For the purposes of this article, all prices and points are via our partners Mondogoal.
"Successful design is not the achievement of perfection, but the minimization and accommodation of imperfection" -- Henry Petroski
Now, why would I start this article off with a quote like that? Due to the state of football this week, with most leagues taking a week off for international play, we find ourselves applying this quote to the MLS. The MLS has never been a slave to popular trends. Big leagues play in the from the autumn to spring? Well the MLS is going to play from the spring to the fall. Larger leagues take a whole week off for international play? The MLS will let ten teams have a week off and make the other ten teams play normal league fixtures.
So what this quote means in this situation is that when it comes to football, and more specifically fantasy football, the MLS has given us an unsuccessful design to play with. In the year-long game, we're left facing a week of half of our core players simply not being available for selection - and the teams that are playing are missing their international superstars. Enter daily fantasy football. The minimization and accommodation of this imperfect schedule is found in daily fantasy football. In daily fantasy football, you really don't have to worry yourself over the schedule design of the league.
And all of that was just a fancy way of saying that we have a few caveats to deal with this week because the MLS is really testing the moxie of its fan base that play in fantasy events.
Like I said, ten teams are simply not playing this week, and one game on Sunday is going to be excluded from fantasy contests. The teams that are playing are:
New England v Orlando
Montreal v Chicago
Seattle v Toronto
San Jose v Philadelphia
Columbus playing at home to FC Dallas is the game that is going to be excluded this week since it's a solitary game on a scheduled day. So without further ado here are MLS Fantasy Tips
Inactive Players From Available Teams
Before we get into the meat of the article, we have to tell you that even though the eight teams listed above look good on paper, there will be more than a few key omissions from their squads. You can browse the complete list of players called up
HERE.
But some of the big players you're going to want to exclude from your rosters are: Laurent Ciman (Montreal), Kaka (Orlando), Cyle Larin (Orlando), Darwin Ceren (Orlando), Sanna Nyassi (San Jose), David Accam (Chicago), Marco Pappa (Seattle), Roman Torres (Seattle), Cordell Cato (San Jose), Jozy Altidore (Toronto) and Matt Polster (Chicago).
Add to that, Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley (from Seattle and Toronto) are scheduled to only play on September 9 against Brazil -- so their status remains questionable for this weekend's game. Also, Sebastian Giovinco was called up to the Italian squad, but he's dealing with an injury and was called off, so he won't be featuring this weekend either.
And of course, there are many more names on the list for this weekend, so I encourage you to review them all prior to finalizing your rosters. But we're in a bit of a pickle here this week aren't we? Forget trying to come in under your $100,000,000 budget for building a team -- we may struggle to hit $90,000,000 with all of the stars that are gone from the games. With all that being said, let's try to make some sense of this mess and build a winning squad.
Clean Sheet Potential
The first three games on the list are actually slated to have some high scoring in them. The game that stands out from the bookies' lines to be low scoring is actually the San Jose v Philadelphia match. It shouldn't be a surprise considering the form that San Jose have been in. Of course, all of the bookies' lines could be for naught because we're going to see a lot of replacement players this weekend, and it's anybody's guess how well those players will perform once they get a taste of the spotlight. Some will shine and others will fail, it will be fun to watch either way.
#1) GOALKEEPER AND DEFENDER TIPS
Your number one goalkeeper this week has to be San Jose's
David Bingham ($9.2). Sure he's the most expensive keeper on the board, but what else are you going to spend your money on this week? And it's not like Bingham doesn't have the goods to back up his price. In the last four matches, Bingham is averaging 11.17 points per game. San Jose have simply defied all odds and come on strong in the most pivotal point of the season.
You could also look at
Bobby Shuttleworth ($5.9) from New England. The Revs haven't been anything special lately, but Orlando traveling without Kaka, Ceren and Larin could only mean good things for New England. Really, who is Orlando going to score with? If you wanted to buck the trend of slotting Bingham into goal, Shuttleworth is the best hunch play that you could replace him with.
