Fantasy Soccer Advice

MLS Fantasy Week 20 positional rankings and gaming advice

Cucho hernandez mls fantasy

Soccer summer is in full swing, and with Round 20 of MLS Fantasy kicking off on Tuesday, there are sure to be some fireworks with 12 teams playing twice. Letā€™s dive right in and look at the top plays and values to target for the Round 20 double-game week.

Goalkeepers

The Colorado Rapids are the only DGW team that plays both matches at home this week (LA Galaxy and LAFC technically play both their matches in LA, but the first is on neutral ground at the Rose Bowl). That means William Yarbrough takes the spotlight despite Coloradoā€™s struggles this season. The Rapids have been strong at home of late, allowing just one goal across their last three at DICKā€™S Sporting Goods Park.

Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1. William Yarbrough
COL
vs. POR, vs. DAL
$8.4
2. John McCarthy
LAFC

at LA, vs. SJ

$7.5
3. Pedro Gallese
ORL

vs. TOR, at RSL

$8.3
4. Maarten Paes
DAL
vs. DC, at COL
$8.2
5. Luis Barraza
NYC
vs. CLT, at CLB
$7.9
Value Goalkeepers
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1. Drake Callendar
MIA
vs. CLB, at DC
$5.7
2. Kristijan Kahlina
CLT
at NYC, vs. CIN
$6.1
3. Greg Ranjitsingh
TOR
at ORL, vs. STL
$4.6

Defenders

Itā€™s not pretty, but a Colorado Rapids defensive stack could be a popular play this round. Danny Wilson has been a mainstay on a Rapids backline that's conceded just one goal over their last three home games. With two winnable home matchups this week, Wilson stands a good chance at racking up more clean sheet points in Round 20.

Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1. Danny Wilson
COL 
vs. POR, vs. DAL
$8.9
2. Maxime Chanot 
NYC
vs. CLT, at CLB
$8.5
3. Ryan Hollingshead
LAFC
at LA, vs. SJ
$6.7
4. Andreas Maxso
COL
vs. POR, vs. DAL
$7.8
5. Keegan Rosenberry
COL
vs. POR, vs. DAL
$7.8
6. Steven Moreira
CLB
at MIA, vs. NYC
$8.5
7. Pedro Santos
DC
at DAL, vs. MIA
$8.1
8. Nkosi Tafari
DAL
vs. DC, at COL
$7.5
9. Robin Jansson
ORL
vs. TOR, at RSL
$8.1
10. Lalas Abubakar
COL
vs. POR, vs. DAL
$6.3


Value Defenders
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1. Sam Junqua
DAL
vs. DC, at COL
$4.0
2. Tayvon Gray
NYC
vs. CLT, at CLB
$4.0
3. Raheem Edwards
LA
vs. LAFC, vs. PHI
$5.8

Midfielders

The double-game week gives Lucas ZelarayĆ”n a prime opportunity to bounce back from a paltry two-point showing in Round 19. After posting 29 points in Round 15ā€™s DGW, heā€™s a fade-at-your-own-risk player capable of making or breaking lineups this week.

Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1. Lucas ZelarayƔn
CLB
at MIA, vs. NYC
$12.6
2. Facundo Torres
ORL
vs. TOR, at RSL
$10.4
3. Connor Ronan
COL
vs. POR, vs. DAL
$9.6
4. MartĆ­n Ojeda
ORL
vs. TOR, at RSL
$7.5
5. Gaston Brugman
LA
vs. LAFC, vs. PHI
$9.8
6. Mateusz Klich
DC
at DAL, vs. MIA
$8.7
7. Riqui Puig
LA
vs. LAFC, vs. PHI
$9.1
8. Mateusz Bogusz
LAFC
at LA, vs. SJ
$8.0
9. Alexandru Matan
CLB
at MIA, vs. NYC
$7.5
10. Gabriel Periera
NYC
vs. CLT, at CLB
8.2
11. Alan Velasco
DAL
vs. DC, at COL
$7.3
12. Mark-Anthony Kaye
TOR
at ORL, vs. STL
$8.1
13. Keaton Parks
NYC
vs. CLT, at CLB
$8.3
14. Lewis Oā€™Brien
DC
at DAL, vs. MIA
$7.5
15. IvƔn Angulo
ORL
vs. TOR, at RSL
$7.6
16. Emanuel Reynoso
MIN
vs. ATX
$8.6
17. Hany Mukhtar
NSH
at CHI
$13.9
18. Luciano Acosta
CIN
at CLT
$12.9
19. Ashley Westwood
CLT
at NYC, vs. CIN
$7.9
20. Benjamin Bender
CLT
at NYC, vs. CIN

