Well, the summer transfer window is closed, and teams have limited options for tuning up their rosters from here on out. The clubs are more or less what they will look like in the push to the playoffs and the Cup. There were some very late additions and arrivals, so expect some guys to work their way in slowly. Of course, guys like Lewandowski and Griezmann and now Joveljić have stepped right in and made a big impact for their new clubs. I am not nearly plugged in enough league-wide to know who of the new arrivals are worth considering for fantasy.
My usual policy anyway is to give new players, especially foreign signings, a couple of weeks to work their way into a regular role. You can safely assume that DPs and max or high TAM players are signed to be starters, but most others will need to earn their spots. I accept that often I may be a week or two late to add a new player, but I would much rather be late a few times than too early most of the time.
Note that this week’s action kicks off today (Friday) at 4:30 pm Pacific, so get your lineups set early!
Round 23 quick rankings
Goalkeepers
Takaoka, Sirois, Schwake, St. Clair
Defenders
Ocampo, Urhoghide, Woledzi, Fray, Pierre, Markanich
Midfielders
Evander, Mukhtar, Müller, Pereyra, Sullivan, Valiente, Achouri, Aaronson, De Paul
Forwards
Messi, Musa, Girezmann, Yeboah, Lewandowski, Joveljić
Round 23 schedule
We have a Friday afternoon game this week at 4:30 pm Pacific, as NYCFC welcomes Nashville to the Big Apple. Nashville is looking nigh unstoppable – they have only dropped points twice since the World Cup break and embarrassed Cincinnati last weekend. They did lose twice in Leagues Cup, but those games were with thoroughly rotated lineups. NYCFC, meanwhile, is winless in five matches. I know who I'm betting on here.
The Good
Dallas is the fortunate team to play SKC this week. I expect a bucket of goals from them and would have zero surprise to see Musa reclaim the golden boot lead.
Miami gets Atlanta at home. Atlanta was outmatched at home against a disciplined Charlotte squad, so I am not expecting a repeat of their shock road win in the playoffs over Miami two year ago. I think it is likely that Messi grows his golden boot lead, despite what I just said above.
It is probably the homer in me saying this one, but I genuinely like Seattle this weekend at home against NYRB. The Red Bulls are struggling and did not make any serious impactful moves in the window, and Seattle has Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris back to health, who should both be starting in this one. Roldan instantly makes the defense far better and Morris should provide a vertical, wide threat that Joveljić can utilize by allowing Morris to draw defensive attention.
The Bad
Charlotte hosting Houston gives me bad vibes. Both teams are strong and have solid defenses. Each has a match winner in Biel and Guilherme. But I still find it impossible to predict this one and expect it to be low-scoring anyway.
RSL plays LAFC in what is suddenly turning out to be a suck bowl. Both teams are in very poor runs of form, especially now that the post-World Cup boost has worn off. Neither side took advantage of that boost in the transfer market, making zero impactful signings and selling some of their key players. I’m honestly not sure what their plans are, and I find it difficult to predict who comes out on top here. I think LAFC has the better chance, but playing on the road at altitude is never easy.
The Ugly Interesting
Philadelphia gets Montreal this week. Philly are on a 7-game unbeaten run, earning 17 of their 24 points on the year after the World Cup break. Things are looking up, but they are still 12th in the East. Montreal had some decent results and then got waxed by Miami. Philly looks like the much better team at this point and could jump up to a playoff spot, but Montreal can deliver some surprises.
San Diego travels to Orlando, a difficult cross-country trip but a potentially lucrative one for SD's offense. They have scored the sixth-most goals in the league and Orlando has allowed the most, tied with SKC. We can probably expect a shootout here.
St. Louis travels to Vancouver this weekend, two of the top Western Conference teams. St. Louis is sixth, but tied for fourth on points, while Vancouver is clearly the top dog. St. Louis was able to beat Houston recently at home; can they do it on the road against Vancouver?
Thoughts and Players
Defenses
Vancouver - You can guess how I am coming down on this one. The Caps struggled against Houston but I think they are better matched against St. Louis, and will have a similar performance to their games against Dallas and (to a lesser extent) SKC. Pick whoever you like, they're all decent options, but Ocampo has been the best performer, especially at his value lately.
Dallas - I am not convinced SKC has a single player in their XI who would start for any of the playoff teams in the league. They have scored two goals in their last five games and are now missing their top scorer. They are clearly not a team built to do anything positive this year. Best choice here is probably Urhoghide.
Nashville - They're too good, even on the road. The pick these days is Woledzi.
Miami - In the absence of better options, you can try and pick someone here. Their defense has generally been pretty poor, but it is still Atlanta coming to play. You can probably pick Fray and hope he gets an assist.
Pierre - I am not endorsing the Philly defense as a whole, given Montreal's ability to score pesky goals, but Pierre has been a monster on set pieces, scoring four goals on the year despite just 6 starts and 7 appearances.
Markanich - He's on a strong run of form, with two goals and an assist in his past three games. I don't know if he can sustain this on the road at Portland, but he's shown in the past he can be a weapon when Minnesota is playing well. Worth a look.
Midfielders
Evander - Even in a shutout road loss he still scored fine. Pick him.
Mukhtar - He's in form and the driving force behind Nashville hammering some of these teams lately. They have three road games coming up so the floor could fall out, and Nashville has plenty of other weapons so sometimes it's just not his day, but he is still elite.
Müller - Vancouver's biggest weapon right now. He got some rest midweek for the Canadian Championship while Gauld played the full 90. I expect him to be the go-to guy this weekend.
Pereyra - Minnesota's attack is doing well lately, even though their defense has let them down. He's a star.
Sullivan - Cavan is getting better every week as the team trusts him more and more. Can he actually deliver on the hype?
Valiente - I think this is my first time recommending the Dallas #10, but what better time than hosting SKC?
Achouri - Same for this newer San Diego DP, and for a very similar reason. Playing Orlando is a very good matchup.
Aaronson - Columbus is a mess, and Aaronson is the best thing Colorado has going right now.
De Paul - He's not quite as involved in the attack as I'd like, just one assist of the seven goals against Montreal, but he's still a high quality, steady performer.
Forwards
Messi - I hope you captained him last week. Probably want to do so again.
Musa - If you are anti-Messi he's a great second option.
Griezmann - He continues to perform. It's almost like he's a world-class striker or something.
Dreyer - Hat trick of assists last week, San Diego is looking scary again.
Yeboah - He looked very bad for five matches, but now the past two he has 3 goals and an assist. Portland's defense is not imposing, though they have brought in some reinforcements after some key injuries. Minnesota is facing them at a fortunate time.
Lewandowski - He can make magic happen. It's almost like he's a world-class striker, too!
Joveljić - Already scored a brace for Seattle, I expect him to feast as Seattle's best players get healthy again. At home against NYRB is a fine time to do so.
Captain Considerations
Messi - Last weekend was a clear indication of why he's your every-week option.
Musa - The primary golden boot challenger, he gets a cupcake matchup this week.
Evander - Rough outing for Cincy at Nashville, but he still scored well enough for fantasy purposes. Back home against DC should be a much better time for him.
Dreyer - Another one in form and facing an easy matchup. It is a road game, but SD has historically (in their short existence) been quite a strong road team.
