It’s been said that the best defense is a good offense, but this week in MLS Fantasy there were big points to be had on the backline. There were a number of shutouts this weekend, and those clean sheet bonuses added up.
Orlando City and the Houston Dynamo played to a 0-0 draw and that stalemate contributed three players to the dream team. David Mateos ($6.4m), Luke Boden ($5.5m), and Jalil Anibaba ($5.9m) all added defending, attacking, and pass completion bonuses to their clean sheet bonus to finish with double-digit scores.
The top defenders were Justin Morrow ($7.9m) and Jelle Van Damme ($8.6m). Van Damme’s price tag has kept most fantasy managers away and indeed this was his first performance that came close to justifying his expense. The same can be said for Morrow, but two goals in his last three starts is not bad.
The Philadelphia Union held the keys in the midfield. Ilsinho ($8.5m) and Roland Alberg ($8.6m) both made the Dream Team as the two were responsible for the Union’s three goals against D.C. United. This was Ilsinho’s first performance this season worth more than four points, but his 15-point brace was good for MLS Fantasy performer of the week.
The Dream Team lined up in the rare 5-3-2 formation this week with all those great defensive performances, but Kevin Doyle ($7.9m) did turn in a 14-point performance and Sebastian Giovinco ($13m) has started to look like his fantasy self again.
Our fantasy manager of the week comes from the Union camp, but perhaps surprisingly did not have the Union Dream Teamers on his squad. Alex Morgan FC (good team name) controlled by Adam Zarr reached 98 points by captaining Giovinco and getting strong performances from his non Dream Team members. Walker Zimmerman ($6.7m) in particular deserves mention as his 10-point performance in a shutout could have made him a sixth defender on the Dream Team if such a formation were allowed. Congrats on the win and enjoy your prize!
Guess what day it is?
Round 18 is short and sweet. Hopefully you heeded warnings about making wise roster moves in Round 17 because our current round consists solely of the six games on Wednesday. What does this mean for you?
- The Round 18 deadline is Wednesday, July 13th at 7:00 pm ET
- The Round 19 transfer window begins the next day and is an unlimited free transfer window
- The following teams are not playing in Round 18: Colorado Rapids, DC United, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy, New England Revolution, New York City FC, Philadelphia Union, San Jose Earthquakes
The schedule is set up for managers to experiment in Round 18, and in some ways it has all been building to this moment. Round 19 is our only unlimited free transfer week this summer, with one more coming in the second to last round. Take some transfer penalties if you have to and do your best to put out a full squad this week.
I’m taking a look at Yura Movsisyan ($9.0m) this week as he is affordable for a forward and is starting to figure things out, plus Real Salt Lake have a bunch of home dates coming up and a double game week the first week of August.