$6.0

Value midfielders
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1. Cole Bassett
COL
vs. POR, vs. DAL
$5.4
2. Benjamin Cremaschi
MIA
vs. CLB, at DC
$5.2
3. Bernard Kamungo
DAL

vs. DC, at COL

$4.3

Forwards

DĆ©nis Bouanga was once again LAFCā€™s primary attacking threat in Saturdayā€™s loss at Dallas. Despite coming up empty-handed, he fired off six shots (two on goal) ā€“ marking the second straight game heā€™s registered at least five shots. With a pair of enticing matches against California foes LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes, look for Bouanga to get back among the goalscorers in a big way this round.

Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1. DĆ©nis Bouanga
LAFC
at LA, vs. SJ
$10.9
2. Cucho HernƔndez
CLB
at MIA, vs. NYC
$11.8
3. Federico Bernardeschi
TOR
at ORL, vs. STL
$7.0
4. Douglas Costa
LA
vs. LAFC, vs. PHI
$7.7
5. Carlos Vela
LAFC
at LA, vs. SJ
$9.2
6. Josef MartĆ­nez
MIA
vs. CLB, at DC
$7.0
7. Karol Swiderski
CLT
at NYC, vs. CIN
$9.2
8. Christian Ramirez
CLB
at MIA, vs. NYC
$8.4
9. Taxi Fountas
DC
at DAL, vs. MIA
$6.8
10. Kerwin Vargas
CLT
at NYC, vs. CIN
$5.8
Value forwards
1. Preston Judd
LA
vs. LAFC, vs. PHI
$4.7
2. Talles Magno
NYC
vs. CLT, at CLB
$5.0
3. C.J. Sapong
TOR
at ORL, vs. STL
$4.3
Captain
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1.  Lucas ZelarayĆ”n
CLB
at MIA, vs. NYC
$12.6
2. DĆ©nis Bouanga
LAFC
at LA, vs. SJ
$10.9
3. Cucho HernƔndez
CLB
at MIA, vs. NYC
$11.8

MLS Squad Pick

Playing MLS Squad Pick is quick and easy. Pick 5 players for your squad. If they all score in the same matchday, you could win a $160 MLSstore.com gift card!

Donā€™t forget, each round you play gives you one (1) entry into the end-of-season Grand Prize drawing for $10,000!

Expert advice

With a smaller player pool to select my squad from, Iā€™m leaning on two of the usual goal machines in DĆ©nis Bouanga and Cucho HernĆ”ndez to build around.

From there weā€™ve got to get creative, so Iā€™m looking at Duncan McGuire, Bernard KamungoĀ and Talles Magno to get on the board. McGuire has been arguably Orlando Cityā€™s top goal threat of late, and Kamungo opened his account on Saturday and should continue to see chances as he deputizes up top for JesĆŗs Ferriera, who's lighting up the Gold Cup scoresheet. Magno has struggled recently, but a juicy home matchup with Charlotte FC presents a good opportunity to snap out of his dry spell.

Check out my squad for Round 23:

Round 23

MLS Parlay Predictor

Playing MLS Parlay Predictor is simple. Pick the results of all 6 games correctly in a single matchday, and you could win a 2023 MLS Season Pass full-season subscription on Apple TV!

Each round you predict gives you one (1) entry into the end-of-season Grand Prize drawing for $10,000!

Expert advice:

  • Columbus have won five of their last six matches. Only one of those five wins has come on the road and the Crew have won just two of their last 16 regular-season away matches since mid-July 2022 (2W-7L-7D). Inter Miami have won each of their home matches against Columbus.
  • Orlando City are unbeaten in their last six matches against Toronto FC (4W-0L-2W). Toronto FC are winless in 13 straight away matches (0W-9L-4D).
  • FC Dallas are unbeaten in eight straight home matches against D.C. (6W-0L-2D). D.C. United have won only three of their last 11 MLS matches (3W-5L-3D).
  • Colorado have lost only two of 14 regular-season home matches against the Timbers (8W-2L-4D). The Timbers have won only one of their last nine MLS matches (1W-L4-D4).
  • LAFC have won three-straight MLS matches against the Galaxy, but have lost seven of their last 10 matches in all competitions (2W-7L-1D).
  • Charlotte FC have won all three of their matches against NYCFC, including a 3-2 victory in their last meeting in Charlotte in May. NYCFC are unbeaten in six straight matches (1W-0D-L5).

Check out my predictions for Round 23:

Round 23 parlay predictor