This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
Lineup No. 1: Vulturing the Values
It's becoming increasingly difficult to find value plays as the MLS season trudges on. Long gone (mostly) are the days of fitting in three elite forwards, and the $3,000 range of defender options has become fairly barren. The shift has placed an emphasis on finding value in the attack.
A further challenge this slate provides is few matches that stand out as clean-sheet possibilities. While San Jose has been quite good defensively and gets a seemingly easy opponent in NYC FC, it only drew Montreal's B-Team on Wednesday and now must fly to New York City on short rest. Seattle and Vancouver are typically two good defensive plays, but meet each other in a high-profile and high-powered Cascadia Cup rivalry fixture. Orlando and Chicago feature in a match that is difficult to place any faith in for either side, too. Ultimately, I'm placing my faith in Evan Bush ($4,300) with this lineup. Montreal held its own defensively even without Laurent Ciman the last three games. The Revolution have been surging lately, but I think there's a decent chance that this is a statement game for the Impact. Bush makes for nearly an ideal tournament play, as his opponent gives him plenty of potential for save points but his defense is still sound enough to give him a good clean-sheet opportunity. He's not the safest selection, but few keepers stand out this week as the go-to pick.
Continuing on defense, I'm looking to Harrison Afful and Brek Shea. I love when players' prices fall simply because they've missed time due to injury and Shea's has gone from a peak of around $6,000 to just $3,700! Shea remains an attacking force among defense-eligible players on DraftKings. He'll likely line up further up the pitch than at fullback and actually was healthy two weeks ago but faced a suspension last week for yellow card accumulation. Harrison Afful has earned six or more crosses in his previous four games. His ceiling is nearly as appealing as his high floor, given that he's been very active in Columbus' attacking third every time I've watched him play.
Let's move to forward, where serious decisions must be made this week. We can't have all of the shiny toys, but if I have to pick one, I'm going with Robbie Keane. There isn't a player in this league, Giovinco included, that is a better bet for a hat-trick on any given night. Captain Keano will be eager to forget the Galaxy's 0-0 draw with Montreal last match. He travels to Rio Tinto Stadium to play a depleted Real Salt Lake back line and while the Galaxy attack feature plenty of cheaper talents, I'm hoping it only draws our opponents away and leaves us to reap the rewards. Rounding our our front line are David Accam and Alvaro Saborio. Accam has an argument to be priced in the top tier of attackers, but sits at just $7,300. Since Orlando City shut out DC United on June 15, it has a measley two clean sheets, both against weak competition. Accam should have plenty of chances against the Lions who are rapidly fading from the playoff picture. Saborio, on the other hand, gets to test his mettle against a confident Columbus Crew side. Much of the attention will be on star playmaker Fabian Espindola, but Saborio should be on the end of plenty of Espindola creations and presents a juicy arbitrage play on DC United's attack against a leaky Crew back line who have kept just one clean sheet since April.
It's time to round out our midfield, which is also a fairly challenging position this week. Cristian Techera is another player, like Accam, who gets no respect in regards to his salary. Four goals and over 20 points per game over his past four matches warrants a larger price tag than $6,600, but rather than complain any longer, I'll just slot him into our midfield. Finally, I have tentatively placed Justin Mapp in our final midfield spot. We don't have any ideal options under $5,000 but Mapp is quietly a good piece in a potentially great Montreal attack that could finally be in full force. Mapp does have a slight injury concern, but gives us a nice floor with crosses and a decent ceiling since those crosses are going to Didier Drogba's golden forehead. Should Mapp miss out, we can pivot to Jermaine Jones or teammate Johan Venegas in the same match, and Marc Pelosi or Erik Friberg if we get the news before those games begin.
Devil's Advocate: Our midfield does not feel strong enough to warrant not spending up for two star strikers. We also haven't stacked a team on defense, which may put us at a disadvantage if a talented, and high-owned fullback's team grabs a clean sheet.
Why We'll Win: I feel more and more confident in our forward group each time I look at it. I don't think this is a week where Kamara or Obafemi Martins is necessary to be successful. Reasonable return from our midfielders should ensure a successful night, while a Montreal Impact victory against New England could help Evan Bush push our score to the top of the charts.
Lineup No. 2: Star-less Strike Force
You won't find any of the $10,000-plus forwards in this lineup. There are plenty of strong options in the second tier of forwards that still give us great upside, but also act as differential plays from Robbie Keane, Kei Kamara, Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey.
We'll be using David Accam once more, as the value is too good to pass up. Five of his previous six matches have resulted in double-digit outputs and the attacking onus could fall more heavily on his shoulders with Kennedy Igboananike out of the lineup. Next, I'm looking to a healthy Fabian Espindola to devour the Columbus defense. Our previous lineup went with Saborio, and while I like his value better, Espindola clearly has the higher floor and just as high of a ceiling. He's the heart of DC United's entire attack and one of the most underrated players in the league when in-form. Finally, Octavio Rivero for just $9,200 rounds out our attack. Seattle lost Roman Torres for the season, and Chad Marshall is carrying a knock as well. Rivero could torment the center of Seattle's defense and leads one of the most impressive attacking groups in recent memory. Vancouver will want to make a statement in this game and continue to claim dominance in the Western Conference, and I think it's far likelier they shut down Dempsey and Martins than Seattle shuts down Vancouver's attackers.
One of the perks of not grabbing the priciest forwards, is that we can afford a great midfield options. Javier Morales is my pick for this lineup, as Real Salt Lake give one final push for the playoffs against the Los Angeles Galaxy. While the Galaxy attack is next to unstoppable, their defense is not at that level. Morales is one of the few matchup-proof midfielders in the league, and has been playing at a very high level. Despite poor recent results, it's really hard to imagine RSL are held scoreless in front of their loyal and passionate home crowd.
We're left filling four roster spots with affordable options. From Montreal, I'm grabbing Eric Miller and Johan Venegas. Miller is likely to replace Ambroise Oyongo and for $3,000 won't have to produce many points to earn his value. Venegas hasn't shown us his full potential yet, and could break out if given the opportunity alongside what should be a deadly Impact attack. He's just $3,000 and will be a popular play should he start. Harrison Afful finds his way into yet another lineup of mine, and loyal readers of this column are surely becoming familiar with him! The Crew won't let up just because they are on the road, and Afful should continue to eagerly make runs deep into opponent territory. Finally, Sean Johnson gets the nod between the sticks. His $4,000 salary is quite a bargain considering he is one of the favorites for a clean sheet this week. Orlando City have not been good offensively, and could miss Kaka once more. The Fire keeper has shown he can stand on his head and steal a match lately, but he likely won't even need to do that against the Lions.
Devil's Advocate: The obvious complaint with this lineup is the absence of LA Galaxy attackers. If Venegas does not start, we'll have to fall back to a plan B.
Why We'll Win: Morales-Espindola-Accam-Rivero is a juicy top four! Moving Espindola to Saborio is an option to ponder as roster lock approaches that would give us $1,900 extra to spend elsewhere. Defense doesn't usually win daily fantasy championships, and we haven't wasted our salary on unpredictable clean-sheet hopes.
