This article is part of our MLS Fantasy Rankings series.
The rankings below are based on Major League Soccer's official fantasy game and cover all games in Week 23. While they can be used for DFS purposes, they are done with a focus on the league's season-long game.
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below, or hit up JD on Twitter @dfsMLS.
Forwards | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Heber | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 9.8 | Considering he scores almost every time he's started for NYCFC, you probably want him this week. |
2 | Carlos Vela | LAFC v. NYRB | 13.5 | Not far behind Heber and is only playing one game. He's still squarely in the discussion for your captaincy, or at least my captaincy. |
3 | Alexandru Mitrita | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 8.0 | His good games have not been impressive enough that I want to forego a NYCFC defensive piece to squeeze two forwards in. If Maxi Moralez doesn't start Thursday night, it's a tougher call (though I still would lean towards a second defensive piece or Alex Ring). |
4 | Brian Fernandez | POR v. VAN | 10.6 | He played 90 minutes on Wednesday, but so did Ebobisse, so expect another start. It's a good matchup, too. |
5 | Wayne Rooney | DC v. LA | 10.4 | After a dramatic week, Rooney will be eager to begin his final stretch at DC United. I think he rewards the team for doing right by him with at least a goal against Zlatan and the Galaxy. He returned from England on Wednesday, so there shouldn't be any concerns about his match fitness. |
6 | Diego Rossi | LAFC v. NYRB | 10.5 | Vela's shadow looms large for Rossi in fantasy. The kid has 13 goals, has scored in 5 of the last 6, and still does not pop up in many teams' rosters. |
7 | Mauro Manotas | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 8.5 | Elis is suspended for the first Houston match and Manotas could still be sold at any moment to Cruz Azul until the end of the Liga MX transfer window (end of August). The addition of Christian Ramirez suggests to me that he probably will. Given two tough road matches, I'm not thrilled about this play and the risk that comes with it. On the other hand, it's typically wise to not overthink things and go with the two games' worth of production. |
8 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | LA at DC | 10.8 | Who knows?! |
9 | Jozy Altidore | TOR v. ORL | 10.3 | |
10 | Raul Ruidiaz | SEA v. NE | 11.2 | A good play if he returns this week, but there's no reason to go out of your way to roster him. Let's see how he does in the first game back and go from there. |
11 | Gyasi Zardes | CLB v. FCC | 9.0 | |
12 | Kacper Przybylko | PHI v. HOU | 7.6 | This already would be a great matchup for Philly's forwards before accounting for Houston's tired legs. |
13 | Romell Quioto | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 7.2 | Little chance he starts both, but the price is pretty good for ~120 minutes of Quioto. I have a feeling nobody is eager to fill up all three Houston spots, so this is an option from the bench. |
14 | Valentin Castellanos | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 6.5 | Probably doesn't start both. |
15 | Adama Diomande | LAFC v. NYRB | 9.4 | |
16 | Gustavo Bou | NE at SEA | 9.9 | |
17 | Chris Wondolowski | SJ at COL | 7.0 | |
18 | Kei Kamara | COL v. SJ | 7.9 | Kei has no business being as lethal as he is at age 34. |
19 | Maximiliano Urruti | MTL at CHI | 6.5 | The talent surrounding him just got even better with Bojan on his way! |
20 | Jordan Morris | SEA v. NE | 9.4 |
Midfielders | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Maximiliano Moralez | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 11.7 | Maxi is possibly not fully fit, but if he starts Wednesday I'll take my chances. NYCFC are still in the thick of the top spot in the East and will want to get a result at Atlanta. |
2 | Alexander Ring | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 8.5 | I wouldn't be betting on another goal, but Ring should grab a safe 8-10 points pretty easily this week. |
