MLS Fantasy 2018: Gameweek 15 - Captaincy Picks
Picking a Captain to double down on in MLS Fantasy is the most important choice ahead of each of the 34 regular season Gameweek's in MLS's season. There's a lot of self-help out there for MLS enthusiasts, with our Hype Team providing three major considerations for the armband for each and every Gameweek. We'll be detailing the top choice for captain in home and away matches, and a Wildcard pick of our choosing to add to the chaos. All aboard.
MLS Fantasy: Gameweek Deadline
For the 2018 MLS Fantasy season there is a 'Rolling Lockout', which means you can make substitutions and transfers until the second a player's game kicks off, which means you can chop and change your lineup as any Gameweek progresses.
You can view the schedule and a real time Gameweek deadline countdown clock (in the London GMT timezone) on our dedicated MLS Fantasy page.
Captaincy in MLS Fantasy
There are a few differences with picking a captain in MLS compared to playing other games such as FPL. The major element to note with our Captaincy article is that we'll be picking a captain who is playing home and away, as well as a Wildcard player of our own choosing.
We've listed the differences below that make captaincy in MLS Fantasy unique:
- With the Rolling Lockout, you can change your captain until the selected captaincy pick plays
- Once the team your captaincy pick takes to the field, you can no longer change your captain
- If your captaincy pick doesn't play, then you'll end up with nothing
- There is no option to select a vice captain
CAPTAINCY HYPE: 2018 SEASON PERFORMANCE
In each Captaincy article we track our progress throughout the 2018 MLS Fantasy season. Below you can check how our captaincy selections have performed by week to week in Major League Soccer.
GW1
Home: Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto 0-2 Columbus Crew) - 3pts
Away: Josef Martinez (Houston Dynamo 4-0 Atlanta United) - 5pts
Wildcard: Nicolas Lodeiro (Seattle Sounders 0-1 LAFC) - 9pts
GW2
Home: David Villa (NYCFC 2-1 LA Galaxy) - 10pts
Away: Yamil Asad (Atlanta United 3-1 D.C. United) - 2pts
Wildcard: Alberth Elis (Houston Dynamo 1-2 Vancouver Whitecaps) - 9pts
GW3
Home: David Villa (NYCFC 2-0 Orlando City) - 0pts
Away: Nemanja Nikolic (Minnesota United 2-1 Chicago Fire) - 2pts
Wildcard: Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United 4-1 Vancouver Whitecaps) - 10pts
GW4
Home: Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew 3-1 D.C. United) - 2pts
Away: Maxi Moralez (New England Revolution 2-2 NYCFC) - 4pts
Wildcard: Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls 3-0 Minnesota United) - 13pts
GW5
Home: Felipe Gutierrez (Sporting Kansas City 1-0 D.C. United) - 6pts
Away: Carlos Vela (LA Galaxy 4-3 LAFC) - 15pts
Wildcard: Alberth Elis (Houston Dynamo 0-2 New England Revolution) - 3pts
GW6
Home: Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United 5-0 LAFC) - 20pts
Away: Carlos Vela (Atlanta United 5-0 LAFC) - 3pts
Wildcard: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy 0-2 Sporting Kansas City) - 2pts
GW7
Home: Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United 2-2 NYCFC) - 10pts
Away: Sacha Kljestan (Philadelphia Union 0-2 Orlando City) - 8pts
Wildcard: Maxi Moralez (NYCFC 4-0 RSL // Atlanta 2-2 NYCFC) - 23pts
GW8
Home: Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls 1-2 Chicago Fire) - 10pts
Away: Miguel Almiron (LA Galaxy 0-2 Atlanta United) - 14pts
Wildcard: Alberth Elis (Houston Dynamo 5-1 Toronto) - 8pts
GW9
Home: Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United 4-1 Montreal Impact) - 15pts
Away: Dom Dwyer (Colorado Rapids 1-2 Orlando City) - 2pts
Wildcard: Carlos Vela (LAFC 1-0 Seattle Sounders) - 5pts
GW10
Home: Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto 3-0 Philadelphia Union) - 12pts
Away: Miguel Almiron (Chicago Fire 1-2 Atlanta United) - 10pts
Wildcard: Darwin Quintero (Minnesota United 1-0 Vancouver Whitecaps) - 3pts
GW11
Home: Carlos Vela (LAFC 2-0 Minnesota United & LAFC 2-2 NYCFC) - 18pts
Away: Miguel Almiron (Atlanta 0-2 Sporting KC & Orlando City 1-2 Atlanta) - 12pts
Wildcard: Darwin Quintero (Toronto 1-2 Seattle & New England 3-2 Toronto) - 16pts
GW12
Home: David Villa (NYCFC 4-0 Colorado Rapids) - 17pts
Away: Magnus Eriksson (Vancouver 2-2 San Jose & San Jose 1-3 D.C. United) - 7pts
Wildcard: Kei Kamara (Vancouver 2-2 San Jose & Dallas 2-2 Vancouver) - 9pts
GW13
Home: Carlos Vela (LAFC 1-1 D.C. United) - 5pts
Away: Diego Valeri (Colorado Rapids 2-3 Portland Timbers) - 7pts
Wildcard: Ola Kamara (LA Galaxy 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes) - 2pts
GW14
Home: Miguel Almiron (New England 1-1 Atlanta & Atlanta 3-1 Philadelphia) - 18pts
Away: Alberth Elis (RSL 2-1 Houston & Montreal 1-0 Houston Dynamo) - 8pts
Wildcard: Maxi Urruti (LA Galaxy 2-3 FC Dallas & FC Dallas 2-1 LAFC) - 3pts
Totals
Home Total: 3 (1), 10 (2), 0 (3), 2 (4), 6 (5), 20 (6), 10 (7), 10 (8), 15 (9), 12 (10), 18 (11), 17 (12), 5 (13), 18 (14) = 146 points
