It's a "double game week" coming right up, though it seems none of the major sites are treating it as such. Wednesday night is full of games and Saturday/Sunday has a full slate as well, but they are counting separately in Sofascore and FantasyUtd, with a true DGW on Kickbase. And since I don't have it in me to write two articles this week, congratulations! You get two articles in one!
If you're still reading my articles at this point, about two-thirds of the way through the season, I am going to assume you don't need any handholding. I will highlight some players and teams that you might want to think about, but I am going to assume I don't need to spend time talking about how great Nashville is, or Houston's surge up the table, or that SKC and Orlando have given up the most goals in the league. Focus will be primarily on tonight's matches, with an eye to the weekend for those playing on Kickbase.
Note the Player Status Report and the Disciplinary Summary, which importantly has De Paul, Dreyer, and Mihailovic suspended tonight. Note also that there are some big names like Evander and Navarro who could be suspended on the weekend for yellow card accumulation if they pick up another card tonight.
Matchdays 20/21 Schedule
Since everyone has two matches, it would take far too long for me to run through all the matchups, so I am going to highlight some matchups tonight and on the weekend you might not have considered otherwise. Oh and just up front, note that SKC is playing St. Louis at home tonight and at Austin on the weekend.
Wednesday highlights
Columbus plays Montreal at home tonight, who last won an MLS game on May 9th. Now, Columbus got significantly worse with the sale of Rossi, but big new signing Brais Méndez has three goals and an assist in five games between league play and Leagues Cup. Méndez and the rest of the usuals are worth a look this week.
Minnesota gets the road version of Atlanta. The Five Stripes have just five road points on the season (1W, 2T) from 10 games played. Minnesota is not a great team themselves, but Pereyra has been on fire lately and a consistent performer this season. He's one of my top picks for the matchday and you probably wouldn't be too wrong to give one of the defenders like Duggan or Markanich a shout.
Vancouver hosts Houston tonight in what is surprisingly a match for the top of the Western Conference. Houston would hold a 1-point lead with a win, though Vancouver would still have a game in hand. Houston have lost just once and tied twice in league play going back to the beginning of May, with seven wins in that span, including four straight shutout wins coming into this match. Though many of those games have been against weaker competition, Houston beat Vancouver in May. Vancouver has just three wins in that time span, along with two losses and a PK loss in Leagues Cup. The post-Berhalter era is not off to an auspicious start, with just the woeful Sounders providing some relief. This should be an entertaining match and don't be surprised if Houston pulls off the road win.
Weekend highlights
Miami is against Toronto, who just barely survived a barrage against the Revs after going up 2-0 in the first half and seeing Mihailovic get a red card in the second half. I can't credit them too much when the shots were 24 to 3 in the Revs' favor. De Paul will be rested (though Mihailovic will be too) and I expect it will likely be a good ol' fashioned Miami beatdown with a heap of goals.
Cincinnati will welcome Seattle's walking wounded. Though I think Seattle will turn it around in time for the playoffs, reinforcements are not coming this week so Cincinnati will get the benefit of playing the midfield that allowed Vancouver to make 121 passes in their final third while playing at home. Of course, the Caps needed Nouhou's gift to set up their second goal, but Evander must be licking his chops imagining the freedom he'll get against this midfield. I don't know if another 5-goal bashing is in the outing, but 3-4 is definitely on the table.
New England and NYCFC are at Gillette this weekend, one of the bigger matches I'm interested in (I'd put Van v. Dal here but I already featured Van). They are 4th and 7th in the East, separated by 4 points. The main question in the East is who will finish third after Nashville and Miami, with Nashville's win over Miami giving them the open road to the Supporters’ Shield. The Revs could jump to third with favorable results while NYCFC are attempting to climb within the pack of teams from third to ninth, who are all within 8 points of each other. Guys like Gil and Nico Fernandez are still top picks, but look out for new U-22 striker Luighi for NYCFC, signed on loan from Palmeiras, and 21-year-old midfielder Brooklyn Raines for NE, who's really turned a corner this year and put in a string of great games.
Quick Rankings, Thoughts, and Players
I am not going too in-depth in this section, but will give a list of guys I'm considering for each matchday with some general thoughts.
Defenses
Rd 20: Camacho, Porteous, Woledzi/Najar, Duggan, Elliott, Baumgartl, Resch/Halter, Ragen(?), Wagner
As noted above, I like the matchups for Columbus and Minnesota. LAFC and Nashville defenses are still elite on the road, and Chicago's is very good as well. St. Louis plays at SKC. I think Houston takes the match against Vancouver, who are struggling without Berhalter and still don't have White back. And though Seattle has been downright dreadful, I do not think Austin on the road has the capacity to take advantage of their struggles; I think this will be closer to the 3-0 victory Seattle had over Queretaro. Maybe this is just cope though, so feel free to ignore Ragen and Seattle's defense. Wagner is an every-week option even though they're playing Miami. You can snag corresponding GKs accordingly.
Rd 21: Wagner, Porteous, Woledzi/Najar, Allen, Morrison, Duah, Robinson
Wagner, Porteous, and Nashville defenders are every week options. Miami has a good matchup against Toronto, same with Charlotte vs DC. Duah specifically has been very good for SD, though he may be a mid in some systems. Cincinnati gets to run over Seattle, whose attack has been anemic for the most part and likely won't have much to say in this one.
Midfielders
Rd 20: Evander, Gil, Guilherme (M/F), Biel, Pereyra, Nico Fernández (M/F), McGlynn, C. Sullivan, Mukhtar, Méndez
These are largely very standard picks and there shouldn't really be any surprises, though Sullivan continues to improve for Philadelphia and is one to watch against Miami. Méndez could be a fun pickup.
Rd 21: Evander, Gil, Guilherme (M/F), Nico Fernandez (M/F), Almiron (M/F), De Paul, Biel, Tsakiris (?), Pereyra, Müller
I have Almiron against SKC, De Paul rested at home, and Müller against Dallas. Tsakiris is getting healthy again and could slot back in as an every-match fantasy option; we’ll have to see how much and how well he plays against LAG. Biel and Pereyra have slightly more difficult matchups, but should still be solid choices.
Forwards
Rd 20: Messi, Musa, Surridge, Zinckernagel/Lewandowski, Suárez, Bouanga/Son
I suspect I don't have to say much about these options. I'll take this opportunity to note Luighi (NYC) and Ellis (ORL) as cheaper options who have a lot of promise. Ellis has a track record already and Luighi could be the forward NYCFC have been missing.
Rd 21: Messi, Dreyer, Surridge, Zinckernagel/Lewandowski, Suárez, Bouanga/Son, Denkey, Owusu
Dreyer in for Musa since he'll be off suspension and I'm not as confident in Dallas at Vancouver. Denkey gets Seattle's defense and I like Owusu back at home against LAG. Something to watch for this weekend is whether any of M. Ojeda, Berterame, or White come off the injury list. I'm not sure where Ojeda is in his recovery, but Berterame and White seem to be close.
Captain Considerations
Messi - He was a bust last week, but come on, it's still Messi.
Evander - Extremely strong second option.
Guilherme - Extremely strong second option (yes, I know).
Rd 20: Pereyra - Strong run of games lately and hosting Atlanta.
Rd 21: Almiron - Beneficiary of SKC at home, and Almiron has been playing well since the World Cup.
