Not an awful Double MLS Gameweek 13, but I certainly shot myself in the foot once again this season. 133 points which saw my overall rank improve quite literally 3 spots to 996 overall. It feels like every week I’m right on the cusp of making big improvements to my ranking, but I’m missing on player picks or making mistakes that are holding me back from doing so at the moment. We move forward!
What Went Right in MLS Gameweek 13?
Lucho Acosta was a great pick and banked 28 points in MLS Gameweek 13, despite being on yellow-card caution. Riqui Puig’s 15 points was another solid pick, and made captaining him worthwhile, though I wish I would have thrown it on Acosta.
15 from Kai Wagner without a clean sheet makes me think he’s fixture-proof at the moment, and a 10 from RSL’s Eneli and a 9 from Cinci’s Robinson weren’t bad, though Robinson only playing 1 game was frustrating. Robin Lod also hit with 14 points which was a nice differential, and Roman Celentano banked me 10 points as a GK.
What Went Wrong in MLS Gameweek 13?
My biggest failure of Gameweek 13 was not checking my scrub player from Dallas. I put $ 4 million defender Nolan Norris in my starting XI to allow the best point production between Julian Carranza and Chico Arango to automatically sub on from my bench. Nolan Norris hadn’t played a single game for Dallas in 2024, and I had a 21-pointer from Arango and a 19-pointer from Carranza sitting on my bench ready to sub in.
Expect I didn’t notice that young Nolan Norris made his first start of the season for Dallas on Saturday, thus stranding both Carranza and Arango’s points on the bench. 40 points…on the bench. Of course, the players I chose to start over them didn’t hit, either. Cristian Espinoza and Matias Rojas’ 6 points each were frustrating, but not as much as the 4 from Luis Suarez in Lionel Messi’s absence.
MLS Fantasy Player Picks
GK
Clean sheets will be hard to come by this week in MLS so I wouldn’t put a ton of weight or budget into your keeper picks this weekend
-Kristijan Kahlina – $7.3m VS Philadelphia Union
-John McCarthy – $6.7m VS Houston Dynamo
-Matt Freese – $7m @ New England
-Yohei Takaoka – $7.6m VS Inter Miami
-Alex Bono – $5.1m VS Chicago Fire
DEF
Once again, clean sheet hunting is going to be a bit difficult this weekend. I’d focus on spending your money on the attack and don’t put too much priority on your defense this MLS Matchweek. Identify the defenses you think have the best chance at a clean sheet, and either pick the cheapest defender or the defender you think will produce the most bonus points and move on.
-Kai Wagner – $9.7m @ Charlotte FC
-Ranko Vaselinovic – $9.6m VS Inter Miami (no Messi or Suarez for Miami)
-Adilson Malanda – $7.7m VS Philadelphia Union
-Tomas Totland – $8.2m VS Seattle Sounders
-Thiago Martins – $8.2m @ New England Revolution
-Rodrigues – $6.7m VS Austin FC
-Brooks Lenon – $9.1m VS LAFC
-Aaron Long – $7.6m – @ Atlanta United
MID
There are lots of decent midfield options this week, here’s a few of my MLS standouts
-Lucho Acosta – $14.5m @ Toronto FC
-Riqui Puig – $13.9m VS Houston Dynamo
-Evander – $12.5m VS Sporting Kansas City
-Ryan Guald – $11.7m VS Inter Miami
-Cristian Olivera – $9.3m @ Atlanta United
-Cristian Espinoza – $12.1m VS Austin FC
-Djordje Mihailovic – $9.8m VS Minnesota United
-Sebastian Driussi – $9.2m @ San Jose Earthquakes
-Eduard Loewen – $9.5m VS Seattle
FWD
The forward position seems like the place where people are either going to make or break their weekly MLS rank this Gameweek. Lots of the chalk picks are on the road and there are a few decent options from the “B” tier forwards at home – and oh yeah…no Messi or Suarez in Vancouver this weekend.
-Christian Benteke – $12.5m VS Chicago Fire
-Cristian Arango – $14.2m @ FC Dallas
-Denis Bouanga – $13.9m @ Atlana United
-Jonathan Rodriguez – $9.7m VS Sporting Kansas City
-Dejean Joveljic – $10.5m VS Houston Dynamo
-Joao Klauss – $10.6m VS Seattle Sounders
-Rafael Navarro – $9.9m VS Minnesota United
Captain
With no Messi or Suarez in the lineup for Miami this weekend, it’s a big opportunity for people to move up the ranks via differential picks. Everyone has had to have Messi in their lineup the last few weeks due to the fear of missing out on his massive hauls, so his not being an option opens the game up to more variety in picks and where points come from. Here are a few Captain options in an MLS Gameweek with no Lionel Messi
-Lucho Acosta – $14.5m @ Toronto FC
-Riqui Puig – $13.9m VS Houston Dynamo
-Evander – $12.5m VS Sporting Kansas City
-Christian Benteke – $12.5m VS Chicago Fire
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