Fantasy: Week 26 positional rankings

Schuyler Redpath

Reid, Michael, and Blayne get together to discuss all of the surprising moments from Round 25 and the most important fantasy takeaways leading into Round 26. They start by reviewing Round 25 and getting feedback about the most surprising results from those in Live Chat and Twitter. The FC Dallas scoreline, and Rooney red card top the list, but the San Jose rotation is also a popular topic. They round out the segments talking about the important Fantasy takeaways and we find out if the guys agree that DGWs can make it hard to move up in the Fantasy ranks. Special attention is given to LAFC and Montreal during the housekeeping section, as the status of this players will have a big impact on the makeup of many teams in this coming round. The wrap the show with player selections for Round 26 and have debate over exactly the number of DGW players required for a good score in Round 26.

MLS Fantasy managers will be faced with some big decisions with only Montreal and Vancouver playing twice in Week 26. Is it worth taking the consistent points from mediocre two-game players? Or is this the week to fade DGW players in lieu of elite single game players? Let’s take a closer look at the Week 26 positional rankings to help build your roster this week.

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Goalkeepers

Fantasy: Week 26 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/Crepeau_0.jpg?GU.cVOJDJ25ANJCogfP6SZ93enfI2ijb

Vancouver's Crepeau is coming off a massive game | USA Today Sports Images

Despite conceding multiple goals in four straight games, Evan Bush has the better matchups of the two double-game week goalkeepers this week. Up first is a home game against a Vancouver side that ranks dead last in goals per game before hosting a struggling D.C. United attack that will be without star attacker Wayne Rooney.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Evan Bush	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$5.0
2	Maxime Crepeau	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$7.3
3	Jesse Gonzalez	DAL	vs. CIN	$6.6
4	Luis Robles	RBNY	vs. COL	$6.5
5	Tyler Miller	LAFC	vs. MIN	$7.9
6	Tim Melia	SKC	vs. HOU	$6,9
7	Daniel Vega	SJ	vs. ORL	$6.9
8	Steve Clark	POR	vs. RSL	$6.9
9	Eloy Room	CLB	vs. CHI	$4.4
10	Andre Blake	PHI	vs. ATL	$5.4

Defenders

Fantasy: Week 26 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/adnan2.png?tyBA_Inz8ge2wxz0.QvnDsTKih0_DwrM

Ali Adnan is the top defender for this week | USA Today Sports Images

Ali Adnan is averaging over six fantasy points per game across his last five appearances, and he sticks out as the most appealing option of the DGW defenders this week. While a clean sheet may be a stretch, the former Serie A defender is no stranger to joining in the attack and he’s capable of tallying points across multiple categories.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Ali Adnan	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$7.1
2	Daniel Lovitz	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$4.3
3	Bacary Sagna	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$5.4
4	Jukka Raitala	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$4.6
5	Derek Cornelius	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$6.9
6	Doneil Henry	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$5.7
7	Zachary Brault-Guillard	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$5.4
8	Rudy Camacho	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$5.5
9	Jake Nerwinski	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$4.6
10	Reto Ziegler	DAL	vs. CIN	$8.6
11	Ryan Hollingshead	DAL	vs.CIN	$9.7
12	Reggie Cannon	DAL	vs. CIN	$6.4
13	Graham Zusi	SKC	vs. HOU	$7.5
14	Matt Hedges	DAL	vs. CIN	$7.5
15	Michael Murillo	RBNY	vs. COL	$6.2
16	Walker Zimmerman	LAFC	vs. MIN	$6.2
17	Aaron Long	RBNY	vs. COL	$7.1
18	Harrison Afful	CLB	vs. CHI	$5.8
19	Kemar Lawrence	RBNY	vs. COL	$5.7
20	Florian Jungwirth	SJ	vs. ORL	$6.8

Midfielders

Saphir Taider was kept in check last week, but prior to that he logged a goal or an assist in three straight outings. As Montreal’s primary set piece and penalty kick taker, the Algerian international pops off as the double-game week midfielder to pay up for in Week 26.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Saphir Taider	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$11.6
2	Lassi Lappalainen	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$8.4
3	Bojan Krkic	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$7.3
4	Yordy Reyna	VAN	at MTL, vs. DC	$8.1
5	Inbeom Hwang	VAN	at MTL, vs. DC	$7.2
6	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA	vs. LA	$12.7
7	Carles Gil	NE	vs. TOR	$13.2
8	Michael Barrios	DAL	vs. CIN	$9.7
9	Diego Valeri	POR	vs. RSL	$12.6
10	Magnus Eriksson	SJ	vs. ORL	$10.8
11	Maxi Moralez	NYC	at VAN	$11.6
12	Eduard Atuesta	LAFC	vs. MIN	$12.2
13	Daniel Royer	RBNY	vs. COL	$9.2
14	Cristian Espinoza	SJ	vs. ORL	$10.3
15	Kaku	RBNY	vs. COL	$8.5
16	Johnny Russell	SKC	vs. HOU	$8.9
17	Latif Blessing	LAFC	vs. MIN	$9.9
18	Pedro Santos	CLB	vs. CHI	$10.5
19	Felipe Gutierrez	SKC	vs. HOU	$10.0
20	Mark-Anthony Kaye	LAFC	vs. MIN	$10.3
21	Alejandro Pozuelo	TOR	at NE	$10.1
22	Marc Rzatkowski	RBNY	vs. COL	$8.0
23	Ballou Tabla	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$6.2
24	Bryan Acosta	DAL	vs. CIN	$6.9
25	Albert Rusnak	RSL	at POR	$10.7
26	Andy Rose	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$4.9
27	Jamiro Monteiro	PHI	vs. ATL	$9.8
28	Russell Teibert	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$6.0
29	Vako	SJ	vs. ORL	$9.7
30	Ken Krolicki	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$4.0

Forwards

Fantasy: Week 26 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/Velajumpceleb.jpg?4Q_11R3fsfIq2KOp_SfbgTE5e0VnLPAf

Vela's status for this week is up in the air | USA Today Sports Images

Carlos Vela comes with an asterisk this week after exiting early with a hamstring injury in Week 25. To make things even harder for fantasy managers, LAFC play Minnesota in the last game of the week on Sunday night. As the top point producer in the game, Vela’s status is worth monitoring throughout the week as you don’t want to be caught without him if he happens to recover in time.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Carlos Vela	LAFC	vs. MIN	$15.0
2	Maxi Urruti	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$6.2
3	Fredy Montero	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$7.0
4	Orji Okwonkwo	MTL	vs. VAN, vs. DC	$7.1
5	Theo Bair	VAN	at MTL, vs. NYC	$4.3
6	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	LA	at SEA	$11.8
7	Zdenek Ondrasek	DAL	vs. CIN	$5.5
8	Raul Ruidiaz	SEA	vs. LA	$11.2
9	Josef Martinez	ATL	at PHI	$14.2
10	Brian Fernandez	POR	vs. RSL	$10.2
11	Jesus Ferreira	DAL	vs. CIN	$6.5
12	Dominique Badji	DAL	vs. CIN	$6.1
13	Gustavo Bou	NE	vs. TOR	$10.9
14	Heber	NYC	at VAN	$10.5
15	Diego Rossi	LAFC	vs. MIN	$9.8
16	Chris Wondolowski	SJ	vs. ORL	$7.4
17	Adama Diomande	LAFC	vs. MIN	$8.5
18	Gyasi Zardes	CLB	vs. CHI	$10.2
19	Jozy Altidore	TOR	at NE	$10.2
20	Valentin Castellanos	NYC	at VAN	$8.0