Away Total: 5 (1), 2 (2), 2 (3), 4 (4), 15 (5), 3 (6), 8 (7), 14 (8), 2 (9), 10 (10), 12 (11), 7 (12), 7 (13), 8 (14) = 99 points
Wildcard Total: 9 (1), 9 (2), 10 (3), 13 (4), 3 (5), 2 (6), 23 (7), 8 (8), 5 (9), 3 (10), 16 (11), 9 (12), 2 (13), 3 (14) = 115 points
Gameweek 15: Home Captain
Fixture: Houston Dynamo vs. Colorado Rapids
Player: Alberth Elis (HOU)
Position: Forward (RW)
Player Price: $10.9 million
Just a few hours from kick off ahead of Gameweek, it's been a frantic couple of weeks in MLS, so we thought it was best to provide a later-than-advertised edition of our captaincy article this week. MLS Fantasy players are on the backs of a massive Double Gameweek 14, and have just gone through a round of US Open Cup fixtures. If you've not been paying attention to the Cup, we've got you covered in our below tweets.
Selecting a home captain this week come down to fixture difficulty, and there's no doubting that Houston Dynamo are in a strong position this weekend as they host the West's bottom side, Colorado Rapids.
Houston lost both of their Gameweek 14 ties away from home against Real Salt Lake and Montreal so form isn't ideal, but it is likely that rapid winger Alberth Elis is going to be a heavily popular pick this week. The Honduran international managed 8 points in the last Gameweek, scoring in the loss at RSL, but at home Houston could put a struggling Rapids side to the sword.
MLS Fantasy players will be hoping for a repeat of the Dynamo's opening day 4-0 rout of Atlanta United which saw Elis star. This week Elis is the no-brainer pick if you're looking for uncapped potential.
Gameweek 15: Away Captain
Fixture: Philadelphia Union vs. Toronto
Player: Sebastian Giovinco (TOR)
Position: Forward (CF)
Player Price: $11.0 million
With the US Open Cup taking place this past week, it has given the Canadian sides in MLS an opportunity to rest up this weekend, which is the basis of our away pick this weekend.
Less than a handful of games later and we're sticking with Giovinco to represent us as our away captain this week. Part of the reason is a lack of legitimate options away from home that players would realistically consider, but part of the thinking is definitely the thought of Toronto posing Philadelphia with fresh legs this weekend.
Toronto's recent road trip to Columbus ended in 6 shared goals, with Sebastian Giovinco scoring his first free-kick of the season, and if momentum means anything in MLS this season (which we're not sure exists), then all signs are pointing at Giovinvo being the third Forward pick this week alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alberth Elis.
The only flaw to our logic with picking Giovinco is a frustrating disciplinary record that is damanging his points potential having picked up 3 yellows and a red this season, all for dissent or foul play. That said, Gio has scored 3 goals in his last 5 appearances, so form is dictating our decision this week.
If you're not sold on Giovinco this week you could always put him as an auto-rotation option just to offset the potential of Toronto imploding on the road again.
Gameweek 15: Wildcard Captain
Fixture: FC Dallas vs. Montreal Impact
Player: Mauro Diaz (DAL)
Position: Midfielder (CAM)
Player Price: $10.4 million
Last up for selection this week is a Midfielder who has really been pulling his Fantasy weight as of late, with Maruo Diaz becoming a regular pick amongst regular players.
Dallas are currently second in the Western Conference on 26 points from 13 matches, and have a game in hand over Sporting KC, who have amassed 28 points from 14 matches. Dallas have only lost once this season and seem to be a solid unit across the pitch, though niggling rotation concerns with Maxi Urruti aren't helping reliable options in attack.
Mauro Diaz, an attacking midfielder on set-piece duty for Dallas, has started 9 of his 11 appearances this season, and is averaging 6.64 points per game despite coming off the bench as a substitute twice.
The Argentine playmaker managed 16 points last week in the Double Gameweek, assisting twice against LA Galaxy, and earned 7 points despite not assisting or scoring against LAFC in the next round.
With Dallas beating both the LA sides in a matter of days, next up is the challenge of a Montreal Impact side, who like Toronto, had their feet up in midweek. Diaz is an automatic starter for us this week due to our belief that Montreal are a side on the decline this season and are in need of reinforcements at both ends of the field.
Ignacio Piatti has cast a lonely look in the past few weeks, despite winning against Houston 1-0 during Week 14. Montreal aren't the same on the road and could be exposed by a dogged and bullish Dallas side that pin their opposition to their edge of their own box, allowing room for the likes of Diaz to take control of the match, and in turn aiding his Fantasy potential.
Diaz gets our pick as he'll be an overlooked captaincy pick this week, and one to keep an eye on if he gets the start this weekend.
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All aboard.
