MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 10 Fantasy Forecast
Ahead of each Week in MLS Fantasy the Hype Train provides its informative Fantasy Forecast, where members of the Hype Team will duel for MLS supremacy in predicting scores, as well as going head to head in picking a Scout Picks squad for the relevant round of games. In addition, we give our insight into who are the players to watch and those to drop, as well as providing insight into captaincy picks, differential players for the week, and more. Welcome to the Forecast. All aboard.
How does our Forecasting work?
The Hype Team will compete in a weekly head to head dual of wits. The 3 members of the team will provide weekly insight for the Gameweek ahead, providing score predictions, a Scout Picks squad that follows MLS Fantasy rules, and will provide what insight they can for the fixtures at hand.
MLS Fixture Prediction: As pundits, we are testing our football acumen with MLS predictions and will be providing regular updated tables and stats in each edition of the MLS Forecast. A perfect score is worth 3 points whilst a correct result is worth 1 point. An incorrect score is worth nothing.
Gameweek Insight: We've left an open space for the team to write that helps with the Gameweek hustle; identifying captaincy picks, transfers, attacking options, clean sheet potential, teams to look our for and avoid, differential players, as well as general analysis and comments.
Scout Picks: Picking a squad of 15 for a single Week, within their budget limitations, using the rules of MLS Fantasy - formations, the player limits of 3 players-per-club, and each team must pick a captain.
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 10 Fixtures (26)
Wed 7th October 2020 (1):
Nashville 0-1 Minnesota United
Thu 8th October 2020 (12):
Atlanta United 2-1 Orlando City
NY Red Bulls 1-3 Inter Miami
NE Revolution 0-0 Toronto
Philadelphia Union 2-0 FC Cincinnati
Columbus Crew 2-0 Montreal Impact
NYCFC 1-1 D.C. United
Houston Dynamo 2-2 FC Dallas
Sporting KC 1-0 Chicago Fire
Colorado Rapids 0-2 LAFC
Seattle Sounders 4-0 Real Salt Lake
LA Galaxy P-P Portland Timbers
San Jose Earthquakes P-P Vancouver Whitecaps
Sat 10th October 2020 (2):
Inter Miami 2-2 Houston Dynamo
Atlanta United 1-0 NY Red Bulls
Sun 11th October 2020 (3):
Colorado Rapids P-P LA Galaxy
Vancouver Whitecaps P-P Real Salt Lake
NYCFC P-P NE Revolution
Monday 12th October 2020 (8):
LAFC 1-2 Seattle Sounders
Chicago Fire P-P D.C. United
FC Cincinnati 0-2 Toronto
Orlando City 0-2 Columbus Crew
Sporting KC 1-0 Nashville
Philadelphia Union 3-1 Montreal Impact
FC Dallas 3-2 Minnesota United
Portland Timbers P-P San Jose Earthquakes
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 10 Insight
Season Points & Price Increase Review:
MW4: +$3.0mil – Points: 46 – Returns: 3
MW5: +$3.7mil – Points: 95 – Returns: 8
MW6: -$2.0mil – Points: 60 – Returns: 6
MW7: +$4.4mil – Points: 95 – Returns: 7
MW8: -$1.8mil – Points: 63 – Returns: 5
MW9: +$2.3mil – Points: 63 – Returns: 5
GW8: Starting Eleven…
GK: D. St. Clair (MIN): +$1.0mil – 8pts
DEF: Leerdam (SEA): -$0.9mil – 3pts
DEF: Figueroa (HOU): -$0.1mil – 3pts
DEF: Bye (NE): +$1.0mil – 12pts
MID: Molino (MIN): No Change – 6pts
MID: Valeri (POR): No Change (BYE) – 0pts
MID: Roldan (SEA): +$1.0mil – 4pts (that isn’t a typo)
MID: Quintero (HOU): +$1.0mil – 7pts
FWD: Ruidiaz (SEA): -$0.9mil – 8pts
FWD: Mora (POR): No Change (BYE) – 0pts
FWD: Bou (NE): +$1.0mil – 3pts (yes, that is not a type too)
GW8: Bench Dwellers…
GK: Marcinkowski (SJ): $0 - $4.0mil option, no change – 1pt
DEF: Morrow (TOR): -$0.8mil – 1pt
DEF: (NSH): $0 - $4.0mil option, no change - DNP
MID: Cuello (LA): $0 - $4.0mil option, no change – DNP
There is another huge Double Gameweek, the MLS have reached a backlog of fixtures that all 26 teams have to play twice during an international break with fewer players to contend with. Best of all, there were even more fixture cancellations, this time with the game between Portland and Colorado.
