Seattle still stands alone as the only MLS club to win the modern Concacaf championship through the Champions League/Champions Cup format. There was a lot of hope this year that LAFC's star power could get them over the hump, or that Nashville's smartly built squad with the firepower of Surridge, Mukhtar, and Espinoza in the attack could get it done.
Alas, Marc Dos Santos ran his team into the ground by refusing to rotate and they all looked a step slow. And Nashville could not muster any quality attack with Surridge injured, so no MLS team will even make the final. What's the fallout?
Firstly, these are still two good teams. They should not end up crashing out, unless Nashville's pile of injuries proves to be too much to handle going forward. I still mostly like their players, though I am avoiding recommending them strongly this week.
Next, I think teams will take away from this that they have to prioritize their players' health even more. LAFC looked a step or two slow at Toluca (though maybe a different story happens if Tillman buries that chance) and Nashville was listless without Surridge and then Tagseth. I think it will be ever more necessary for teams to rotate in the future, though the World Cup break and Leagues Cup coming up after will make it difficult.
All the more reason for us to ask for better ways to address surprise rotations and absences in the ways our fantasy games are structured. Sofascore has some ability to mitigate absences while Kickbase has none. There is an appeal with having a locked lineup that you don't have to tinker with throughout the weekend to get the most out of it, but having no ability to address these kinds of surprises really hurts engagement because it is often just a matter of luck. With another double week coming up, this problem may be getting worse before it gets better.
Week 11 quick rankings
Goalkeepers
Turner, Schwake, Thomas, Daniel, Takaoka, Lloris
Defenders
Sands, Palacios, Ragen, Munie, Laborda, Porteous, Herrington, Markanich
Midfielders
Evander, Berhalter, Gil, Luna, M. Ojeda, Leroux, Rusnak/Rothrock, Miranchuk, Haile-Selassie, Habroune, Longstaff
Forwards
Messi, Cuypers/Zinckernagel, Denkey, Espinoza, Prince, Ferreira, Muntenau, Navarro, Salloi, Jovejlic
Week 11 schedule
There’s not a ton to note about the schedule. The four teams that played midweek were Toronto, Montreal, LAFC and Nashville, with only Montreal advancing in the Canadian Championship (Toronto got bounced by Atletico Ottawa, giving up a hat trick to Ballou Tabla with goals in the 71st, 81st, and finally a PK in the 90+7th minute).
We do have midweek league games coming up on Wednesday for everyone but Atlanta and Toronto, so there's a small potential for some rotation, but I expect it will be minimal and hopefully not disruptive (famous last words). Most likely the biggest question is Messi, and he trained in full today so I assume he is ready to play in Toronto tomorrow afternoon.
Do note that four teams play on Sunday, so your lineup tinkering on Sofascore/FUTD can account for that.
The Good
Montreal hosts Orlando this week. Why is this good? The teams have allowed a combined 55 goals, a very nice thing for fantasy purposes. Though each team has two wins in their past three games, I hope/expect this will be a shootout.
New England plays Philadelphia this week, with the teams sitting on the opposite ends of the Eastern Conference, 2nd vs last place. Philly has picked up all of their total six points on the season in their past five games, but have failed to score in three of those games with a pair of 0-0 draws. I am not convinced the Revs are an elite team that will stay in the top tier of the conference, but they are still a long distance better than Philadelphia.
Seattle vs San Diego should be an interesting test. SD looked to have its first win in seemingly forever over a partially rotated LAFC side last weekend, but couldn't hold out against LAFC's stars late and gave up two goals after the 80th minute to settle for a 2-2 tie. Seattle, embarrassingly, could not score again after a very early Rothrock goal against SKC and gave up an equally embarrassing goal from an uncharacteristic turnover by Cristian Roldan. Seattle is clearly the better squad on the season though and even last year when SD was rolling they could not break Seattle's defense in Seattle.
The Interesting
Portland vs Kansas City. These teams are not good, but they're both allowing more than two goals per game. The unfortunate part is that neither of them really has a useful fantasy player. Dejan Joveljic can be great at times, but SKC has only scored 8 total goals on the season and he has only reached double-digit points in Sofascore once. Of course, that is one more time that all of Portland's mids/forwards combined. I think there's a good chance there are some good fantasy scores in this game, but I am finding it difficult to predict who might earn them. Funny enough, the best player might be Pantemis or Cleveland for Kickbase.
