MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 11 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 11 Fixtures (24)
Thu 15th October 2020 (13):
Montreal Impact 2-2 New England Revolution
FC Cincinnati 1-1 Columbus Crew
Orlando City 1-0 NYCFC
Toronto 2-1 NY Red Bulls
D.C. United 0-2 Philadelphia Union
Houston Dynamo P-P Nashville
Inter Miami 0-0 Atlanta United
Minnesota United P-P Chicago Fire
FC Dallas P-P Sporting KC
Real Salt Lake 1-1 Portland Timbers
Seattle Sounders 3-0 Colorado Rapids
Vancouver Whitecaps P-P LAFC
LA Galaxy 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes
Sat 17th October 2020 (1):
Chicago Fire 1-0 Sporting KC
Sun 18th October 2020 (2):
Montreal Impact 2-0 Inter Miami
Columbus Crew P-P NYCFC
Mon 19th October 2020 (8):
NY Red Bulls 1-1? Orlando City
FC Cincinnati 0-0 D.C. United
Toronto P-P Atlanta United
Minnesota United 3-4 Houston Dynamo
Colorado Rapids 1-1 Real Salt Lake
Portland Timbers P-P LAFC
LA Galaxy 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
San Jose Earthquakes P-P Seattle Sounders
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 11 Insight
Postponed matches during Week 10:
FC Dallas vs. Minnesota United
Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew
Colorado Rapids vs. LA Galaxy
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
MW10: +$0.8mil – Points: 74 – Returns: 7
GW10: Starting Eleven…
GK: Blake (PHI): -$0.8mil – 9pts (Also got 2pts in DGW)
DEF: Mensah (CLB): -$0.8mil – 2pts
DEF: Afful (CLB): -$0.9mil – 3pts
DEF: Sweat (MIA): -$0.7mil – 3pts
MID: Santos (CLB): +$1.0mil – 10pts
MID: Reynoso (MIN): +$1.0mil – 6pts
MID: Espinoza (SJ): +$1.0mil – 14pts
MID: Morgan (MIA): +$1.0mil – 9pts
FWD: Higuain (MIA): $0, No Change – 7pts
FWD: Przybylko (PHI): -$0.8mil – 4pts
FWD: Morris (SEA): -$0.8mil – 7pts
GW10: Bench Dwellers…
GK: Marcinkowski (SJ): $0, no change – 11pts (very surprising)
DEF: Morrow (TOR): $0, no change - DNP
DEF: Washington (NSH): $0 - $4.0mil option, no change – 1pt
MID: Cuello (LA): $0 - $4.0mil option, no change – DNP
Four $1.0mil price rises is enough to gain a positive price change compared to the six players who went down in price. That should say everything about the MLS pricing structure. Also, there are some big question marks over my sub goalkeeper, Higuain, and Morris got a return and went down in price. Also, the price increases show that anything north of 5pts is going to get ANYONE a $1.0mil price rise. That is the bar. The DGW’s are playing a factor, but they shouldn’t logically, as only the best result counts.
My main gripe with the MLS though is the instability of fixtures, with games everywhere being called off. I no longer talk about the game in a positive light so I will keep this short and sweet…I am not enjoying this season, a combination of the price structure, and the farce that is the state of the league in the middle of a pandemic are not a great advert for the MLS. The league wants to take the next step, but right now it is embarrassing.
Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Pozuelo
Alternative: Still Pozuelo
Differential: Yep, you guessed it, Pozuelo…
MLS Scout Picks Squad: Week 11
Budget: $124.3 million
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: D. St. Clair (MIN)
DEF: Mensah (CLB)
DEF: Metanire (MIN)
DEF: Dia (SKC)
MID: Santos (CLB)
MID: Pozuelo (TOR) - (C)
MID: Reynoso (MIN)
MID: Quintero (HOU)
FOR: Higuain (MIA)
FOR: Pavon (LA)
FOR: Akinola (TOR)
Substitutes
GK: Marcinkowski (SJ)
MID: Ginella (LAFC)
DEF: Reid (SKC)
DEF: Washington (NSH)
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 11 Fixtures (24)
Thu 15th October 2020 (13):
Montreal Impact 1-2 New England Revolution
FC Cincinnati 0-2 Columbus Crew
Orlando City 2-2 NYCFC
Toronto 3-1 NY Red Bulls
D.C. United 1-3 Philadelphia Union
Houston Dynamo 2-0 Nashville
Inter Miami 3-1 Atlanta United
Minnesota United 1-0 Chicago Fire
FC Dallas 1-2 Sporting KC
Real Salt Lake 1-1 Portland Timbers
Seattle Sounders 2-1 Colorado Rapids
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-4 LAFC
LA Galaxy 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes
Sat 17th October 2020 (1):
Chicago Fire 1-2 Sporting KC
Sun 18th October 2020 (2):
Montreal Impact 2-2 Inter Miami
Columbus Crew 1-1 NYCFC
Mon 19th October 2020 (8):
NY Red Bulls 1-1 Orlando City
FC Cincinnati 0-0 D.C. United
Toronto 2-0 Atlanta United
Minnesota United 2-2 Houston Dynamo
Colorado Rapids 3-0 Real Salt Lake
Portland Timbers 3-2 LAFC
LA Galaxy 2-2 Vancouver Whitecaps
San Jose Earthquakes 1-2 Seattle Sounders
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 11 Insight
Postponed matches during Week 10:
FC Dallas vs. Minnesota United
Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew
Colorado Rapids vs. LA Galaxy
The above fixtures are a reminder that any game can be on the chopping blocks due to Covid, so it’s a reminder that the first matches in a Double Gameweek are very important as there’s never a guarantee of a second game in this empty stadium era.
