MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 12 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 12 Fixtures (15)
Tue 20th October 2020 (1):
New England Revolution 1-5 Philadelphia Union
Wed 21st October 2020 (1):
Nashville 0-4 FC Dallas
Fri 23rd October 2020 (1):
Seattle Sounders 3-2 Portland Timbers
Sat 24th October 2020 (3):
Nashville 0-0 New England Revolution
Inter Miami 3-3 Orlando City
Atlanta United P-P D.C. United
Sun 25th October 2020 (9):
NYCFC 1-0 Montreal Impact
Chicago Fire 1-1 NY Red Bulls
Cincinnati 0-1 Minnesota United
Philadelphia Union 4-1 Toronto
Houston Dynamo 1-1 Columbus Crew
Sporting KC P-P Colorado Rapids
Real Salt Lake 0-2 FC Dallas
Vancouver Whitecaps P-P San Jose Earthquakes
LAFC 3-2 LA Galaxy
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 11 Insight
Teams with a Double Gameweek (4):
New England: Philadelphia (H), Nashville (A)
Philadelphia: New England (A), Toronto (H)
Nashville: Dallas (H), New England (H)
Dallas: Nashville (A), Real Salt Lake (A)
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
MW11: +$2.9mil – Points: 76 – Returns: 8
Net Increase: +$13.3mil
GW11: Starting Eleven…
GK: D. St. Clair (MIT): +$1.0mil – 5pts
DEF: Mensah (CLB): -$1.0mil – 5pts
DEF: Metanire (MIT): +$1.0mil – 3pts (yes, you read that right)
DEF: Dia (SKC): +$1.0mil – 3pts (yes, you read that right)
MID: Quintero (HOU): +$1.0mil – 8pts
MID: Reynoso (MIN): $0, no change – DNP
MID: Pozuelo (TOR): -$1.0mil – 9pts
MID: Santos (CLB): +$1.0mil – 9pts
FWD: Higuain (MIA): -$1.0mil – 4pts
FWD: Pavon (LA): +$1.0mil – 10pts
FWD: Akinola (TOR): -$0.8mil – 2pts
GW11: Bench Dwellers…
GK: Marcinkowski (SJ): +$0.4mil – 9pts
DEF: Reid (SKC): $0, no change – 3pts
DEF: Washington (NSH): $0, no change – 9pts
MID: Ginella (LAFC): +$1.0mil – 3pts (yes, you read that right)
Seven $1.0 mil rises in my team, which is absolutely absurd when THREE of the maximum price rises were down to three players who picked up an ironic 3pts. Ginella (LAFC), Dia (SKC), and Metanire (MIT) were those players, and here is the joke…Metanire is a high priced defender, and I thought the logic in the new system was that if you are a top performer and you are not performing you get a price decrease. But a lowly 3pts is enough to get a maximum rise, and that is the second part of the joke. A player who gets 3pts shouldn’t get a rise at all, and if they did, why not a $0.1mil to $0.3mil increase? Why do they have to go up a steep $1.0mil?
These are just three players that happen to be in my team, god forbid the number of players who rocketed in price for basically doing nothing. The only mid-range price was backup goalkeeper Marcinkowski (SJ) who got a $0.4mil increase, and the pattern is that even though I had some understandable price reductions like Higuain (MIA) and Mensah (CLB) the price curve always keeps rising when there are completely unjustifiable price rises.
There has been a pattern, and if you look at my returns and points, you see that not much has changed, except the price increases. Good week…team over budget, bad week, team over budget. I said before the season that there wouldn’t be a ceiling for the player price increases, and despite criticism from the MLS themselves, I have proved to be right all along. It really, really has ruined the game as I don’t talk about football, I talk about the terrible system.
Don’t even get me started on a whole host of teams have their fixtures cancelled again, such as Minnesota. It is impossible to plan your team when at a moment notice a game is called off.
Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Przybylko (PHI)
Alternative: Wright-Phillips (LAFC)
Differential: Monteiro (PHI)
MLS Scout Picks Squad: Week 12
Budget: $124.8 million (fixed)
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: Johnson (NYC)
DEF: Ziegler (DAL)
DEF: McKenzie (PHI)
DEF: Washington (NSH)
MID: Ricaurte (DAL)
MID: Pozuelo (TOR)
MID: Monteiro (PHI)
MID: Mueller (ORL)
FOR: Bou (NE)
FOR: Przybylko (PHI) - (C)
FOR: Wright-Phillips (LAFC)
Substitutes
GK: Marcinkowski (SJ)
MID: Diaz (CLB)
DEF: Reid (SKC)
DEF: Sweat (MIA)
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 12 Fixtures (15)
Tue 20th October 2020 (1):
New England Revolution 1-2 Philadelphia Union
Wed 21st October 2020 (1):
Nashville 0-0 FC Dallas
Fri 23rd October 2020 (1):
Seattle Sounders 2-0 Portland Timbers
Sat 24th October 2020 (3):
Nashville 0-1 New England Revolution
Inter Miami 3-1 Orlando City
Atlanta United 2-2 D.C. United
Sun 25th October 2020 (9):
NYCFC 1-0 Montreal Impact
Chicago Fire 101 NY Red Bulls
Cincinnati 0-2 Minnesota United
Philadelphia Union 2-3 Toronto
Houston Dynamo 3-2 Columbus Crew
Sporting KC 2-1 Colorado Rapids
Real Salt Lake 1-1 FC Dallas
Vancouver Whitecaps 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes
LAFC 4-2 LA Galaxy
MLS Fantasy 2020: Week 11 Insight
Teams with a Double Gameweek (4):
New England: Philadelphia (H), Nashville (A)
Philadelphia: New England (A), Toronto (H)
Nashville: Dallas (H), New England (H)
Dallas: Nashville (A), Real Salt Lake (A)
Week 11 Review:
A week in the 80+ points put me just below the elite pack this week and gave me a slight drop to 140th overall in the game. The aim of cracking the Top 100 is possible, but I need a huge week right at the death to see it happen. This upcoming Double Gameweek offers this potential as the DGW teams are a different flavour from what we’re used and offers a few differing captaincy options.