Nashville against DC is suddenly a competitive game between two playoff teams. DC has managed to rise above the muck in the middle of the Eastern Conference all the way to 5th, though just three points separate them from the Red Bulls in 11th. DC has won their past two over NYCFC and Orlando and got road draws at NYRB and Philadelphia. This has not been a murderer's row of opponents, so they are still an underdog compared to Nashville, despite Nashville's tired legs coming off a tough road defeat to Tigres. I am still interested in whether this is a competitive game or if Nashville goes back to the dominant league side they have been this season despite their worsening injury woes.
We also have a pair of 6-7 games (I'm sorry, I'm sorry) with Cincinnati and RSL (6th in E/W) playing at Charlotte and Dallas (7th in E/W), respectively. Charlotte has lost four of their last five (dropping six points to Nashville) while Cincinnati is finding its form with Evander heating up and the defense getting healthy. RSL and Dallas are both pretty good, though RSL has a four-point lead on Dallas with a game in hand by winning games where Dallas only managed a tie. I think Cincy is favored based on recent form, while the RSL vs Dallas matchup is a tossup being in Dallas.
The Major
Miami travels north to play Toronto in yet another afternoon game for Toronto, where Things Get Weird. Last weekend it was San Jose dropping points for just the second time all season, and another home draw for Toronto. TFC has played at home in eight of their 11 matches to date, managing just two wins but five draws at home in that span. With such poor home form I expect them to drop out of 8th, but they are currently in a playoff position with Miami coming to town. I expect weird things to happen again, which could be anything from a crazy 5-6 game to a frustrating scoreless draw where Messi only plays a half and doesn't do anything of note.
By far the biggest matchup this week is San Jose squaring up against Vancouver again, this time at home. You may remember that San Jose handed Vancouver their only (league) loss this season up in Vancouver with a 1-0 statement win. Now Vancouver has the opportunity to repay the favor, as they have been a great road team these past couple of years and San Jose will have to do without both Werner and Tsakiris. I would be watching if I wasn't planning to be at the contemporaneous game in Seattle.
Thoughts and Players
Defenses
New England - Hosting Philadelphia while Turner is on a heater. They've allowed just two goals at home and Philly have scored just nine goals in 11 games. The defender right now to take is Sands.
Nashville - I am a little hesitant to take them coming off their midweek game and travel, with a team on the rise like DC, but realistically Nashville is just a much better team and should win this one. I still like Palacios, who was rested last weekend and should be fit enough for this one. Woledzi is a good backup option.
Seattle - Best defense in the league, despite playing 2/3rds of their games on the road. San Diego can score, but Seattle has shut out plenty of other great offenses. Any of the players are pickable, but I prefer Ragen for his minutes and danger on set pieces.
San Jose - Is it blasphemy to pick a defense facing a team that has scored the most goals in the league? I don't think it is. San Jose already shut out Vancouver earlier this year and will likely be playing this one more defensively than usual with Tsakiris and Werner unable to run the attack. It’s a risky pick, but San Jose has had an extremely good defense this year. Any of their defenders is fine; I think Munie is the highest scoring but Ricketts/Kikanovic/Roberts can all work for budget builds.
Vancouver - On the flip side, Vancouver's defense has been as good or better than San Jose's and Seattle's, and San Jose is missing key attackers. Plus, it is hard to go wrong with Laborda (if you can afford him), who scored again last week, bringing him to three league goals and an assist.
LAFC - I expect them to take out some frustrations on Houston, who are a low-scoring mid-table team. Porteous was rested last weekend so should be ready to play this one, as he's usually the minutes hog in this defense. Tafari is great but played a lot, and Long is still coming back from injury and may have reduced minutes. This defense is tough to guess.
Herrington - Colorado's defense itself is not stout (19 goals against is tied for third-worst in the West) BUT Herrington is a fantastic and heavily involved defender who can rack up the bonus points regardless of the scoreline. He doesn't have a similar ceiling as other defenders, especially with Colorado giving up a bunch of goals, but his floor is very high. Plus, this week Colorado is hosting St. Louis, a team that does not have a road win and has been shut out in half its road games so far.
Markanich - Another defender with three goals and an assist on the season. Austin is getting Brandon Vazquez and Owen Wolff reintegrated with the team so I am cautious of picking against them, especially with Minnesota's defense being a fair deal worse than the other top teams. Still, Markanich is a great fantasy asset.
Midfielders
Evander - He's really come into form. The matchup at Chicago won't be that easy, but it is a winnable game if Cincinnati is the top squad they expect to be.
