Week 26 preview

Predicted goals scored:

Team	Scored
houston	3.5
portland	3.4
columbus	3.1
RSL	3.0
LA	2.7
Seattle	2.2
dallas	2.2
philadelphia	2.1
new england	1.6
dcu	1.6
chicago	1.5
toronto	1.5
colorado	1.4
chivas	1.1
kansas city	1.1
San Jose	1.0
new york	0.9
Vancouver	0.4

Predicted goals allowed:

Team	Allowed
LA	0.4
columbus	0.6	2.1
philadelphia	0.8
dallas	0.9
houston	1.0	2.2
RSL	1.1
chicago	1.1
toronto	1.4
colorado	1.5
chivas	1.5
Seattle	1.6
portland	1.6
new york	2.2
dcu	2.2
Vancouver	2.7
San Jose	2.9
kansas city	3.0
new england	3.4

Team of the week:
Hesmer
Franklin, Williams, John, Freeman
Davis, Jewsbury, Donovan, Rogers
Espindola, Montero
Subs: Ricketts, Borchers, Beckerman, Mendoza

Captains:

Davis – Davis is second in the league in assists this season. Houston are predicted to score over three goals combined in their two games away at a suddenly leaky Columbus and home against San Jose.

Jewsbury – Portland hosts a New England side who have been looking a lot better of late. But so have Portland, and Jewsbury’s set pieces and PK duty always give him the chance to score fantasy points.

Espindola – With Saborio suddenly looking interested again, it makes Espindola a better fantasy option. I simply couldn’t list Saborio in my team of the weak after his play-acting last week, but he would be a fine pick too.

Montero – Montero certainly hasn’t had the season that many expected of him after his highly productive first two seasons in MLS. For some reason, I am predicting Montero to bag a goal this week instead of just pull the strings linking up with Fernandez and Rosales.

Franklin – Franklin has been playing out of position the last couple games. He has performed decently well as an outside midfielder and has the bonus of potential clean sheet points. Franklin didn’t even travel to Morelia, so expect him to start against Vancouver.

Week 25 deadline mix-up

We are again presented with the opportunity to take advantage of ESPN's lack of professionalism with respect to the MLS fantasy game. The deadline is set for Friday's game, but we have a game between Philadelphia and New England that takes place before that happens. This time, we should all have plenty of substitutions remaining to take full advantage of any big-points scorers that happen in the Wednesday game. I, for one, intend to exploit this to the full extent.

Update:

Looks like they fixed it and didn't allow the deadline to go until the scheduled deadline. Unfortunately for me I was counting on having another 2 days to figure out my team, so I hadn't made my intended transfers for the week.

Week 25 Preview

Doubles:

Philadephia and New England face off Wednesday to make this week’s only two teams with a double. Based on the stats below (and general wisdom) Philadelphia is the team to own from the two. Philadelphia is rated as both the top team for offensive and defensive prospects. Philadelphia is predicted to keep two clean sheets and score more than four goals this week.

Predicted goals scored:

Team	Goals scored
philadelphia	4.4
columbus	3.7
new york	3.3
new england	2.5
LA	2.4
San Jose	2.1
kansas city	1.9
Seattle	1.8
dallas	1.8
chicago	1.4
chivas	1.3
dcu	0.9
RSL	0.8
Vancouver	0.8
toronto	0.7
houston	0.7
colorado	0.6
portland	0.5

Predicted goals allowed:

Team	Goals Allowed
philadelphia	0.5	0.9
LA	0.6
kansas city	0.7
columbus	0.7
new york	0.8
Seattle	0.8
chivas	0.9
dcu	1.3
San Jose	1.4
dallas	1.5
new england	1.8	2.1
RSL	1.8
houston	1.9
chicago	2.1
portland	2.3
colorado	2.4
Vancouver	3.3
toronto	3.7

No less than seven teams are predicted to keep clean sheets this week, with Philly predicted to keep two. I don’t remember ever being so spoilt for choice on the defensive end in MLS fantasy. It will be interesting to see how many of these actually end up as clean sheets as more teams become desperate for points and bunker in on the road or open up at home as the playoff deadline looms.

Team of the week:

Saunders
Williams, Franklin, Besler, Miranda
Joseph, Lindpere, Ekpo, Donovan
Henry, Le Toux
Subs: Nielsen, Wahl, Richards, Mendoza

Captains:

Le Toux – I called my hunch on Le Toux last week, and even though the easier of his two games were called off, he still produced. Two extremely favorable games for Philly should provide Seba with plenty of chances to increase his fantasy haul.

Williams – Even without Mondragon, I like the Union’s chances at picking up at least one clean sheet this week. Add on the attacking nature of Williams, two games, and you have a good shot at getting some fantasy returns.

Henry – MLS’s leading goal scorer up to this point and New York are predicted to score about three this weekend. It’s difficult to look past him.

Joseph – Even though New England’s returns look meager, I would still back Shalrie this week, if for no reason other than a double.

Mendoza – Columbus are predicted to score more than three goals this week as well. I really have trouble trying to pick an offensive standout for the Crew, but I guess I’ll go with Mendoza.

5-week preview: weeks 25-29

It's do or die time folks. We have just six gameweeks left remaining to catch those leaders (or hold off the challengers). I've updated the upcoming doubles and blanks page and also the goals scored/allowed page to help you make your decisions for the run-in.

Here's the upcoming 5-week totals for goals scored and allowed for each team, complete with predicted clean sheets and games played.

Team	Total scored	Games
new york	15.9	8
columbus	14.4	7
philadelphia	12.4	7
LA	11.5	6
kansas city	10.4	6
RSL	10.3	7
chivas	9.4	6
Seattle	9.2	5
dcu	9.1	7
San Jose	9.1	6
portland	8.8	6
dallas	8.8	5
chicago	8.7	6
houston	8.2	6
colorado	7.7	5
new england	7.3	6
Vancouver	5.9	5
toronto	5.1	5

Team	Average Allowed	Clean Sheets
columbus	1.2	5
chivas	0.9	4
LA	0.9	4
new york	1.2	4
philadelphia	1.2	4
kansas city	1.4	3
dallas	1.1	2
Seattle	1.4	2
chicago	1.5	1
colorado	1.7	1
RSL	2.1	1
Vancouver	2.4	1
dcu	1.6	0
houston	1.7	0
new england	2.1	0
portland	2.2	0
San Jose	2.2	0
toronto	2.6	0