Welcome to another Fantasy MLS Tips article. Guy Sanchez picks out his top five fantasy tips for Gameweek 2. Week 1 of the MLS season was just as we expected it to be.  It was about 50% according to script, and 50% was just madness and left turns and surprises.  But that's why we play the game, isn't it?  If everything went exactly as we predicted it to go, we'd all be tied for first place in every league we joined.  The game isn't about always getting the obvious choices correct, it's about finding that diamond in the rough week in and week out.  So with that in mind, let's take a look at what we're dealing with going into this weekend.

FIXTURES AND ODDS

It's important to note that Orlando takes on Chicago in the States on Friday at 7 PM ET, but depending on where you are in the world, the match may start on Saturday. Looking at these fixtures and odds, it's clear right off the bat that if you wanted to lean one way or another, you may want to edge towards the Columbus match at -182 for the win.  New England are also surprisingly being given a huge nod this week -- and that's interesting considering that New England and DC have a pretty natural rivalry.  That could be a match to keep your eye on.  All in all though, there are several matches here that reflect a slightly more conservative spread based on some of the results we saw in the first round.  So let's use that indecision on behalf of the bookies to our advantage. By the way, I'm trying something a bit different today.  Since we're reporting on two different sites that offer the same players - we naturally will see some players more valued on one site as opposed to the other.  So when you see a green price or a red price, that means we're thinking one site is offering a better value (or a lesser value) for the same player.  If no coloring is added to a price, we consider that price to be a neutral buy, neither a massive advantage or disadvantage.  We'll see if this sticks.

TIP 1 � GIOVINCO IS STILL WORTH THE PRICE (part 2)

Yup, I'm recycling advice from week 1, but is that advice any less sound?  In GW1, Sebastian Giovinco ($9600 DraftKings, $14.6 Mondogoal) took his time in warming up the score sheet.  But as the game wound down, Giovinco amassed 27.0 points on DraftKings and 16.07 points on Mondogoal.  How did he do that?  His stat line was 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots (2 on goal), 3 crosses and 2 fouls won.  It was a master class in consistency and performance on behalf of the league's best player.  And let's be honest, everybody expected NYRB to put up more of a fight in the match, but Toronto had an answer for them at every turn. The even bigger takeaway from Sunday's match was the fact that Toronto have vastly improved their defense over the winter.  And even though it's true that  having a version of Giovinco that has to continually score to keep pace with the opponent is good for fantasy, you have to assume that he'll probably be even more dangerous if he can move all of his game further up the field instead of having to drop so far back and make runs from the midfield in an attempt to provide cover for his team.  It should be interesting to see how this new style of play in Toronto works out for Giovinco. And let's not kid ourselves, Giovinco gets to play NYCFC this week in Yankee Stadium, so expect good things.  This NYC team conceded three goals to Chicago last week, and in the confines of a baseball field...they're sure to concede at least a couple this week.

TIP 2 � SPEAKING OF CHICAGO....

Listen, I don't like Chicago as a team.  I don't have any problems with the city or the club -- but the team that has been assembled in the Windy City simply hasn't been good over the last several years.  But that doesn't mean that we can't find some fantasy gold in certain cases. We can't deny that David Accam was the star of the show last Sunday though as far as racking up stats.  Accam had a goal an an assist himself - except he also had 7 shots (5 on goal), 3 crosses and a pair of fouls won.  And what did all of that get him?  A nifty 27.0 points on the day.  This week he'll be travelling down to Orlando, and with Gilberto possibly sidelined, Accam will take on an even larger role this Friday. Speaking of Orlando, did anybody see Brek Shea playing up front on Sunday?  Apparently being listed as a defender doesn't mean much to his head coach because Shea was playing way up on the wing in the attack.  Maybe this change is temporary as long as Kaka remains sidelined, but Shea was remarkably effective in this advanced role.  Defenders are naturally listed at a lower price, so not many other defenders are going to return the type of numbers that Shea is putting out right now.  Shea was able to give an assist, 7 crosses and 3 shots in his 19.5 point performance.  That's no small feat in two-goal draw. Key Players from ORL v CHI (note that Mondogoal isn't listing Chicago v Orlando in their events due to the Friday start -- DraftKings have events that stretch over two days) David Accam ($6200) Brek Shea ($4100) Cyle Larin ($6800)

TIP 3 � CAN PIATTI REPEAT HIS PERFORMANCE?