In defense, and pairing nicely with Bingham, would be
Clarence Goodson ($9.2). Again, San Jose have seen many players spike in price due to their recent form - but that price is really indicative of how strong they've been. Goodson has averaged 9.2 points per game over his last four matches, and meeting Philly this weekend on a cross-country trip should spell good things for San Jose owners.
If you wanted to go with Shuttleworth though, a good pairing with him would be
Andrew Farrell ($7.9). Farrell's last two scores are 9.89 and 8.5, and this trend of scoring should continue against Orlando this weekend.
Attacking Potential
This is a bit of a toss-up, to be honest. Sure, Seattle looks to be the strongest bet for good attacking because Toronto are awful on defense -- and because Obafemi Martins is healthy and playing in a home fixture (which usually mean good things). But San Jose also look to be good in attack this week with Philly having a tough time defending on the road. And New England could surprise a few people will how heavily they're favored over a stripped down Orlando side.
#2) MIDFIELDER TIPS
Lee Nguyen ($14.4) should be everybody's first pick, without question. Nguyen was left of the USMNT roster and his recent form would suggest that he probably still deserves a spot. Nguyen has posted double-digit scores for six straight matches (giving him a 13.98 points per game average during that span). Without a stout attack, Orlando will probably struggle to keep the ball out of their half -- and that can only mean good things for Nguyen.
Shea Salinas ($7.8) from San Jose is going to be a real steal this weekend at his price. He has three straight weeks now of 13+ points, and he's scored in each of his last two games. The interplay between midfield and attack that San Jose has fostered these last few weeks is no longer a fluke. San Jose have figured out how to win with the players they have, and the results have been impressive.
As a hunch play, keep an eye on
Ignacio Piatti ($12.2) from Montreal. All reports say that Piatti has been training with the team after his injury and looks to be available this weekend. If he's on the starting lineup sheet, it's hard not to take him -- he is only three matches removed from his monstrous 24.7 point game. If healthy, he's a key player for any squad. You'll have to pay close attention to the starting lineups since Montreal are the second game to kick off, but you should have time to swap him in before the first game causes your event to close.
#3) FORWARD TIPS
We've already mentioned him, but Seattle's
Obafemi Martins ($12.6) is the key forward in the game this weekend that isn't called up to international play. In his last two home matches, Martins has tallied totals of 13.05 and 19.6 points. He's affordable right now, and outside of a better superstar to buy, you'll probably see him in every squad you face off with this weekend.
Your next biggest choice will be deciding between which of the two San Jose forwards you want; will you pick
Chris Wondolowski ($10.3) or
Quincy Amarikwa ($8.6)? Both names are hard to spell, so I decided to combine them into one section here to minimize my typing errors. But in all seriousness, one of these guys is going to score this weekend -- in fact, both of them might score. The hard part is predicting which man will take front and center because they share the wealth so well. Wondo is in better form lately with three goals in his last three matches, but Quincy has shown he's capable of nabbing a brace himself. See what I did there? I used their nicknames to make it easier on myself.
Finally, as with Piatti, there are reports that
Didier Drogba ($5.7) has been training with Montreal's first team and should be available for selection this weekend. It's not clear yet whether he'll start or not, but Montreal have a grueling schedule coming up, and they're going to need their new striker to start logging minutes. If Drogba plays, he has the talent to make Chicago look foolish. Again, check the lineups to be sure before adding him.
#4) Formation Tips
I honestly don't know which formation will be the most successful this weekend, but I'm leaning to using all three forwards and just throwing Seattle and San Jose up front with all I can muster. It's going to be a strange week, and make no mistake, some player that we've never heard of will probably nab a goal or two and we'll be left wondering how we could've possibly known that player would go off for major points. It's a bit of a crap shoot for the role players on the teams this week, but I think if we stick to the basics and buy the proven commodities, we should be just fine.
After all, your competition may not be reading this article, and they're going to buy up all sorts of players that aren't even in the country this week. So you're already ahead of the game.