Teams to Watch / Avoid:
LA Galaxy (Avoid): A narrow win over Vancouver at home doesn’t disguise that LA Galaxy ship goals against better sides. Bradley Wright-Phillips must be licking his lips for this El Trafico encounter.
Atlanta & D.C. United (Avoid): See above. Both bad teams to avoid like the plague.
Philadelphia (Watch): The Union have some locked in Fantasy players in Monteiro and Przybylko – it’s unlikely that this duo will go two games without getting a good return across two games against New England away, or at home this weekend to Toronto.
Seattle Sounders (Watch): Top of the Western Conference and facing Portland, who also sit on 31 points. In this match of bragging rights for top-billing in the west, big players step forward and there are none more in form than Nicolas Lodeiro. It might take some beating not giving the MLS MVP award to Alejandro Pozuelo, but given that the Spaniard has mostly been playing just two Canadian sides all season, Lodeiro’s harder encounters against the LA outfits and Portland might give the Uruguayan a competitive advantage. It goes without saying that Lodeiro (108 points) is a lock for me this week.
Inter Miami (Watch): Gonzalo Higuain ($7.5m) is a steal at that price, whilst Lewis Morgan ($12.9m) is the leading candidate to be captain this week at home to an Orlando side that have rightfully earned a slot in the post-season play-offs.
Nashville (50/50): With two games at home they might provide MLS Fantasy players with a clean sheet, but they can’t score. Walker Zimmerman is a necessity to have at the back, not because I want to entrust a Nashville player, but to negate the fellow players that will snap him up.
Minnesota (Watch): Any team playing Cincinnati needs to be highlighted.
Captaincy Picks:
Essential: Lewis Morgan (MIA)
Alternative: Jamiro Monteiro (PHI)
Differential: Lee Nguyen (NE)
Other Week 12 Comments:
It’s very strange that the MLS season ends in a couple of weeks, with Week 14 the supposedly final round of fames before the play-offs. This means that the Fantasy game will end with a unique ending – unless of course more rounds of games are added.
LA Galaxy and Colorado Rapids, for example, have four games currently scheduled for Week 14 and it is currently the dumping ground for the previously postponed fixtures, all caused by cases of Covid amongst the clubs. Week 13 is another big Double Gameweek, which typically sees huge Gameweek scores from players.
Colorado Rapids have also only played 13 games so far this campaign, the fewest of the league. Currently, every team in the East has played 17-19 games, whilst due to Covid there is a much bigger gap of games postponed. So it will be really interesting to see how the game manage this end of season run-in, especially as there are a lot of play-off implications still to be determined in the West.
To wrap up, it’s been a season of frustration for us here at Hype Train HQ with MLS Fantasy. The game has implemented a lot of changes that has driven off a quarter of its player base right off the bat, then more as Covid ravage football across the world. Tracking MLS has been a very difficult task as postponed games and the lack of security in the league makes us think that the Fantasy game will be better off being put to rest as soon as possible, so a better structured and more enticing game can be introduced next season to cope with an inevitable disconnect from a player base who might think twice to committing twice to a game in a country and league that is at the forefront of health and social problems.
MLS Scout Picks Squad: Week 12
Budget: $125.0 million (fixed)
Formation: 3-4-3
Starting 11
GK: M. Turner (NE)
DEF: R. Metanire (MIN)
DEF: W. Zimmerman (NSH)
DEF: Bressan (DAL)
MID: N. Lodeiro (SEA)
MID: L. Morgan (MIA) – (C)
MID: J. Monteiro (PHI)
MID: L. Nguyen (NE)
FOR: T. Bunbury (NE)
FOR: K. Przybylko (PHI)
FOR: G. Higuain (MIA)
Substitutes
GK: J. Marcinkowski (SJ)
MID: T. Thompson (SJ)
DEF: T. Washington (NSH)
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.
You can follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, follow Hype Train FC on Instagram, subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content, or visit our website here at www.thehypetrain.co.uk
All aboard.
