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REMINDER: All transfers need to be finalized by Wednesday, May 8 at 6:45pm ET.
MLS Fantasy Soccer: Manager Experts Jason Saghini and Andrew Wiebe are back with another episode of "Starting Lineup" (above), answering the questions you submitted to @MLSFantasy. This week, we received a lot of questions focused primarily on the double-game week.
The importance of the DGW is not only to fill your team with players expected to make appearances in both games, but that they log the entire 180 minutes as well. You don't want to invest in guys who only play 60-70 minutes a game because over a two-game period they're missing out on too many chances.
READ:Nearly 4,700 owners captained Graham Zusi in Round 10…did you?
Since Jason and Andrew answered most of your questions in the video above, I'm going to go through a few key points regarding the double-game week. Hopefully you still have some of your transfers left.
1. Which players are going to play the full 90 minutes in both of their matches?
There are quite a few things that will determine whether or not a player gets the full time in each of their games; injuries, cautions, ejections, blowouts, etc. Putting aside those issues, here’s my list of every player that the best shot at playing the full 90 minutes in both of their matches in regardless.
- Goalkeepers – All goalkeepers are expected to play the full 90 minutes in both games
- Defenders – Chris Korb, Brandon McDonald, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard, Corey Ashe, Jermaine Taylor, Bobby Boswell, Kofi Sarkodie, Markus Holgersson, Roy Miller, Hassoun Camara, Matteo Ferrari, Jeb Brovsky, José Gonçalves, Chris Tierney, Chris Wingert, Chris Schuler, Tony Beltran, Aurélien Collin, Seth Sinovic, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Djimi Traoré, Leo González, Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges, Jair Benítez, Michel, Michael Harrington, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Futty Danso, Rodney Wallace, Steven Beitashour, Víctor Bernárdez, Justin Morrow, Nana Attakora
- Midfielders – Dwayne De Rosario, Brad Davis, Boniek García, Brandon Barklage, Tim Cahill, Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe, Javier Morales, Kyle Beckerman, Graham Zusi, Oriol Rosell, Osvaldo Alonso, David Ferreira, Will Johnson, Diego Chará, Jack Jewsbury, Darlington Nagbe, Sam Cronin
- Forwards – Lionard Pajoy, Will Bruin, Fabián Espíndola, Claudio Bieler, Eddie Johnson, Blas Pérez, Chris Wondolowski
If you have a few players starting that were not mentioned above you might want to look a little deeper into their situation. For instance, Thierry Henry hasn't played in a game at Gillette Stadium since his arrival to MLS.
Before making any transfers, review each player's “history” by clicking on the blue icon next to their name. Here you can sort through every game log, points earned, minutes played and more. Each team is only allowed to sub three players each game and these guys are usually the same more often than not.
2. How to plan accordingly for Philadelphia and LA’s double-game week in Round 12?
The best case scenario for this week is to have everyone playing multiple games in your starting lineup and all three subs (including your GK) from either Philadelphia or LA. Then you can use your two transfers in Round 12 to maximize your starting lineup.
3. Which players are at risk of missing time due to suspensions and injuries?
- Questionable – Matt Besler, George John, Andrew Farrell, Stephen McCarthy, Olmes García, Steve Zakuani, Shalrie Joseph, Obafemi Martins, Benny Feilhaber, Chris Pontius,
- Out – Álvaro Saborío, Alessandro Nesta, Davy Arnaud, Daniele Paponi, A.J. Soares, Dax McCarty, Mikaël Silvestre,
- Suspensions – Dan Kennedy, Jackson, DeAndre Yedlin, Paolo Nagamura, Lamar Neagle, Alan Gordon, Steven Lenhart, Sheanon Williams, Jeff Larentowicz
Check your MLS Fantasy Team now!
NOTE: Tweet your questions to @MLSFantasy and don’t forget to check out the MLS Fantasy Homepage when you get a chance.
