For the purposes of this article, all prices and points are via our partners Mondogoal.
After that speed bump that was the midweek matches (about the only good thing that came out of that was the Houston clean sheet), we get to look forward to Saturday and a full slate of action to build some daily fantasy teams. Unfortunately, we didn't get the Orlando v NYRB game to choose from this week -- because having seven goals in an MLS game is a real treat for fantasy owners. But we may yet have some big scoring action to partake in. Here's what we get to choose from this weekend:
9/26/15 (Saturday) matches:
Toronto v Chicago
Montreal v DC
Columbus v Portland
New England v Philadelphia
Houston v Colorado
Vancouver v NYCFC
Clean Sheet Potential
Houston have the biggest chance to repeat with a clean sheet on Saturday; with Colorado coming to town you shouldn't expect big goal output from the road side. Also on an outside chance, Montreal and New England have a small shot at keeping the game low for their opposition.
#1) GOALKEEPER AND DEFENDER TIPS
Houston are just coming off a shutout of SKC. As predicted, the heat and congested schedule worked against SKC on Wednesday allowing Houston to put relatively minimal effort into keeping their opponent to nil. This weekend sees Colorado come to town, and Colorado have only scored a single goal in three of their last five road matches -- and they've been shutout of two of the five. In short, Colorado just aren't prolific on the road (nor at home for that matter) and we're giving the nod to Houston to keep consecutive clean sheets on their record.
For that reason,
Tyler Deric ($4.4) is our top pick once again. Not only is Deric insanely cheap, but his posted score of 10.8 points in his last match make him a great value option with some serious upside. It's going to be key for Deric to keep the shutout or at least keep Colorado to one goal though -- based on Colorado's limp attack, don't expect many saves for Deric to bolster his score.
Pairing with Deric, try
DaMarcus Beasley ($8.6). Beasley is now healthy enough to play, and his score of 13.54 points in his last match meant that he was getting more involved in the attack as opposed to simply standing back and sponging on the clean sheet points.
If you're a bit unsure about Deric, go for
Bobby Shuttleworth ($5.8). New England will be entertaining Philadelphia this weekend, and Philadelphia are a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to road scoring. Philly has found little ways to get a goal or two in a few of their games, but they're only three matches removed from their last road shutout. Also, Philly are on the first leg of three straight road matches, so expect a bit of defeatism to set in for them. For these reasons, we like New England's keeper just slightly less than Deric this week.
If you wanted to pair with Shuttleworth, take the trusty standby
Andrew Farrell ($7.8). Farrell typically posts an average score of around 4-5 points, but when the defense is really clicking Farrell can reach the double digit scores like he had just four games ago.
If you're looking for a "defender that thinks he's an attacker" this weekend, you can always look at
Alvas Powell ($8.6) from Portland. The defender probably has zero chance of a clean sheet in an away match to Columbus, but he's currently the second highest ranked defender on the board in Fouls Won -- and his average score for the year is 6.97 points per match.
Attacking Potential
There is going to be all sorts of attacking potential this weekend. In fact, there will be so much attack that you'd be better off simply picking Deric from Houston just to save funds to spend up front. Toronto and Columbus will have the greatest chances to run up the score at home -- and if Drogba plays, he could always add to the Montreal scoreline.
#2) MIDFIELDER TIPS
Even though we just talked about the big teams, we still have to start with
Brad Davis ($9.5) from Houston. The Colorado match should line up nicely with his output recently, and I expect another decent score from him. Davis is posting an average score of 9.8 points over his last five matches, and I would have to think that he reaches at least that much and hits double digits against a Colorado team that is essentially just going through the motions at this point.
Toronto's
Michael Bradley ($10.3) is rarely the star of the show for Toronto, but he's starting to realize that his best role is keeping Giovinco supplied in the attack. Bradley is posting a decent 8.46 points per match over his last five, and against Chicago I expect him to have plenty of opportunities to make some key passes into Giovinco's feet.
In a game that's probably going to see quite a bit of action,
Darlington Nagbe ($9.6) is still leading all midfielders in Fouls Won and has posted an incredible average of 7.88 points per game on the year even though he rarely finds the back of the net. Nagbe is the prototypical daily fantasy option that doesn't rely on pure scoring to bolster his points -- and he should be a good option again this weekend.
#3) FORWARD TIPS
Kei Kamara ($14.6) is Columbus's number one option, and he's lighting up the scoreboards again in this final stage of the season. In his last two matches, Kamara has a total of three goals and scores of 16.75 and 20.69 points. Portland have a stout defense when they apply themselves, but I like Kamara's form over the Portland challenge. Expect at least double digit returns from the Columbus front man this weekend.
Sebastian Giovinco ($14.3) is slowly creeping up the price ladder again. His brace in his last match was worth 26.15 points -- and he's getting more decent shots on target to keep those scores inflated. Toronto are playing Chicago this weekend, and Chicago is still trying to find their footing with a new interim head coach. Expect Giovinco to lead Toronto one step closer to clinching their first ever playoff berth.
Kekutah Manneh ($9.2) is now four games removed from his brace, but he's still getting shots on goal and is still a pretty integral starter in the Vancouver system. Vancouver play at home this week against a very weak NYCFC defense -- and I'd expect a bit of fireworks out of the Vancouver attack. Manneh may not get the glory, but he'll get some hustle points for you and has a tremendous upside.
Good luck everybody! We hope to see you in the daily tournaments, join us next week for another MLS Fantasy Tips article!
