This article is part of our MLS Fantasy Rankings series.
MATCHES (EDT)
- Wednesday, 5:00 pm: New England Revolution vs. Montreal Impact
- Wednesday, 7:00 pm: Atlanta United vs. FC Dallas
- Wednesday, 7:00 pm: New York City FC vs. Toronto FC
- Wednesday, 7:30 pm: Chicago Fire vs. Houston Dynamo
- Wednesday, 7:30 pm: Columbus Crew vs. Minnesota United
- Wednesday, 7:30 pm: FC Cincinnati vs. Philadelphia Union
- Wednesday, 7:30 pm: Sporting Kansas City vs. Orlando City SC
- Wednesday, 8:00 pm: Inter Miami CF vs. New York Red Bulls
- Wednesday, 8:30 pm: Nashville SC vs. D.C. United
- Wednesday, 9:00 pm: Colorado Rapids vs. San Jose Earthquakes
- Wednesday, 9:30 pm: Real Salt Lake vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
- Wednesday, 10:00 pm: Portland Timbers vs. Seattle Sounders FC
- Wednesday, 10:30 pm: Los Angeles Football Club vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- Saturday, 3:30 pm: Nashville SC vs. Houston Dynamo
- Saturday, 7:00 pm: New York City FC vs. FC Cincinnati
- Sunday, 7:00 pm: D.C. United vs. New England Revolution
- Sunday, 7:00 pm: New York Red Bulls vs. Montreal Impact
- Sunday, 7:30 pm: Chicago Fire vs. Atlanta United
- Sunday, 7:30 pm: Philadelphia Union vs. Inter Miami CF
- Sunday, 7:30 pm: Toronto FC vs. Columbus Crew
- Sunday, 8:00 pm: Minnesota United vs. Real Salt Lake
- Sunday, 8:30 pm: FC Dallas vs. Orlando City SC
- Sunday, 9:00 pm: Colorado Rapids vs. Sporting Kansas City
- Sunday, 10:00 pm: Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Portland Timbers
- Sunday, 10:30 pm: Los Angeles Football Club vs. San Jose Earthquakes
- Sunday, 10:30 pm: Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders FC
Forwards | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Diego Rossi | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 9.1 | Don't take Brian Rodriguez, who looks to be leaving for Italy. |
2 | Kacper Przybylko | PHI at FCC, v. INT | 12.0 | |
3 | Gustavo Bou | NE v. MTL, at DCU | 8.9 | A wise Revs fan told me Bou could be a trap this week, but I am nevertheless tempted. |
4 | Raul Ruidiaz | SEA at POR, at LAG | 14.0 | Jara, but with a better MLS track record and surrounding team. Oh and also $5.2 more expensive! |
5 | Franco Jara | DAL at ATL, v. ORL | 9.8 | |
6 | Cristian Pavon | LAG at RSL, v. SEA | 11.3 | He's playing well enough to be on the Argentina National Squad for October's matches! |
7 | Bradley Wright-Phillips | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 7.6 | BWP has two great matchups, safer playing time post-BRod, and saves some salary. |
8 | Gyasi Zardes | CLB v. MIN, at TOR | 11.4 | This feels like a low ranking for someone having such an awesome 2020 season, but I can't confidently bump him in front of any of the top-7. It's close! |
9 | Robert Beric | CHI v. HOU, v. ATL | 9.4 | At least he's definitely on penalty kick duty now, right? |
10 | Diego Rubio | COL v. SJ, v. SKC | 7.8 | Kei Kamara out is a boost, but Rubio was already starting lots and scoring not a lot. Two good matchups though, including a revenge game! |
11 | Heber | NYC v. TOR, v. FCC | 5.2 | |
12 | Ola Kamara | DCU at NSH, v. NE | 5.9 | |
13 | Jeremy Ebobisse | POR v. SEA, at VAN | 6.6 | |
14 | Jordan Morris | SEA at POR, at LAG | 11.7 | Double game weeks are the best time to play MLS Fantasy's ultimate boom/bust attacker. |
15 | Jozy Altidore | TOR at NYC, v. CLB | 7.4 | |
16 | Chicharito | LAG at RSL, v. SEA | 8.1 | |
17 | Mauro Manotas | HOU at CHI, at NSH | 6.0 | |
18 | Alan Pulido | SKC v. ORL, at COL | 10.4 | Not guaranteed to start Wednesday, as Vermes eases him back from injury. |
19 | Dominique Badji | NSH v. DCU, v. HOU | 5.4 | |