What I loathe about the MLS Fantasy website is that it removes the fixtures not played, without even a P-P to dictate a postponement. I had two Portland players in my team who sudden BYE’s which completely ruined my team, namely because Valeri was my big midfielder. Even though they didn’t play, they don’t go down in price which is honestly a dumb rule. Players not playing should result in an automatic price decrease, but because the MLS structure on price changes is dependant on points, rather than the reality of players letting you down by not playing, even if they are just dropped for a game.
Onto the prices, and I literally had an identical week from last week, 63pts and five returns, and I had the chance to do my team for MW9. However, last week I lost money, but this week, and boy oh boy, I had a team over budget going into MW10. The difference were two players who rose a whole $1.0mil in price despite not getting any sort of return. Bou (NE) got 3pts, and Roldan (SEA) got 4pts. I thought the whole point of the point structure was that if players were ‘overachieving’ their price would go up to reflect their true value. Obtaining 3pts and 4pts isn’t overachieving, it is also a terrible return for any player with big price tags, and surely the basic logic would be that if you don’t have a return you shouldn’t justify a price rise, especially because other players I have reviewed in the last few weeks who got similar returns at similar starting prices and form went down in price. It makes me believe more and more that there isn’t an algorithm at all, and it is just smoke and mirrors for keeping player prices deliberately high. Honestly, this is an embarrassment. I had five players rise by £1.0mil this week, with most of them doing absolutely nothing to justify it.
Week 10 - Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Przybylko (PHI)
Alternative: Higuain (MIA)
Differential: Santos (CLB)
MLS Scout Picks Squad: Week 10
Budget: $125.0 million (fixed)
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Blake (PHI)
DEF: Mensah (CLB)
DEF: Afful (CLB)
DEF: Sweat (MIA)
MID: Santos (CLB)
MID: Reynoso (MIN)
MID: Espinoza (SJ)
MID: Morgan (MIA)
FOR: Higuain (MIA)
FOR: Przybylko (PHI)
FOR: Morris (SEA)
Substitutes
GK: Marcinkowski (SJ)
MID: Cuello (LA)
DEF: Morrow (TOR)
DEF: Washington (NSH)
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 9 Fixtures (26)
Wed 7th October 2020 (1):
Nashville 0-2 Minnesota United
Thu 8th October 2020 (12):
Atlanta United 1-2 Orlando City
NY Red Bulls 2-2 Inter Miami
NE Revolution 1-2 Toronto
Philadelphia Union 3-0 FC Cincinnati
Columbus Crew 1-0 Montreal Impact
NYCFC 1-0 D.C. United
Houston Dynamo 2-2 FC Dallas
Sporting KC 3-1 Chicago Fire
Colorado Rapids 2-1 LAFC
Seattle Sounders 2-0 Real Salt Lake
LA Galaxy 1-1 Portland Timbers
San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
Sat 10th October 2020 (2):
Inter Miami 1-1 Houston Dynamo
Atlanta United 3-1 NY Red Bulls
Sun 11th October 2020 (3):
Colorado Rapids 2-0 LA Galaxy
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-2 Real Salt Lake
NYCFC 0-1 NE Revolution
Monday 12th October 2020 (8):
LAFC 3-2 Seattle Sounders
Chicago Fire 2-0 D.C. United
FC Cincinnati 0-2 Toronto
Orlando City 1-1 Columbus Crew
Sporting KC 3-1 Nashville
Philadelphia Union 2-1 Montreal Impact
FC Dallas 2-1 Minnesota United
Portland Timbers 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 10 Insight
Teams with a Double Gameweek (24):
Nashville: Minnesota (H), Sporting KC (A)
Minnesota: Nashville (A), Dallas (A)
Atlanta: Orlando (H), Red Bulls (H)
Orlando: Atlanta (A), Columbus (H)
NY Red Bulls: Miami (H), Atlanta (A)
Inter Miami: Red Bulls (A), Houston (H)
New England: Toronto (H), NYCFC (A)
Toronto: New England (A), Cincinnati (A)
Philadelphia: Cincinnati (H), Montreal (H)
Cincinnati: Philadelphia (A), Toronto (H)
Montreal: Columbus (A), Philadelphia (A)
NYCFC: D.C. United (H), New England (H)
D.C. United: NYCFC (A), Chicago (A)
Houston Dynamo: Dallas (H), Miami (A)
Dallas: Houston (A), Minnesota (H)
Sporting KC: Chicago (H), Nashville (H)
Chicago: Sporting KC (A), D.C. United (H)
Colorado: LAFC (H), LA Galaxy (H)
Seattle: RSL (H), LAFC (A)
Real Salt Lake: Seattle (A), Vancouver (A)
LA Galaxy: Portland (H), Colorado (A)
Portland Timbers: LA Galaxy (A), San Jose (H)
San Jose: Vancouver (H), Portland (A)
Vancouver: San Jose (A), RSL (H)
LAFC: Colorado (A), Seattle (H)
Columbus: Montreal (H), Orlando (A)
Week 9 Review:
The weekend fixtures from MLS yielded myself 89 points and an overall weekly rank of 491, which saw a slight rise to 157th overall. I was a little bit off the pace of the league setters in most my mini-leagues due to the fact that I was unable to keep track of the games during the middle of the night in the UK. That said, all of my players played and it was a solid Gameweek overall.
