MLS Fantasy 2018: Gameweek 17 - 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
GW15
Home: Alberth Elis (Houston Dynamo 2-0 Colorado Rapids) - 2pts
Away: Sebastian Giovinco (Philadelphia Union 0-2 Toronto) - 6pts
Wildcard: Mauro Diaz (FC Dallas 2-0 Montreal Impact) - 13pts
GW16
Home: Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto 4-4 D.C. United) - 9pts
Away: Josef Martinez (Columbus Crew 0-2 Atlanta United) - 6pts
Wildcard: Teal Bunbury (San Jose Earthquakes 2-2 New England Revolution) - 2pts
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), 2 (15), 9 (16) = 157 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), 6 (15), 6 (16) = 111 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), 13 (15), 2 (16) = 130 points
Gameweek 17: Home Captain
Fixture: Atlanta United vs. Portland Timbers
Player: Josef Martinez (ATL)
Position: Forward
Player Price: $10.7 million
Do you ever feel like a cycle is repeating itself over and over, especially with the pattern of picking Fantasy players for the squads. Right now, ahead of a competitive round of Week 17 fixtures, we've hit that wall where our picks on a weekly basis have followed a massive trend.
Ahead of Week 16 we chose Josef Martinez as our away captain, and Sebastian Giovinco as our home captain. This week we have flipped the tables, with Gio our chosen captain on the road, with Josef Martinez back at home to spice up the weekend with another potential threat of goals, goals and even more goals.
With a few days rest following the opening of the World Cup, MLS cruelly throws itself back into the ring with its domestic league, leaving our attention partly with an eye to the tournament in Russia. This means a captaincy pick this week has to be straight forward, with Martinez the standout home option, even against a Portland Timbers side who are proving dominant on their own turf.
Martinez has scored in each of his last 4 MLS appearance, netting 6 goals, which includes a second hat-trick of the season in the 3-1 home victory over Philadelphia Union during Week 14. Since then, Martinez has found the net against direct rivals in the Eastern Conference, scoring against Columbus Crew and NYCFC in what was Patrick Vieira's last game in charge of the club.
Martinez's appeal has catapulted him ahead of Miguel Almiron, with form ousting the weekly expectation of points that Miguel Almiron almost always lives up to. Atlanta were also eliminated in the US Open Cup in a 1-0 home defeat to Chicago, and with Martinez rested this is the perfect opportunity to mount a response against one of the play-off contenders in the West.
Gameweek 17: Away Captain
Fixture: NYCFC vs. Toronto
Player: Sebastian Giovinco
Position: Forward (CAM/CF)
Player Price: $11.9 million
Depending on what side of the fence you're on with Sebastian Giovinco in MLS Fantasy, you're either quite pleased that the Italian is averaging 9 points-per-game over a 6-game period, proving an air of consistency for points in a widely inconsistent Toronto side who look well off the pace in the race for the play-offs this season (despite being the current MLS Cup holders), or you're more like us and pulling your hair out over how many points Giovinco should realistically be obtaining.
Giovinco's 79 points this season ranks him as the 18th best Fantasy player this season based on average points based on minutes played. Toronto's play-maker has had 74 shots on goals this season, but only has 3 goals to show for his efforts.On 3 occasions this season Gio has had 10+ shots in a single game, and has earned 26 points in those matches (just below 9 points-per-game).
The Forward registered 12 shots against Dallas during Week 13, with just 6 Fantasy points to boast from that encounter in a 1-0 home loss, and most recently in the 4-4 home draw with D.C. United during Week 16, Gio managed 12 shots again, only managing 1 assist and 9 points.
Gio's underlying attacking bonus are providing him the perfect platform for MLS Fantasy players right now, which is why regardless of opposition he is our select as away captain, though we have the sense that the laws of averages aren't in his favour right now, and he should be tallying more points than he should be despite his considerable efforts, which is where Toronto as a team come into play.
MLS Fantasy potential and the performance of a player's team doesn't have to go hand-in-hand, with Toronto a glowing example. Out of form, out of shape, and slow to adapt to matches this season, the Canadian side aren't hitting their heights from last season in a big way and the lack of confidence is curtailing Giovinco's explosive potential, but not enough to detract players.
With Patrick Vieira gone, this match is a 'wildcard' fixture and a first chance for Domènec Torrent to stamp his authority on his NYC squad, but does come up against an unpredictable opponent in Toronto.
Gameweek 17: Wildcard Captain
Fixture: Orlando City vs. Montreal Impact
Player: Dom Dwyer (ORL)
Position: Forward
Player Price: $10.0 million
Amidst the fever of the World Cup in Russia, Orlando took a huge step in changing their status quo by releasing Head Coach, Jason Kreis, after a run of 6 successive defeats, which was preceded by 6 successive victories, their best and worst run in MLS history, all in the space of 12 games.
Coming off the back of some horrendous results, which includes a recent 3-0 mauling at Montreal Impact, we must be crazy backing Dom Dwyer, a Forward who has only just returned from injury, as a genuine captaincy contender against the same side that beat Orlando 3-0 less than 2 weeks ago.
The pace that the landscape of football changes is dramatic, and with Kreis out of the picture at Orlando, there could be a massive reaction, or we're about to witness the club's continued meltdown.
We just don't know with Orlando, which puts them in prime real estate for our wildcard captaincy slot. Dwyer won't be a fancied option for the armband and has a potentially good home fixture to contend with in a round of fixtures that is pitting a lot of big named sides against one another.
The only way is up for Orlando, and with Dwyer the figurehead in attack, he'll be the man to drag them out of the mud in a tough spot. That, or we've overlooked LAFC's in-form Diomande and we'll end up with egg on our faces.
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All aboard.
