Dec 14

September 12-13 MLS Fantasy Tips � Daily Fantasy Football Tips

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For the purposes of this article, all prices and points are via our partners Mondogoal.  "Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise." -- Horace You see what I did there?  Another week, another quote.  Call me crazy, but I think it adds a bit of weight to the beginning of an article.  Maybe it's utterly pretentious though.  I don't know.  What I do know is that the quote this week fits our footballing situation perfectly.  To win in your daily leagues, you're going to have to mix a bit of boldness and a bit of wisdom.  I'm not going to lie, this week will be tricky.  Whereas many times we're left trying to figure out which role-players to choose to augment the the obvious superstar picks, this week we really have to figure out which superstars we're going to choose first.  It's been a while now since we've had to worry about the budget of building our teams, but this week will test our skills. This round we have both Saturday and Sunday exclusive events, and we'll look at players from both days. This week's matches are: Saturday, September 12 Philadelphia v Columbus Houston v Salt Lake Dallas v NYCFC Colorado v DC San Jose v Seattle LA v Montreal Sunday, September 13 Toronto v New England Orlando v Kansas City

Clean Sheet Potential

The odds-on favorites to have a low scoring game is actually San Jose v Seattle on Saturday and....that's about it.  This week the bookies are predicting a bunch of shoot-outs and high scoring affairs.  And that's not to say that we won't see the surprise clean sheet, but the odds makers are really looking towards the offensive prowess of the selections this week. But now that we know that, we can work with it.  The best bet is probably to pick a 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2 formation and not spend a ton of your budget in the back if you can help it.  Personally, aside from the relatively moderate scoring predicted for the San Jose match, I would look to Colorado to be a bit more defensively stout at home and for Orlando and SKC to be another match that could stay low.  Remember, SKC just played in Portland on Wednesday and now fly across the country to muggy Orlando (and they were held to zero goals in Portland).

#1)  GOALKEEPER AND DEFENDER TIPS

Saturday -- If you're going to follow the bookies' lead, San Jose's David Bingham ($8.3) is going to be your keeper of choice.  Make no mistake, Bingham is expensive -- and his negative points against Philly in his last game aren't doing him any favors in justifying that cost.  But if you look past that bizarre Philly result, Bingham had averaged 11.17 points per game in his four matches prior.  I tend to think that he'll be back on his game against a big divisional opponent, but the reunification of Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey will be worrying to those trying to buy Bingham. If you're just not sold on the San Jose man, try Clint Irwin ($6.6).  Colorado should fare better at home against DC than they did midweek on the road in Vancouver.  DC have only scored two goals over their last four matches -- and they've been shutout twice in that time frame.  Really, Irwin will be your value play just based on the opposition that he's facing. As for defenders, I like Sean St. Ledger ($7.7) pairing up with Irwin.  The DC fixture is just too good to pass up based on DC's recent form, and I think St. Ledger could find himself in some points this weekend.  If you did decide to pick up Bingham for your squad though, Clarence Goodson ($8.3) has been in great form lately.  Again, if you throw out that last match against Philly, Goodson was on an average score of 9.71 points per game in his three previous home fixtures.  And lastly, if you're looking to round out your squad with a bit more value in the back, Houston's David Horst ($6.8) is coming off of a 8.74 point performance in his last home match.  And since Houston are at home this week, he's worth a gamble for the price. Sunday -- The choice on Sunday's matches will really come down to one man, Sebastian Giovinco.  If Giovinco is listed as healthy and starts (and we'll get into this a bit later) then I would have to say that Orlando's Tally Hall ($3.6) playing against a road-weary SKC side is your man.  If Giovinco is still hurt and doesn't play in the Toronto v New England game, then you have to strongly consider going with Bobby Shuttleworth ($6.4).  I like Tally Hall simply for his value.  True, his point totals have been all over the map, but he generally does better at home.  And Hall's price of $3.6 is almost too good to pass up. But Shuttleworth, and New England in general, have really turned their season around a bit and seem to be on an upward trajectory lately.  However, if Giovinco plays for Toronto, the prospect of picking the goal keeper that has to defend his attack is very bleak.  Like I said, I like Hall for the value, but I'd prefer Shuttleworth if the conditions are right. For defenders, you have a more limited roster to choose from, but there are still some good picks.  I am really high on Kevin Ellis ($8.0) for SKC this week.  His presence in front of goal against Portland was huge for SKC, and his point total of 7.92 was well deserved.  If you wanted to pair with Shuttleworth though, I'd go for Andrew Farrell ($8.5).  Farrell has been fantastic over the last three weeks totaling 29.02 points.  Farrell has acted as a true defender, and he's not getting these points based on shots on target -- his 75 interceptions and 47 tackles on the year are a testament to that.

