We’re treading on new Fantasy MLS ground, and I’m not talking about when I evolved one of my Pokémon to “Kakuna Manneh” last weekend. The big fantasy news is that this week, there are two rounds in Fantasy MLS:
Round 18: Weds., July 13 – 12 of 20 teams playing (BYES: COL, DC, HOU, LA, NE, NYC, PHI, SJ)
Round 19: Fri., July 15-Sun., July 17 – all teams playing
After Wednesday’s matches, all fantasy managers get unlimited transfers in order to rebuild their squad however they see fit before Friday evening. However, all of us still have to worry about fielding enough players for Round 18.
If you haven’t been keeping up with the schedule and are stuck with a roster that would take five or six transfers in order to field a full team of 11 players this round, keep in mind that you do have a new wildcard available as a get-out-of-jail-free card. However, if you use it now, you won’t get another free wildcard for the rest of the season.
Let’s take a look at the best candidates for the Wednesday matches.
Goalkeepers
Luis Robles ($6.3, NY) and the New York Red Bulls are my favorite for this week. They’ve recorded clean sheets in each of their last five home matches, and are visited by Orlando City SC, who have failed to score in their last two matches. Jake Gleeson ($4.7, POR) and Chris Seitz ($4.9, DAL) are two more budget-friendly options, and both teams have done well defensively in their last few matches.
Defenders
Aurelien Collin ($7.8, NY) is fresh off his suspension due to yellow-card accumulation, and is a solid bonus-point producer with a good matchup. Sal Zizzo ($6.5, NY) is a cheaper option to try and cash in on the Red Bulls’ clean sheet chances, while Tim Parker ($6.1, VAN) and Jonathan Campbell ($5.0, CHI) provide cheap defensve options with home matches in this limited round.
Midfielders
Mauro Diaz ($11.3, DAL), Benny Feilhaber ($11.3, SKC) and Ignacio Piatti ($11.0, MTL) have all been in form of late and are great options, but are all facing road matches on Wednesday. Sasha Kljestan ($12.0, NY) is my pick for the week; he’s due for a breakout round against the Orlando City SC defense, who have given up at least two goals in each of their away matches aside from a shutout at New York City way back in Round 3.
Diego Valeri ($11.0, POR) has been ruled out for Wednesday and his status beyond that remains a mystery, so be careful if you’re thinking about adding him. Some cheaper alternatives are Jimmy Medranda ($6.4, SKC), Kevin Molino ($8.4, ORL) or Roger Espinoza ($7.0, SKC).
Forwards
It’s hard to argue with the numbers, and Ola Kamara ($8.6, CLB) has scored eight goals in his last five starts. Yura Movsisyan ($9.0, RSL) has scored four in his last five, and Sebastian Giovinco ($13.0, TOR) just posted an 11-point performance against the Chicago Fire. Bradley Wright-Phillips ($11.1, NY) is another good option, and budget choices include Lucas Melano ($8.8, POR), Maxi Urruti ($8.5, DAL), and Jordan Hamilton ($5.0, TOR).
How well did you prepare for this bye week? Are you going to have to take a transfer penalty to get in 11 players? Let me know in the comments below, and as always, good luck this round!