20 | Jurgen Locadia | FCC v. PHI, at NYC | 5.6 |
Midfielders | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Diego Valeri | POR v. SEA, at VAN | 12.4 | Valeri inexplicably has again reached the high of his powers, at age 34! Two cascadia matches and rest last week lead me to believe he's a decent bet to fully feature in both. |
2 | Alejandro Pozuelo | TOR at NYC, v. CLB | 14.5 | High price and tough matchups, but Poz has been so good that you have to bet on him having one good match out of two chances. |
3 | Nicolas Lodeiro | SEA at POR, at LAG | 13.7 | |
4 | Johnny Russell | SKC v. ORL, at COL | 9.4 | Russell's playing time always makes me nervous, but he's in form and I've always loved his game. |
5 | Pedro Santos | CLB v. MIN, at TOR | 9.2 | Zelarayan is being eased back in, but worth noting that he could be the ultimate dice roll alternative to Santos if he can sneak a start in this week. |
6 | Nani | ORL at SKC, at DAL | 8.5 | Another candidate for rest this week, Nani is worth taking your chances on in game two if he is in the first lineup. |
7 | Carlos Darwin Quintero | HOU at CHI, at NSH | 8.2 | |
8 | Brenden Aaronson | PHI at FCC, v. INT | 10.0 | Aaronson appears on the verge of a transfer to Europe, but if he plays Wednesday night, I'll roll the dice on getting a second game. He has been enthusiastically involved in all Philly games. |
9 | Jose Cifuentes | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 6.7 | I'm not overreacting to LAFC's rough patch - they're still a good group of players with a really good coach playing against two pretty poor teams. |
10 | Mark-Anthony Kaye | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 8.5 | |
11 | Emanuel Reynoso | MIN at CLB, v. RSL | 7.4 | Reynoso is not only the new guy, but now surrounded by backups thanks to a plethora of injuries in the Minnesota midfield and attack. |
12 | Lewis Morgan | INT v. RBNY, at PHI | 10.5 | Morgan is already playing well and now Gonzalo Higuain is nearing his first action! |
13 | Hany Mukhtar | NSH v. DCU, v. HOU | 9.6 | |
14 | Joao Paulo | SEA at POR, at LAG | 10.7 | |
15 | Cole Bassett | COL v. SJ, v. SKC | 9.0 | Younes Namli is out for at least the first match and I'm eager to see how Bassett reacts. Braian Galvan also becomes an intriguing option. |
16 | Sebastian Lletget | LAG at RSL, v. SEA | 9.9 | |
17 | Albert Rusnak | RSL v. LAG, at MIN | 8.1 | |
18 | Alvaro Medran | CHI v. HOU, v. ATL | 10.3 | He owes Fire fans and Rapha Wicky a goal after last week's debacle. |
19 | Jamiro Monteiro | PHI at FCC, v. INT | 8.4 | Potential to return to a role higher up the field if/when Aaronson leaves. He was a fantasy force there before. |
20 | Rodolfo Pizarro | INT v. RBNY, at PHI | 9.4 | Honorable mentions to Andres Ricaurte, Chris Mueller, Maikel Chang, Pablo Piatti, and Kaku. |
Defenders | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Anton Tinnerholm | NYC v. TOR, v. FCC | 9.0 | His sore achilles is only a very slight concern as that matchup with Cincy is too exciting to pass up. |
2 | Reto Ziegler | DAL at ATL, v. ORL | 10.7 | |
3 | Lalas Abubakar | COL v. SJ, v. SKC | 7.2 | |
4 | Alexander Buttner | NE v. MTL, at DCU | 8.5 | His chances to get either a clean sheet or assist are high this week. The upside is both in the same match! |
5 | Jonathan Mensah | CLB v. MIN, at TOR | 11.6 | Not sure how anyone could drop $11.6 on a defender, but price aside he's undoubtedly a good option. |
6 | Ronald Matarrita | PHI at FCC, v. INT | 10.0 | It sounds like he'll be available to return to the lineup Wednesday. |
7 | Mark McKenzie | PHI at FCC, v. INT | 9.1 | |
8 | Harrison Afful | CLB v. MIN, at TOR | 10.8 | |
