If you've never played Chutes and Ladders, you're missing out. The classic kids' board game (which I am learning from Wikipedia originated from 2nd century CE India as "Moksha Patam" ['liberation lesson'] and was Snakes and Ladders when brought to the UK) has you rolling dice to advance up a board to the top, with various shortcuts (the "ladders") letting you skip squares but a variety of setbacks (the "chutes") that send you sliding backward with nothing you can do about it. It is a game of destiny, where all you can do is roll the dice and hope they land in your favor.
This period of the MLS season is a bit like the game. Some teams are sliding back to the start, eliminated from the playoffs or in a free-fall on their way out, while others are charging ahead, discarding their competition as they hit their stride ahead of the playoffs. Perhaps a bit of a pained simile, but it's what I think about when I see that Philadelphia has only dropped four points total since the World Cup break, while Minnesota has a single win and just eight points in those 13 games. Seattle has done its own version of the game just in this season, sitting at 10-2-2 across all competitions early, going on that 8 game losing streak, and now at 9 unbeaten with four league wins in a row. San Diego have two points in their last six games; St. Louis has 16.
It is inevitable at this point in the season that some teams have to pull the plug on the veterans and play the kids, as their season is toast and it's time to start preparing for the sprint season. Other teams are going to have to get more pragmatic and shift into playoff mode, eschewing ambitious soccer for something a little more hard-nosed and tougher to break down.
What's going to happen when Nashville clinches the Supporter's Shield? Heavy rotation or business as usual to stay in rhythm? I think it is safe to assume SKC is going to keep pushing teams as they have certainly been in 2027 mode for many weeks now and have a lot of newer players who need to build chemistry ahead of the sprint season. But what about some of the teams that have been attempting to go for it this year and are falling short, like RSL, Toronto, Columbus, San Diego, and Austin? What's Davy Arnaud going to do with Austin, knowing that Jim Curtin already has the job for next year? I think we can assume San Diego's performance in 2025 will earn Mikey Varas a mulligan on this season, but what does he do with their remaining games as playoff hopes dim? At what point do teams rest players with an eye towards health for the playoffs?
I can't answer all that well who will be climbing the ladders and who is jumping down the chutes over the last seven games or so, but these are important considerations as teams run out of time on the season.
Week 29 & 30 Quick Rankings
Goalkeepers
Schwake, Thomas, Takaoka, Bond, Lloris, Hansen
Defenders
Baker-Whiting, Ragen, Laborda, Halter, Cheberko, Holding
Midfielders
Evander, Gil, Mukhtar, Rusnak, Angulo, Luiz (M/F), Guilherme (M/F), Matan, Holse (M/F), Iloski (M/F), Gauld, Almiron, Espinoza (M/F)
Forwards
Messi, Griezmann, Navarro, Bouanga, Joveljić, Suarez, Dreyer, Denkey, Morris
Week 29 & 30 schedule
We have a full midweek slate tonight and then a full weekend slate starting early on Saturday, along with a Sunday match. The matchdays are split on Sofascore but Kickbase has a DGW for everyone across the board. Thus, my focus will be on the DGW, and I'll leave it to you to figure out if you have players you want to target for one week or the other on Sofascore.
Note that some teams may take the opportunity to rotate this week. Nothing sticks out to me as an obvious candidate for rotation (except maybe SKC), just something to give a bit of consideration towards.
Home/Home
Cincinnati - vs New England, vs Columbus
Galaxy - vs Portland, vs San Diego
With Evander off the injury list and Denkey performing some heroics in his absence, Cincinnati has an interesting double home slate. The Galaxy are not trustworthy, but two home games suggest there may be some fantasy value here.
Away/Away
Charlotte - at Columbus, at Philadelphia
Vancouver - at St. Louis, at Austin
Both teams have one very tough game against top conference rivals, and the other against not-as-tough conference rivals. I'm concerned about Vancouver's form with Müller injured of late and St. Louis could very easily be top of the conference by week's end. Charlotte can definitely come out of Columbus with points, but it'll be a big test to see how they stack up against Philadelphia (who could jump them with another 6-point week if Charlotte doesn't beat Columbus).
Highlights
St. Louis - vs Vancouver, at Minnesota
Seattle - at Dallas, vs Montreal
Nashville - vs SKC, at San Jose
Miami - vs NYC, at Atlanta
Orlando - at Toronto, vs DC
Philadelphia - at Chicago, vs Charlotte
I think St. Louis is a favorite against Vancouver right now and a heavy favorite over Minnesota. Seattle at Dallas will be the toughest test in the Sounders’ current unbeaten run since... their last match where they beat the 2nd place East team thoroughly and handily on the road. Home vs Montreal should be an easy one (emphasis on should). Nashville gets an SKC game to really push their Supporters’ Shield lead, then plays a solid San Jose squad. Miami gets some easier matchups and we have seen what they can do to teams when they're locked in. Orlando is very up-and-down with an awful defense, but they do score on the regular and these should be easy matchups for them. Philadelphia has laid waste to everyone lately and I expect that to continue, despite the more difficult matchups.
The rest of the league has a mix of good and bad matchups, none of which stand out to me as particularly remarkable or notable from a fantasy perspective. These teams are who they are right now. LAFC can't break down a team with the ball to save its life. Portland is a right mess and can't even stay in the playoff picture after being spotted 6 points by Seattle, but are dangerous enough to beat anyone (including themselves). RSL is not good. New England is good. So it goes.
