MLS Fantasy Rankings: Week 26

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Published on August 28, 2019

The rankings below are based on Major League Soccer's official fantasy game and cover all games in Week 26. 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
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Carlos Vela	LAFC v. MIN	15.0	Hopefully we have an injury update by the weekend, but I'm not optimistic. Since he plays in the last match of the week and it behooves Bob Bradley to play it safe with his superstar, I'm leaning towards leaving him out of my plans right now (written Tuesday night).
2	Maximiliano Urruti	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	6.2	No certainty to start both given a new coach and some competition up top.
3	Fredy Montero	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	7.0	More likely to start at home, so if he goes on Wednesday, than I suppose he's reluctantly an option.
4	Raul Ruidiaz	SEA v. LA	11.2
5	Brian Fernandez	POR v. RSL	10.2	I'm keeping faith in Fernandez as an elite FMLS forward, but if you want to head to safer pastures this week, I won't blame you.
6	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	LA at SEA	11.8	Can he play on Seattle's turf? Is he even motivated outside of the derby?
7	Josef Martinez	ATL at PHI	14.2
8	Gustavo Bou	NE v. TOR	10.9
9	Diego Rossi	LAFC v. MIN	9.8	Rossi's talent makes risking a spot on Vela in the final match of the week a bit more palatable.
10	Heber Araujo dos Santos	NYC at VAN	10.5
11	Zdenek Ondrasek	DAL v. FCC	5.5	Looked like a souped-up Gyasi Zardes last match. He could poach a few goals against a bad Cincy team here, too, particularly since the actual Gyasi Zardes just punished them.
12	Jesus Ferreira	NYC at VAN	6.5	Great play, but cannot justify placing him above consistent stars in the spots above him and Ondrasek.
13	Adama Diomande	LAFC v. MIN	8.5	Brian Rodriguez would also be an option if he starts. He took many of the corner kicks late in last week's game after coming on.
14	Valentin Castellanos	NYC at VAN	8.0
15	Orji Okwonkwo	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	7.1	Rotation likely.
16	Theo Bair	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	4.3	Rotation likely.
17	Dominique Badji	DAL v. FCC	6.1
18	Jozy Altidore	TOR at NE	10.2
19	Chris Wondolowski	SJ v. ORL	7.4
20	Gyasi Zardes	CLB v. CHI	10.2	Didn't mean to do it as I was ranking, but these final three forward spots sure ended up being a bad extended metaphor for the USMNT forward pool over the last handful of years. Ouch.

Midfielders
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Saphir Taider	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	11.6	Picked up a seemingly small injury last week before the match, but still played 90 minutes.
2	Lassi Lappalainen	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	8.4	One bonus point in four starts? That's weak, but we're all still considering him thanks for four goals and one assist in that same span since joining the team.
3	Hwang In-beom	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	7.2	With plenty of other good matchups this week, I don't think you need to use all of your Vancouver spots. Still, it's tough to pass up the potential of 2x the playing time!
4	Yordy Reyna	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	8.1	Hwang is more likely to start both than Reyna, but the latter has a considerably higher upside in the goals/assists department.
5	Bojan Krkic	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	7.3	Less involved thus far than I would have hoped, but scored last week. I do think he's a candidate for rotation, but so are most DGW players this week.
6	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA v. LA	12.7	As good as Jona dos Santos is, when one person is essentially a team's entire midfield, Lodeiro is going to have a field day.
7	Magnus Eriksson	SJ v. ORL	10.8
8	Maximiliano Moralez	NYC at VAN	11.6	By my count, Maxi has a goal or assist in NINE straight road matches. Vancouver will be playing their second match in four days. NYCFC are in great form - don't be scared of away factor here.
9	Carles Gil	NE v. TOR	13.2
10	Diego Valeri	POR v. RSL	12.6
11	Eduard Atuesta	LAFC v. MIN	12.2	If Vela doesn't play, Atuesta may actually be a fantasy upgrade. More set pieces, may push forward more, and if Minnesota have a little more of the ball then more bonus point chances.
12	Felipe Gutierrez	SKC v. HOU	10.0
13	Michael Barrios	DAL v. FCC	9.7	Love the matchup, but it's tough to rank him above the aforementioned players that come with a better floor and similar upside. Paxton Pomykal would be in this range if he gets back into the starting lineup, too.
14	Johnny Russell	SKC v. HOU	8.9	Houston have allowed 19 goals in their past six road matches.
15	Daniel Royer	NYRB v. COL	9.2
16	Cristian Espinoza	SJ v. ORL	10.3
17	Ken Krolicki	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	4.0	With Shome, Choiniere, Piette and others all pushing for minutes, it's really tough to lock any of the Montreal midfielders outsider of Taider in for big minutes this week. I'd look at who starts Wednesday and then play them from the bench, if at all.
18	Kaku	NYRB v. COL	8.5	Yet to have double-digit points in a game this season.
19	Latif Blessing	LAFC v. MIN	9.9
20	Vako	SJ v. ORL	9.7

