Week 8 proved to be exciting for midfielders. We saw great performances from Landon Donovan, Graham Zusi, Dax McCarty, and Diego Valeri. Also we saw the return of Marvin Chavez to the field for San Jose. Several of our picks this week are playing away. If you read our form charts from Monday, you know that most of the teams have awful away records. BUT, we feel that some injuries and current form could be enough to give these teams the edge they need to overcome the away field curse.

Big 3

Graham Zusi (SKC v POR) Brad Davis* (HOU vs COL), and Landon Donovan (RSL vs LA).

*Brad Davis suffered a minor groin injury last week, but there is currently no update to his status and we are not sure if he will play in week 9 or not. So, We’re also going to add Dax McCarty (TOR v NY)to our “Big 3” list this week.

Keep reading for the rest.

Andrew Jacobson (Dallas) vs Vancouver

Price: $6.4m

Owned by: 19.7%

We’re sure this is one of the more obvious picks, but we wanted to make sure people were aware of the two players that we feel offer the best value for the money. Jacobson is one of those players. He’s the most consistent of the three big Dallas midfielders. You can almost always expect Jacobson to get you at least 4 points and while the same could be said about Ferreira, Jacobson is almost $3m cheaper. But two important reminders 1) Dallas is play an away rematch against Vancouver this week and 2) they have a bye in week 10. So be sure you have coverage.

Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia) vs New England

Price: $6.4m

Owned by: 12.0%

Our other best value player is Okugo. If you look at his numbers, you can see that you can almost always count on getting 3 bonus points each game for his defensive performances. Many people loaded up their defenses with SKC players last week, but if you are looking to trim some fat to make room for someone like Donovan, Okugo is another ideal player to bring in.

Patrice Bernier (Montreal) vs Chicago

Price: $7.9m

Owned by: 11.6%

With a potential injury to Brad Davis and poor form or David Ferreira, we know some people will be looking to a replacement (though we do not recommend that when it comes to Davis). Bernier is a guys we think you should look at. His form has dipped some since the start of the year, but Montreal is a strong team this season and has an excellent home record. Chicago should be an easy game for them and a good chance got Bernier to get back on the score board.

Differential

Marvin Chavez (San Jose) vs Chivas

Price: $7.6m

Owned by: 1.2%

Last season, Chavez was a key player in the Earthquakes machine. His loss to injury at the start of this season was definitely a blow. But, last week he made his return and, literally, kicked it off with an excellent free kick into the box. He looks good to go and could soon return to the San Jose starting lineup. If it’s this week, then you and 1.2% of managers could benefit.

These are our picks, if you think there should be more names on this list, please leave a comment or come to r/FantasyMLS and comment on the post. You can also leave a message on our Facebook page or you can find us on Twitter @FantasyMLSTips. Keep checking back for more updates through the week for other positions