We have two things to consider in the MTL v NYRB match this weekend.  First of all, can NYRB turn things around and look more like the high caliber team that we know they are?  And will Piatti take Drogba's absence as a personal challenge to completely take over the team as his own? Starting with the NYRB, we have to admit that they came out flat in their home opener.  There just wasn't a 'spark' with all of their firepower.  Bradley Wright Phillips and Sacha Kljestan simply didn't live up to billing.  But is that going to be symptomatic of a larger problem, or was it simply a blip on their season's radar?  I'll tell you this, traveling away to Montreal probably isn't the best thing for a team looking to regain some footing after such a poor outing. In Montreal's case, there's so much to consider with Piatti's huge performance over the weekend.  Can this Montreal team really continue to excel sans Drogba?  I'm going to say that they can.  Piatti really shouldered the burden of taking the entire team on his back last week and was able to slot away a pair of goal and an assist on the road in Vancouver.  Will he get something equally as stunning at home?  It's hard for any player (outside of Giovinco) to consistently put up such huge numbers in back to back weeks.  But if NY aren't able to close out a game any better than they did against Toronto, I'm tipping my pick to Montreal in this one. Key Players Ignacio Piatti ($6000 DraftKings, $14.4 Mondogoal) Bradley Wright Phillips ($8000 DraftKings, $9.9 Mondogoal) Dominic Oduro ($5600 DraftKings, $6.9 Mondogoal)

TIP 4 � PORTLAND FACE A TOUGH ROAD TEST

The reining champs are travelling down I-5 this weekend to take on the San Jose Quakes.  San Jose didn't look to be completely infallible in their initial outing, but they still put up a great defensive performance that's on par with what we've come to expect from the squad.  Portland, on the other hand, are riding a ton of momentum into this road fixture, and not even the bookies have done a lot to separate these two sides. One thing is clear, Portland's Diego Valeri is a must-have player in many lineups.  His free kick goal proved to the world that he's back into his pre-injury form, and he really pulls all of the strings in the Portland attack.  The biggest question mark for Portland will be Darlington Nagbe's play in this second round.  Outside of his single shot in the home opener, Nagbe was a complete dud for fantasy owners; he scored 1.0 points in DraftKings and 4.1 points in Mondogoal last week.  The most surprising thing about his performance was the fact that Nagbe failed to draw even a single foul.  When was the last time that happened?  Nagbe is always near the league lead in that category, and in fact, most owners pick him up for that stat alone most weeks. San Jose are also worth considering at a few positions.  David Bingham is still one of the class keepers in the MLS, even if his defenders are largely nameless to the general population.  And up front, Chris Wondolowski continues to defy his age and manages, somehow, to produce goals in key moments.  I'm starting to think that it's just a matter of time before Quincy Amarikwa starts to take over the larger striking role though, and he could be a sleeper pick as the year rolls on. Key Players Diego Valeri ($7300 DraftKings, $12.7 Mondogoal) Darlington Nagbe ($4600 DraftKings, $10.3 Mondogoal) Chris Wondolowski ($6900 DraftKings, $12.6 Mondogoal)

TIP 5 � DALLAS ARE NEARLY EVEN MONEY AGAINST HOUSTON?

Road trips don't get much shorter in the MLS than Dallas to Houston.  So really, the travel aspect can be taken out of your equation when picking between these teams.  But if you're looking at the week 1 results that Dallas and Houston turned in, I can't understand how both of these teams are being given equal chances to win this match.  Houston drew 3-3 with a traveling New England squad, and Dallas' 2-0 victory over Philly could have easily been 4-0 had more chances been converted. Houston are not without merit, they did turn in 3 goals after all.  But their defense didn't look ready for the occasion on any level.  So skipping their defense, you could reasonably look at members of their attack like Cristian Maidana and Will Bruin.  Maidana had himself a wonderful match with a goal on two shots.  But you have to dig a bit deeper to see that his 26.0 points were really due to his 12 crosses. Dallas will be without Fabian Castillo, but they're still loaded.  Mauro Diaz and Max Urruti have a great interplay for being so early in their time together - and that synergy is only going to get better as the year progresses.  And moving to the back, Jesse Gonzalez is still one of the top three keepers in the league, so you can't really go wrong in taking a flier on the kid. Key Players  Mauro Diaz ($6900 DraftKings, $14.1 Mondogoal) Max Urruti ($4900 DraftKings, $6.0 Mondogoal) Cristian Maidana ($5200 Draftkings, $9.3 Mondogoal)

THANKS FOR READING OUR WEEKLY MLS COLUMN.  WE HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE GPP’S THIS WEEKEND.