Thoughts and Players
Defenses
Nashville - By far the best defense in the league, and they get two reasonable matchups. SKC has been far more dangerous in the attack since Luiz arrived, and San Jose has a strong enough attack to sit in fourth in the West, but Nashville is another beast. Baker-Whiting has been delivering on his potential recently, getting heavily involved in the attack while the defense holds it down. He's started their past seven games, with two assists and goal in that span, scoring off the bench in the prior match (plus conceding an OG, but, uh, who's counting?). There's maybe a small concern that Lovitz gets a start in the DGW (they probably don't need Reed against SKC), in which case you could opt for the more reliable points of Woledzi, but Baker-Whiting has the highest ceiling.
Seattle - The backline is fully healthy again and doing what they did early in the season, suffocating teams out of the game by bending but not breaking, playing out of the press with Cristian Roldan and Albert Rusnak's game control, and patient attacking with defensive stability to guard against counterattacks before the ball is even turned over. Visiting Dallas will be another big test, but with Farrington out there's a big piece of the attack missing (though it may just give room for Musa to try and chase Messi back down for the Golden Boot). The most reliable scorer here is clearly Ragen.
Vancouver - They are here simply because they have been one of the strongest defenses on the season and still have a strong road record. I could see them getting walloped by St. Louis and then maybe doing okay against Austin, but they could come out of this week with two clean sheets just as easily. It’s hard to bet against them until they show clearly they don't have the juice anymore. Given availability, the guy is probably Laborda, though I would have no criticisms if you picked Johnson or Ocampo.
Houston - They are trending very poorly, but based on season data they should be one of the better picks this week at San Diego and home against Dallas. This is not a strong recommendation, but on paper it should work out. I guess go with Halter.
LAFC - Another team trending poorly, but they should have maybe at least one good result this week, home vs Austin then away to NYCFC. Neither opponent is particularly imposing this week (especially Austin on the road), but I am also very down on LAFC as a team given they're winless in four. It might work out, though I wouldn't be the house on it. Lately it has been Cheberko with the stronger fantasy scores.
Colorado - Another tepid recommendation. They had a very strong August, earning four clean sheets that month, but have allowed three goals against MLS opponents five times since August 22nd. Minnesota is coming to town and scores buckets, and then a road game to Portland is full of danger. Still, they have been amongst the better defensive teams this year and could very well return to form. Take with caution (if at all). Perhaps Holding is the answer.
Midfielders
Evander - Hopefully fully healthy, he's still a monster out there and might just have Denkey in peak form.
Gil - I thought about subbing him off on Sofascore at halftime against Seattle, as his points were nonexistent. He ended on 7 points anyway, even with no goal or assist. It will be an interesting week for New England to see if they can bounce back.
Mukhtar - I think he'd be a strong MVP candidate if not for Messi doing what Messi does. Should be a good week for him.
Rusnak - He managed to dodge any goal involvements against New England, though not for lack of trying. I think he'll be back on track this week.
Angulo - He's become indispensable for Orlando, with some incredible performances lately. Likely to be more of the same this week.
Luiz (M/F) - Absolutely dominant performances, almost single-handedly making SKC an entertaining watch. They have a tougher game this week at Nashville, but then against RSL is a nice matchup for him.
Guilherme (M/F) - Not the finest few games for him and Houston, but he's been consistent enough over the season that I'm not worried about him.
Matan - One of the driving forces behind St. Louis's recent dominance, though there's a bunch of guys playing extremely well lately for them.
Holse (M/F) - Speaking of which, he just had a hat trick and seems to just be getting started. Crazy new era for St. Louis.
Iloski (M/F) - Hard to pick who exactly from Philadelphia is going to blow up, especially with Damiani scoring lately, but Iloski is a reasonable bet every week.
Gauld - With Müller injured, he has primary playmaking responsibilities for a good team.
Almiron - I know Atlanta is bad, but he's the lone bright-ish spot they've got and playing at Montreal and home versus Miami are games where there will be goals.
Espinoza (M/F) - He's been cooking with Nashville lately, outscoring Mukhtar in a decent number of games.
Forwards
Messi - Yes, you can afford him.
Griezmann - Incredible work lately. Orlando has to score multiple goals to win any game, and he's delivering.
Navarro - He's part of the St. Louis machine they've built and is capitalizing on their system.
Bouanga - Someone is probably going to score for LAFC and he's the guy.
Joveljić - This guy just knows how to score.
Suarez - He's had a renaissance after being a benchwarmer earlier in the year. More proof that bad people can play soccer good sometimes.
Dreyer - Had a penalty saved last game but still got an assist. If San Diego does anything positive he's almost always at the center of it.
Denkey - I'm very curious to see whether we get an extremely good Denkey on the field at the same time as Evander at his best. Could be scary if they can figure it out.
Morris - Assuming he's healthy after coming off last match a little banged up (he's not on the injury report), he's been extremely active on the wing for the Sounders, combining extremely well with Rusnak and Joveljic. He is a DP for a reason. If you need me to spell it out, it's because he consistently finds goal contributions in a variety of ways from different positions when healthy. He's healthy now and has some of the best talent he's ever had around him.
Captain considerations
Messi - He continues to exceed expectations and is showing no signs of actually slowing down.
Mukhtar - Home vs. SKC has to be a time to consider him a captain pick.
Evander - Huge games for Cincy, and both are at home. Have to like him this week.
Navarro - St. Louis has turned into a monster and he's a big reason why.
