delamea NE who only scored 2 points. Technically I only mentioned Delamea in my 3 Part Confession/Suggestion of Beltran, so if you’re gonna hold Delamea against me, you gotta give me credit for suggesting Real’s defenders; FlashBack:

“you should at least consider a team full of cheap defenders (they’re all priced under $5) playing against a team that has only scored 2 of their 4 goals themselves.”

I’m considering Steffen CLB a push, while he only scored 3 points, he was still the 3rd highest scoring Goalkeeper in the round. My biggest regret last week is not mentioning Warner MIN, who had the fourth highest Midfielder score for the week. Seriously, I even had a short write up done for him: he’s cheap and he’s played all 270 (now 360) possible minutes for the season, so he’ll at least get you 2 points. I decided to swap him out for Trapp CLB, so of course Warner went and got a goal!! So the grand lesson from this round is that maybe you and I should have more confidence in my suggestions.

Here’s my running tally of suggestions: Price Increases – 4, Price Decreases – 2, No Price Change – 26. Practice Makes Perfect so lets look at Week 5!

This is the last week before Double Game Weeks start. I’ve got XI players for you to consider this week. Colorado and Dallas are not playing this week, everyone else is.

*Weekly disclaimer, I’m not saying these choices will perform better than high priced Howard, Bradley, Dempsey or Pulisic; these are simply value plays so that you can still squeeze Howard, Bradley, Dempsey and Pulisic all into you starting XI (#USMNT #RoadtoRussia2018 #USAvsPanamaTonight).

Goalkeepers My favorites for goalkeeper this week are Gleeson POR, Blake PHI and Irwin TOR. The three are hovering around $5.5, $0.7 cheaper than Robles NY. Below are two even cheaper options to consider.

Bendik ORL $5.0 – Sure Columbus has scored in every game so far, but I think Orlando’s defense is better than both Houston and Chicago and they only allowed a goal each. I would be surprised if Orlando allowed more than one goal.

Deric HOU ($5.0) – Sure Houston has allowed 6 goals so far this season, but they came from top attacking teams Seattle (1 goal), Columbus (1 goal) and Portland (4 goals). Houston is playing against a team that has only scored 2 of their 4 goals themselves (hmm… that sounded familiar).

Defenders Toronto has some of the highest fantasy scoring defenders going against a Kansas City team that’s been lacking in goals. Problem is both Morrow and Moor cost over $6, so they’re not exactly value options.

Zavaleta TOR $5.0 – While Moor and Morrow are some of the most expensive defenders, Zavaleta is over a $1 cheaper, while only scoring 1 and 2 points less than his high priced teammates.

Long NY $5.3 – What’s not to like about Long? He’s the highest scoring defender while being almost a full $1 cheaper than Morrow TOR, Pirez ATL, and Chanot NYC. Plus he’s playing against a Houston team that might be without forward Quioto who got injured during play against USA on Friday.

Powell POR $5.0 – Last week I berated Powell for a dismal 1 point performance in a 4-2 home win, he responds by crushing it with a 10 point performance in a 3-2 away loss. Portland is against New England this week, I’m hoping for a clean sheet.

Midfielders Raise your hand if you’re gonna start Valeri even after his bad performance against Columbus?

Guzman POR $7.7 – Speaking of Portland, did you see who they’re playing against? It’s New England, they allowed two goals to the Loons even when Minnesota was missing three of their starting midfielders. I’m loading up on Timbers. Caution Guzman is on international duty; if Portland chooses to rest him this weekend, Chara is a good replacement choice and cheaper.

Godoy SJ $7.3 – Godoy is playing for Panama tonight and is against NYC this weekend. I would be surprised if Earthquakes rested Godoy, but New York City has only allowed 2 goals. It’s hard not to play the third highest fantasy scoring player, just keep expectations low this week.

Wallace NYC $7.9 – Same story as Godoy, Wallace plays for Costa Rica tonight, caveat is that San Jose has allowed twice as many goals as New York City. Another consideration is that NYC has been playing a 4-3-3 formation with Wallace up top to the left of Villa, no wonder he has a goal in each of the last two games.

Forwards Did you see how excited and happy Dempsey was to be back with the national team on Friday? There’s no way he’s gonna sit out the home game against Atlanta this weekend. Here’s three cheap choices to pair with him.

Sapong PHI $7.6 – He’s scored against Toronto and Orlando in back to back games, he now gets a chance against DC United. This is a DC United team that gave New York City 4 of their 5 goals for the season.

Movsisyan RSL $7.3 – Real is playing against the loons. I know Salt Lake has only one goal on the season, but they’re playing against Minnesota! Even New England scored 5 goals against Minnesota. Anyone else still not convinced to included Movsisyan in their starting XI?

Barnes ORL $7.5 – I like Orlando this week more than I did Portland last week against Columbus. The only team not to score against Columbus has been DC United. Portland scored twice against Columbus even while missing Guzman and Nagbe. No one from Orlando was called up for international games, so they should all be rested and itching to play.

There you have it, XI value options for Week 4.

Please provide constructive feedback in the form of comments, questions, agreements or disagreements on what I’ve said.