Attacking Potential

This week, a whole four matches are being pegged at an over/under line of 3 goals (by comparison, the typical goal total is usually 2.5 goals).  Many of these games are expected to have a serious amount of scoring.  Principally, LA at home is expected to produce goals - and nobody quite knows what Drogba will produce in an away match, but he could also boost the score in that game.  Philadelphia v Columbus and Dallas v NYCFC are also expected to be heavy scoring. In all reality, one avenue you could take is to really just select the bare minimum for your back line (especially on Saturday) and invest heavily up front.  Any of the picks listed above in the defenders section could potentially be subbed out by the cheapest defender on those teams' back lines.  But that's a decision that you'll have to make.

#2)  MIDFIELDER TIPS

Saturday -- Immediately throwing a wrench into your plans will be Seattle's Clint Dempsey ($16.8).  Now that the Dempsey and Martins combo is back together, we have to wonder if they will once again be nearly unstoppable as a tandem.  Dempsey scored 22.42 points in his last outing, but even with that huge tally, we have to wonder if his price is almost too much to bear.  And Seattle are playing away this week, so you have to take that into consideration.  The one thing I will say is this: if you choose to pick up Dempsey, you have to complete the combo and also pick up Martin.  These two players play off of each other so well that if you're going to pony up the price, you may as well get the max benefit while doing so. Another player to look at is Ignacio Piatti ($12.7).  Granted, like Dempsey in Seattle, Piatti will be on the road this week.  But Piatti now has the benefit of having a true striking threat ahead of him with Didier Drogba.  And let's be honest, we don't know how well Drogba will play on the road, but we do know that LA will have to game-plan for him.  No longer will Piatti be the lone figure that teams have to isolate.  So even in a road fixture, you have to wonder if a more free Piatti can produce points worthy of his price. And seeing as how LA are playing at home, you have to look at either Steven Gerrard or Sebastian Lletget ($12.1 and $9.4, respectively).  Any time LA are at home it's hard to not try to accommodate as many players into your side as possible.  The truly bold move would be to put both of these guys on your squad, but if you only need one, then the decision may come down the amount of money you have left to spend.  Gerrard is averaging more points per match, but Lletget is much kinder on the wallet, and he has the potential to nab a goal himself. The real value on Saturday is going to be Giovani Dos Santos ($6.5).  It's hard for me to think that some combination of the three main mids for LA isn't the way to go.  Dos Santos is grossly under-priced in the game, and he should be in every lineup you see this weekend. Sunday -- The real prize on Sunday is New England's Lee Nguyen ($15.0).  Nguyen has become fixture-proof and is killing defenses no matter where he plays.  As of his last match, Nguyen completed the rare feat of going seven straight matches with a double digit point total.  Sure he's expensive, but omit Nguyen from your team at your own peril. I'm going to avoid Benny Feilhaber ($11.1) this week.  Almost as the antithesis to Nguyen, Benny has gone four straight matches without even coming close to sniffing a double digit point tally.  And a long road trip to Orlando probably isn't the best time to bring him into your team -- especially since he's the second highest price on the board for his position. Instead, look to Michael Bradley ($10.7).  Toronto's main midfielder may have to pick up the slack in attack if Giovinco isn't able to go -- and since Toronto can't defend to save their lives, the only chance Toronto has to win is to outscore their opponents.  Look for Bradley to be extra aggressive this weekend.

#3)  FORWARD TIPS

Saturday -- Right off the bat, we have to get Robbie Keane ($15.0) into our squads.  The LA forward's last home game netted his owners a cool 32.28 points.  When Keane is at home, you make room for him on your squad.  It's that simple.  Expect him to be owned by most people in the leagues you play this weekend. Next, if you have money, you need to look at Clint Dempsey's better half and consider Obafemi Martins ($14.3).  Coming off of his 18+ point performance, you have to expect that he'll want to further extend his scoring streak.  It's going to be a tough go against San Jose, however.  Will he hit double digits this match?  It's possible, but it's going to take a leap of faith on your part to include him in your squad for his price. If you're looking for a bit of value to round out your squad up front, I would go with Sebastian LeToux ($7.0).  The Philly winger is looking to get back into the bigger scores this week at home, and I think that a match against a woeful Columbus defense may be just what he needs to get back on track. Sunday -- First and foremost, you have to check the starting lineup to see if Sebastian Giovinco ($13.4) is playing or not.  Giovinco has been dealing with an adductor injury that held him out of international play and his last match against Seattle.  Some reports say that he could be back this week, but it's all still very up in the air.  Assuming that he plays, you won't find a better value on the board. The rest of the choices for Sunday are pretty affordable up front.  After Dom Dwyer ($9.9), the next most expensive forward is Cyle Larin at $6.7.  And that's not expensive at all, really.  I would skip on Dwyer, he's been largely ineffective for SKC as of late.  But Larin could look to round back into some kind of form after his stint with the Canadian National Team.
  Saturday is going to be the real tough day.  Expect to see more varied lineups in your leagues than what we're used to seeing.  There are so many sleeper picks and outright superstars that it's going to be a fun round to play.  Obviously, we didn't cover Didier Drogba ($6.3) as a potential selection, but that's because we haven't really seen him in a road fixture yet.  So we'll wait to see how he does before giving him the nod in the next round. We hope to see you all in the league's this weekend.  Good luck all.