Berhalter - He's cooled off a bit recently but still scores extremely well. He only played 22 minutes (including stoppage time) against San Jose in their first game, and Vancouver could really use him back in form for this one.
Gil - He's in form and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Luna - Luna has been tearing it up since coming off injury. You could also pick Gozo to save a bit of money, but Luna is proving to be the much better fantasy option. Either way, both should have decent games against Dallas.
M. Ojeda (M/F) - At Montreal this week so a great matchup. He had monster games against Charlotte and Miami and very lackluster games for the most part outside of those. He did have a goal against Montreal in the home matchup, and Orlando seems to be awakening from their early season woes. Orlando's next three are against 14th, 15th, and 12th in the East, a schedule ripe for the picking.
Leroux - Big responsibilities fall on his shoulders with Tsakiris missing, and he's answered the call in some big games this year. I like having a piece of the San Jose midfield and he's the one to take.
Rusnak/Rothrock - These two should be in line for starts at home against San Diego, where Seattle is averaging more than two goals per game. They probably will cede minutes to Arriola and Musovski/De Rosario later in the match, but my expectation/hope is they will score a few before that is necessary. It did not quite work out against SKC (though Rothrock got his) but I like the matchup and home setting here. Seattle has all three of next week's games at home.
Miranchuk - He's on a hot streak as well, and home again this time against the Galaxy. A very reasonable choice.
Haile-Selassie - He's been filling in all around the attacking midfield for Chicago between injuries to Bamba and now Lod, and has been scoring well (for the most part). He's also very affordable. Zinckernagel and Cuypers are still the premium options, but don't sneeze at MHS. He loses value when Bamba and Lod are both healthy, which may be in the near future, but for now he’s a nice pick.
Habroune - He's been putting in some excellent shifts for Columbus lately and is another strong affordable option. Next three are all road games but at NYCFC is a good matchup this week and then at NYRB and Philadelphia could be good stops as well.
Longstaff - Three games in a row with a G or A for Montreal, it's hard to say whether he is finally delivering on his potential after debuting with a goal for Newcastle in the EPL against Man U at 19 or if he's just lucked into a strong run of form at 26. Probably luck, considering his record at TFC and MTL from 2024-25, but he might be worth a look. Perhaps someone with a keener eye can inform me.
Forwards
Messi - He trained in full today and should be good to go.
Cuypers/Zinckernagel - Cuypers has a brace in three straight games and has scored in every game so far this year? Zinckernagel is somehow in even better form? This seems unfair.
Denkey - As Evander has been in form, Denkey is actually benefiting this time instead of being sidelined.
Judd - He does the dirty work and gets rewarded with some excellent chances he can put away.
Espinoza - He's been integral to Nashville's good moments recently with Surridge out. Mukhtar can take over, of course, but Espi is also excellent.
Prince - Home game vs Orlando? Sign me up.
Ferreira - He will likely be back at RM with Rusnak back in the lineup. I like his ability to create from the wing and score, without a stone footed #9 taking up space in the middle. I just hope Schmetzer actually keeps him on the field. Morris should benefit from the return to the #9 role with Rusnak back and Ferreira going wide, but I think Ferreira is better for fantasy for now.
Muntenau - Three goals in his two starts, including a brace last week. Playing at Nashville is a tough task, but he may have the talent to overcome the difficulty. It's not clear how it'll go if/when Baribo is back though, so I think this may be too big a risk, but it is a player I am watching.
Navarro - Major let down last week, but Colorado is back at home and St. Louis has not been the most difficult opponent.
Salloi - With Miami in town you get a spectacle and some of the worst defense you'll see. Salloi is having a good year and could be the beneficiary of this matchup with Sargent injured.
Joveljic - Playing Portland is a recipe for an attacker's success, and if anyone on SKC will be successful in this one it's most likely Joveljic.
Captain Considerations
Messi - Because he's Messi. As long as he gets minutes, he's going to be a top scorer.
Cuypers - His goalscoring cannot be denied.
M. Ojeda - Road game but it is at Montreal. I like the matchup a lot.
Prince - On the other side of the matchup, but Orlando's defense is even worse than Montreal's.
Finest Fifteen
Messi, Cuypers, Prince, Ferreira
Evander, Gil, M. Ojeda, Rusnak, Berhalter
Sands, Ragen, Herrington, Markanich
Turner, Thomas