Captain Lodeiro performed, Minnesota were only 1 of 4 teams to keep a clean sheet, alongside New England. Only Brad Smith and Jozy Altidore failed to perform. I’m expecting Week 10 to return a higher points average due to the Double and Triple Gameweek’s at hand.
Teams to Watch / Avoid:
Philadelphia (Watch): Cincinnati can’t score. Montreal haven’t won in 5 matches and have a bad disciplinary record as of late. This is all gearing up for a triple-up of Philly players in Fantasy this week.
Sporting KC (Watch): They’re without Alan Pulido on international duty which is a big miss, especially as he set up both goals in the 2-1 home win over Houston. Nevertheless, a brace of home games against Chicago and Nashville means that they should have a lot of good defensive and attacking potential this week.
Toronto (Watch): The Canadian sit are at the top of the Supporters’ Shield standings alongside Columbus and have a player in Alejandro Pozuelo who is on track to become the MVP of the season. Two away games against New England and Cincinnati offers some hurdles, though Toronto are performing at a good level to justify the inclusion of their players this week.
D.C. United (Avoid): Their Manager, Ben Olsen, admitted the club is fragile. They’re best to be avoided this season – they’re back to being bottom of the table and barring a miracle, that’s how the season will probably end for the side from the American capital.
NYCFC (Be Careful): Defensively, NYC are solid and are worth the money to invest. Attacking wise, they’re got Maxi Moralez still recovering from a knee injury, Heber is out for a year with an ACL injury, whilst Alexandru Mitrita is off on international duty with Romania. They might struggle to score goals this week, though Valentin Castellanos ($4.0m) offers good value if you want to gamble.
Inter Miami (Watch….?): Lewis Morgan is on form and Gonzalo Higuain has a couple of games to continue to settle at the club. Surely there’s a chance it might come off for David Beckham’s side this week?
Chicago (Interesting): The Fire have gone 3 games without defeat and in Robert Beric have a player who has scored in 5 consecutive games. A home game in the second Week 10 fixture against D.C. United might be enough to turn a few heads in Beric’s favour.
Teams to Avoid: Cincinnati (form, can’t score), Montreal (discipline), NY Red Bulls (Gerhard Struber just announced as Manager), Vancouver (just bad), LA Galaxy (form), San Jose (rotation and form), Atlanta (pretty sure if a club could be diagnosed with bring bipolar, Atlanta would be that), and Houston (form).
Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Nico Lodeiro (SEA)
Alternative: Kacper Przybylko (PHI)
Differential: Robert Beric (CHI)
Other Week 10 Comments:
The international break combined with the MLS’s backlog of fixtures means that some clubs will be without key men during a big round of fixtures. This should result in a series of differentials getting some minutes in, whilst a few left-field results might be order of the week.
MLS Scout Picks Squad: Week 10
Budget: $125.0 million (fixed)
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: T. Melia (SKC)
DEF: H. Afful (CLB)
DEF: R. Matarrita (NYC)
DEF: M. Real (PHI)
MID: N. Lodeiro (SEA) – (C)
MID: A. Pozuelo (TOR)
MID: J. Monteiro (PHI)
MID: J. Russell (SKC)
FOR: G. Higuain (MIA)
FOR: V. Castellanos (NYC)
FOR: K. Przybylko (PHI)
Substitutes
GK: J. Marcinkowski (SJ)
MID: E. Hyndman (ATL)
DEF: B. Smith (SEA)
DEF: J. Morrow (TOR)
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in Fantasy sports reporting, starting with Fantasy Premier League (FPL), before expanding to MLS Fantasy coverage in 2018.
We pride ourselves in providing beautiful graphics, statistics, in-depth analytical reporting and free weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb rankings tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review games, live sport, and professional wrestling.
In 2019, Hype Train Football Club was formed, becoming the first Fantasy Football website to take to the field. HTFC is a socially active team across social and web channels, providing regular match highlights, match reports, comprehensive player statistics and unique player profiles.
The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog' in 2016 by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), and were again shortlisted as a finalist in 2019 in the 'Best Fantasy Football Blog' category.
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All aboard.