Defenders
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Daniel Lovitz	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	4.3	Adnan is better in most every way, but Montreal has a better chance at a clean sheet this week.
2	Ali Adnan	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	7.1	He's the most appealing Vancouver player this week, but that's not saying a lot.
3	Jukka Raitala	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	4.6	I know he's out of position, but some more bonus points while playing centerback would be nice. Assuming he's fit enough to start midweek, he's the best bet for 180 along the Montreal back line.
4	Bacary Sagna	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	5.4	Thrown into an unfamiliar centerback role and did pretty well last match. Camacho's status appears up in the air, but either way, Sagna is a relatively good bet to find his way into both matches.
5	Derek Cornelius	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	6.9
6	Reto Ziegler	DAL v. FCC	8.6	With this good of a matchup and penalty kick duties, Ziegler makes a case to be above most or all of the DGW guys.
7	Ryan Hollingshead	DAL v. FCC	9.7
8	Doneil Henry	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	5.7	Erik Godoy could get minutes, too.
9	Rudy Camacho	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	5.5	Status is uncertain, last I checked, but Montreal really could use a somewhat healthy centerback.
10	Reggie Cannon	DAL v. FCC	6.4
11	Jake Nerwinski	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	4.6
12	Tommy Thompson	SJ v. ORL	7.5
13	Matt Hedges	DAL v. FCC	8.1
14	Zachary Brault-Guillard	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	5.4	I doubt he plays both, but maybe worth a shot on your bench?
15	Walker Zimmerman	LAFC v. MIN	6.2	Looked like the dude from the Buffalo Wild Wings commercial was controlling him at times during the Galaxy match, but he should minimize the errors this week and still poses a threat on set pieces.
16	Eddie Segura	LAFC v. MIN	7.0
17	Michael Amir Murillo	NYRB v. COL	6.2
18	Aaron Long	NYRB v. COL	7.1
19	Florian Jungwirth	SJ v. ORL	6.8
20	Jorge Moreira	POR v. RSL	8.4	Harvey/Beitashour are deserving here, and Graham Zusi has some appeal if we think he'll ever remember how to help in the attack, but Moreira has the tantalizing potential at both ends that deserves highlighting with this last spot.

Goalkeepers
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Evan Bush	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	5.0	If you need all your Montreal spots for field players, you can approximate Bush with a keeperoo of some kind.
2	Maxime Crepeau	VAN at MTL, v. NYC	7.3	He's probably better than whichever single game week keeper you pick, but not confidently so.
3	Jesse Gonzalez	DAL v. FCC	6.6
4	Tyler Miller	LAFC v. MIN	7.9	The Loons threw a lot of energy into US Open Cup. Even though they need to get back on the horse right away in LA, I tihnk it'll be a tall task, which makes Miller a quality play in the last match of the week.
5	Luis Robles	NYRB v. COL	6.5
6	Daniel Vega	SJ v. ORL	5.1
7	Tim Melia	SKC v. HOU	6.9	Not far behind Jesse Gonzalez and the rest (Houston are bad), but SKC are only one of five MLS teams without a positive goal differential at home so I'm tempering expectations.
8	Steve Clark	POR v. RSL	6.9	Portland are notably without some important defenders, but they can still make things work at home against RSL.
9	Eloy Room	CLB v. CHI	4.4	If you're going single game week keeper, you may as well try Room out early from the bench. He's barely more expensive than a 4.0 placeholder.
10	Sean Johnson	NYC at VAN	6.5

Captain Rankings
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Saphir Taider	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	11.6	The popular, relatively safe, and steady captain choice this week. If you're REALLY chasing, I think you have to look elsewhere - the fantasy season is charging towards an end and Taider isn't a total lock.
2	Carlos Vela	LAFC v. MIN	15.0	Not the end of the world if Vela sits and you need to switch and captain Rossi. Even better if you have Atuesta in your lineup to choose from too.
3	Lassi Lappalainen	MTL v. VAN, v. DC	8.4	With two braces in just four starts, whether lucky or not, Lassi may be the pivot if you're chasing. He also may rest one of the matches -- who knows!
4	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA v. LA	12.7	We're not following the rankings here because Reyna/Inbeom/Bojan are all too risky in terms of playing time.
5	Magnus Eriksson	SJ v. ORL	10.8	Eriksson and the Quakes can score in bunches, or at least shoot a ton, making him an excellent captain with very high upside.