Teams with a Double Gameweek (22):
Montreal: New England (H), Inter Miami (H)
Cincinnati: Columbus Crew (H), D.C. United (H)
Columbus: Cincinnati (A), NYCFC (H)
Orlando: NYCFC (H), NY Red Bulls (A)
NYCFC: Orlando (A), Columbus (A)
Toronto: NY Red Bulls (H), Atlanta (H)
NY Red Bulls: Toronto (A), Orlando (H)
D.C. United: Philadelphia (H), Cincinnati (A)
Houston: Nashville (H), Minnesota (A)
Inter Miami: Atlanta (H), Montreal (A)
Atlanta: Inter Miami (A), Toronto (A)
Minnesota: Chicago (H), Houston (H)
Chicago: Minnesota (A), Sporting KC (H)
Sporting KC: Dallas (A), Chicago (A)
Real Salt Lake: Portland (H), Colorado (A)
Portland: Real Salt Lake (A), LAFC (H)
Seattle: Colorado (H), San Jose (A)
Colorado: Seattle (A), Real Salt Lake (H)
Vancouver: LAFC (H), LA Galaxy (A)
LAFC: Vancouver (A), Portland (A)
LA Galaxy: San Jose (H), Vancouver (H)
San Jose: LA Galaxy (A), Seattle (H)
Week 10 Review:
95 points was a good effort during Week 10, especially as I fell to a couple of players having their second game taken away due to postponements. I finished with a rank of 382 last week and moved up to 129th overall in MLS this season. My target is to get in the ‘Top 100’ players after I missed out on Champions League qualification by one place during the latest qualification round.
Teams to Watch / Avoid:
Toronto (Watch): It’s likely that most Fantasy players will be banking on the Canadian outfit during Week 11. They’re at the top of the Supporters’ Shield standings with 37 points and were the first team to qualify for the MLS Cup play-offs. Alejandro Pozuelo will likely be the most selected player for home games against the Red Bulls and a bipolar Atlanta side.
LA Galaxy (Avoid): The Galaxy have lost five games on the spin, which makes a brace of home games against San Jose and Vancouver even harder to trust. Cristian Pavon has true quality and could easily be playing at an elite level in Europe, so will be hard to ignore in Fantasy, though the rest of LA’s squad are being socially distanced from my every thought.
Minnesota (Watch): A couple of home games for a defensively-minded Minnesota side that has kept clean sheets in three straight matches means Romain Metanire (RB) and Dayne St. Clair (GK) are essential defensive picks as Chicago and Houston come to town.
Inter Miami (Watch): Former Celtic midfielder, Lewis Morgan, is lighting up the league and Gonzalo Higuain notched his first goal. If David Beckham’s team are to make the play-offs they need to win a few matches in bulk and have the firepower to do it.
Houston (Dark Horses): A home game against Nashville should be enough for most to put in Darwin Quintero and a defensive asset. Houston are just outside of the play-offs, so will need a big week if they’re to make the post season.
D.C. United (Avoid): Avoid like the plague. Might be one of the worst seasons in recent MLS history if their form continues.
LAFC (Cautious): Form has showed signs of picking up after a big win against Seattle Sounders and I’m expecting Bob Bradley’s side to aid their play-off push this week, though away days at Portland and Vancouver will be big tests on top of a pile of injuries.
Portland (Watch): In the absence of Nico Lodeiro for Seattle this week, I think the veteran player in my team will have to be Diego Valeri. Portland destroyed LA Galaxy last week and have won five straight matches in MLS. Only LAFC (38) have scored more than Portland (36) in the Western Conference, so expect goals.
Week 11 - Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Alejandro Pozuelo (TOR)
Alternative: Gonzalo Higuain (MIA)
Differential: Darwin Quintero (HOU)
MLS Scout Picks Squad: Week 11
Budget: $125.0 million (fixed)
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: M. Maric (HOU)
DEF: R. Metanire (MIN)
DEF: R. Laryea (TOR)
DEF: H. Afful (CLB)
MID: D. Valeri (POR)
MID: D. Quintero (HOU)
MID: L. Morgan (MIA)
MID: A. Pozuelo (TOR) – (C)
FOR: C. Pavon (LA)
FOR: G. Higuain (MIA)
FOR: V. Castellanos (NYC)
Substitutes
GK: A. Tarbell (CLB)
MID: F. Ginella (LAFC)
DEF: J. Aja (MIN)
DEF: L. Gonzalez Pirez (MIA)
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.
