Bonus Points: The best MLS Fantasy strike partnerships in 2016

There are MLS strike partnerships that you should already know about: Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan, Sebastian Giovinco and… well, pretty much anyone. Now that Donovan is officially back in the mix, it’ll be interesting to see if Landon and Robbie can figure out how to rekindle that magic on the pitch.

In the meantime, this week’s Bonus Points is going to take a look at attacking partners, to find out which MLS Fantasy players benefit the most from certain teammates’ presence on the pitch. If we know any of these pairs are going to be on the field together, there’s a good chance that they’re going to produce solid points.

This isn't limited to strikers; I’ve based this off midfielders and forwards who have played 60 minutes or more in the same match together at least five times this season. “Player” is the one scoring the points when “Teammate” is also on the field. Here are the top 27 pairs:

It’s not surprising to see Giovinco ($13.9) and Nicolás Lodeiro ($12.1) show up on the list as many times as they do. They have been scoring high points regardless of who’s on the field, although Giovinco’s average drops a point or two when Jozy Altidore ($9.5) or Will Johnson ($8.3, 8.1 PPG) is in the mix.

Didier Drogba ($11.7) loves having Patrice Bernier ($6.1) around – in the six matches they’ve been in Montreal's lineup together, Drogba is scoring double-digits, which ties for the highest average alongside now-substitute Roland Alberg’s ($8.4) partnership with Fabian Herbers ($4.6).

Giovani dos Santos has been on a tear lately, scoring six goals and three assists in his last five matches. There’s no telling how Bruce Arena is going make all of the pieces fit now that Donovan is back in the picture, but it’s obvious that something is working right now for Gio, and I doubt he’ll want to tinker with that success too much.

But if he does, Dos Santos’ owners may have a reason for worry: as MLS’ Armchair Analyst Matthew Doyle pointed out in this tweet last Sunday, Giovani’s numbers are much, much lower when Keane also starts, to the tune of 4.67 points per game:

Are you new to MLS Fantasy?

If you’re just starting MLS Fantasy right now, any of the players in the left column above, aside from Roland Alberg and Javier Morales (due to injury) are pretty consistent scorers to get your team going on the right foot. If you sign up before this week’s deadline on Friday, you’ll be eligible for prizes that are available to newcomers only in the MLS Fantasy Red Line Challenge!

Want to know how a certain player partnership is doing that isn’t in this list? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, best of luck this week!