3 | Nicolas Lodeiro | SEA v. NE | 12.3 | New England didn't crumble against LAFC, but Seattle should also be able to get the job done at home. Nico is back to being one of the safest, most consistent choices in FMLS. |
4 | Alejandro Pozuelo | TOR v. ORL | 11.2 | I never thought we'd see a day when Pozuelo only got two points over a full 90. Jozy and Poz haven't been clicking as well as when he first arrived, but he's still a top midfielder. |
5 | Marco Fabian | PHI v. HOU | 9.4 | I'd be surprised if Philly didn't bury 3+ goals here. |
6 | Diego Valeri | POR v. VAN | 12.0 | Only subbed on late for US Open Cup, so he should be ready to roll against Vancouver. |
7 | Pedro Santos | CLB v. FCC | 9.1 | The Crew are trending up and Santos is leading the way. After the last match, San Jose called them the best team they played all season outside of LAFC. |
8 | Keaton Parks | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 5.3 | Tremendous value on a week where we don't necessarily need the savings. Decent bet for two starts but far from guaranteed. |
9 | Tomas Martinez | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 7.9 | Virtually off my radar in fantasy at this point, but he has two games and reportedly "is involved in the attack". I've been unable to find a source that can confirm that, though! |
10 | Memo Rodriguez | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 6.7 | A better bet for 120 than 150+. |
11 | Carles Gil | NE at SEA | 12.3 | |
12 | Eduard Atuesta | LAFC v. NYRB | 11.9 | |
13 | Felipe Gutierrez | SKC v. RSL | 10.9 | He is determined to drag SKC into a playoff spot. |
14 | Sebastian Blanco | POR v. VAN | 10.4 | |
15 | Vako | SJ at COL | 9.2 | In current form, San Jose on the road are better than most MLS teams at home. |
16 | Johnny Russell | SKC v. RSL | 7.9 | |
17 | Magnus Eriksson | SJ at COL | 10.2 | |
18 | Saphir Taider | MTL at CHI | 10.2 | |
19 | Matias Vera | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 5.6 | Pretty good safe option for 6-8 points this week. I'd put him right into your lineup and use the bench on higher risk plays (clean sheet hunting, third forward, etc). |
20 | Nicolas Gaitan | CHI v. MTL | 9.7 |
Defenders | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Anton Tinnerholm | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 8.0 | With a tasty first matchup of the week (struggling Houston, no Elis), I think you want one defensive piece from NYCFC for sure. Tinnerholm probably won't get forward much against Atlanta, but he's still my favorite this week. |
2 | Maxime Chanot | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 6.4 | Despite being a centerback, he doesn't pile on bonus points much more than Tinnerholm, hence the #2 ranking. |
3 | Ronald Matarrita | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 6.0 | I may be too cautious with Matarrita on double game weeks, but Atlanta seems like a match he could sit for. |
4 | James Sands | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 5.9 | Probably a good case to switch him with Chanot here, but I'll let you decide. |
5 | Alexander Callens | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 6.2 | Hasn't played quite as consistently as the other centerbacks. |
6 | Maynor Figueroa | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 6.1 | There's no real reason to have any confidence in Houston defenders despite them playing two matches. Each game has a good chance of them conceding 2+ goals, so even the usual safe handful of points from minutes plus a bonus or two might not be worthwhile. |
7 | Aljaz Struna | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 5.2 | |
8 | Omar Gonzalez | TOR v. ORL | 7.9 | |
9 | Harrison Afful | CLB v. FCC | 5.1 | He hasn't paid off often this year, but we have the chance to play him in an early game off of our bench. It's a rivalry game against a bad team and Columbus need all three points if their playoff hopes are to stay alive. |
10 | Adam Lundqvist | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 5.9 | I'm just going to stay away from the Lundkvist/Beasley platoon. |
11 | Jorge Moreira | POR v. VAN | 8.3 | Fantastic choice if he plays after going the full 90 in US Open Cup. |
12 | DaMarcus Beasley | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 4.0 | |
13 | Walker Zimmerman | LAFC v. NYRB | 6.9 | |
14 | A.J. DeLaGarza | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 4.3 | |
15 | Leandro Gonzalez Pirez | ATL v. NYC | 7.5 | Atlanta at home are always worthwhile. NYC are good, but they'll be tired. |
16 | Miles Robinson | ATL v. NYC | 7.7 | |
17 | Reto Ziegler | DAL v. MIN | 8.0 | Tired Loons. Penalty taker. Dallas are clinging onto the final playoff spot. |
18 | Leonardo Jara | DC v. LA | 7.5 | |
19 | Kai Wagner | PHI v. HOU | 6.2 | Any Philly defender would be a decent choice this week. |
20 | Larrys Mabiala | POR v. VAN | 8.8 |
Goalkeepers | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Sean Johnson | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 5.4 | Tough call, but you probably have figured out I'm leaning towards three other NYC players this week. |
2 | Eloy Room | CLB v. FCC | 4.7 | Easy first half of a keeperoo this week. |
3 | Tyler Deric | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 4.9 | |
4 | Steve Clark | POR v. VAN | 7.6 | Make sure Attinella doesn't get a spot start. |
5 | Andre Blake | PHI v. HOU | 5.1 | Probably my pick for second keeper if Room doesn't work on Saturday. |
6 | Tyler Miller | LAFC v. NYRB | 6.5 | |
7 | Quentin Westberg | TOR v. ORL | 6.7 | |
8 | Brad Guzan | ATL v. NYC | 6.8 | |
9 | Bill Hamid | DC v. LA | 6.9 | |
10 | Jesse Gonzalez | DAL v. MIN | 7.4 | Stefan Frei and Daniel Vega easily could replace someone in the bottom half of these rankings, but Gonzalez gets the nod. Dallas seem focused for the stretch run. |
Value Rankings | ||||
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(forwards and midfielders under $7.5, defenders under $6.0; not ranked above) | ||||
Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Boniek Garcia | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 5.8 | Boniek still shows glimpses of the severely underrated MLS player he used to be in his prime. At age 34, though, it's tough to guarantee he'll start both matches. When he's only putting up 3-4 points a match, that's probably not worth the risk. |
2 | Luis Diaz | CLB v. FCC | 6.7 | |
3 | Gary Mackay-Steven | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 5.9 | Considering he has yet to start since joining NYCFC, this is nothing but a hope he begins one and subs onto the other match this week. He's definitely another talented attacker and comes at a big discount, but it's not worth using a valuable NYCFC slot on him. |
4 | Steven Beitashour | LAFC v. NYRB | 5.5 | |
5 | Ebenezer Ofori | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 5.6 | Another DGW player I can't bet on for two starts, although he'd have a higher floor than Boniek if he did. |
6 | Santiago Mosquera | DAL v. MIN | 6.0 | |
7 | Luis Argudo | CLB v. FCC | 5.7 | |
8 | Ali Adnan | VAN at POR | 5.9 | Vancouver will take their road win last week and look to build on it against a tired Portland side days after their defeat in US Open Cup. |
9 | Thomas McNamara | HOU at NYC, at PHI | 5.3 | |
10 | Aboubacar Keita | CLB v. FCC | 4.1 | If you have an extra Columbus and defender spot, grab whoever the cheapest starting Crew CB and throw him onto your bench this week. |
Captain Rankings | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Maximiliano Moralez | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 11.7 | Certainly not the safest play, but he's so good when he's on the field that many will captain him as long as he starts on Thursday. |
2 | Heber Araujo dos Santos | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 9.8 | If Maxi is out one or both matches, I'm less keen on Heber for captain. |
3 | Carlos Vela | LAFC v. NYRB | 13.5 | Definitely in the mix, but I always respect Red Bulls as fantasy opposition. Not as much as I respect LAFC and Vela, though! |
4 | Alexander Ring | NYC v. HOU, at ATL | 8.5 | I'd almost rather play a NYCFC defender and hope for 10 points between two games, but Ring is safe too. |
5 | Nicolas Lodeiro | SEA v. NE | 12.3 | Probabilistically, he's only slightly behind Ring/NYC defender. |