9 | Walker Zimmerman | NSH v. DCU, v. HOU | 8.1 | I'd like Nashville even more if Lovitz weren't suspended for yellow cards, but DC United's poor form give me little reason to believe it matters much. |
10 | Kyle Duncan | RBNY at INT, v. MTL | 8.4 | |
11 | Aaron Long | RBNY at INT, v. MTL | 9.5 | |
12 | Diego Palacios | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 5.4 | You won't convince me that LAFC are playing bad enough that I should ignore their defense against San Jose and Vancouver. |
13 | Ryan Hollingshead | DAL at ATL, v. ORL | 7.8 | |
14 | Eddie Segura | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 6.0 | |
15 | Richie Laryea | TOR at NYC, v. CLB | 7.2 | Thanks to an ijury spell, it's gone under the radar just how good Laryea has been this year. |
16 | Milton Valenzuela | CLB v. MIN, at TOR | 10.5 | |
17 | Joevin Jones | SEA at POR, at LAG | 8.9 | |
18 | Brandon Bye | NE v. MTL, at DCU | 6.7 | |
19 | Keegan Rosenberry | COL v. SJ, v. SKC | 7.3 | |
20 | Francisco Calvo | CHI v. HOU, v. ATL | 6.8 |
Goalkeepers | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Andre Blake | PHI at FCC, v. INT | 8.4 | |
2 | Sean Johnson | NYC v. TOR, v. FCC | 10.9 | Johnson has been so good, he's also stopped his own team from scoring goals! |
3 | Matt Turner | NE v. MTL, at DCU | 8.1 | I rarely don't take advantage of the 2nd keeper contingency plan in MLS Fantasy, but Turner's matchups are good enough that I may plug him straight into the lineup to save salary. Romell Quioto will be out for Montreal, and he has been half their attack. |
4 | Eloy Room | CLB v. MIN, at TOR | 10.0 | If you have the funds, Room is a great play against Minnesota's decimated attack. |
5 | William Yarbrough | COL v. SJ, v. SKC | 6.7 | |
6 | Pablo Sisniega | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 4.3 | |
7 | Steve Clark | POR v. SEA, at VAN | 4.8 | |
8 | Bill Hamid | DCU at NSH, v. NE | 6.2 | DC's defense has not been the main problem. |
9 | Joe Willis | NSH v. DCU, v. HOU | 5.4 | |
10 | David Jensen | RBNY at INT, v. MTL | 5.6 |
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 | Latif Blessing | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 6.6 | With Rodriguez out, Blessing could be thrust back into an attacking role rather than toiling at right back. |
2 | Sam Vines | COL v. SJ, v. SKC | 6.0 | |
3 | Daryl Dike | ORL at SKC, at DAL | 4.8 | |
4 | Alexandru Mitrita | NYC v. TOR, v. FCC | 5.0 | It's confounding how poor NYCFC's attack has been under Ronny Deila, but I think Mitrita is the one who helps it break out. |
5 | Mohamed El-Munir | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 4.0 | There's a small but notable chance El-Munir gets time on the attacking wing. |
6 | Adam Buksa | NE v. MTL, at DCU | 4.1 | If he starts the super early 5pm EST match, he'll be a salary-saving bench play for many managers. |
7 | Bryan Reynolds | DAL at ATL, v. ORL | 4.1 | |
8 | Lee Nguyen | NE v. MTL, at DCU | 4.3 | Nguyen is another great candidate to start from the bench and see how it goes before deciding on the rest of your team. |
9 | Anthony Fontana | PHI at FCC, v. INT | 4.0 | Yet another super-sub in Philly? Fontana hasn't been playing close to 90 minutes, but he's fired four shots in each of the past two matches and collected a trio of goals for his efforts. |
10 | Adrien Perez | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 4.0 | Perez, Danny Musovski, and Christian Torres all stand to get some additional minutes with Brian Rodriguez on his way out, but it's doubtful any will be a lock for consistent minutes. |
Captain Rankings | ||||
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Rank | Player | Matchup | Price | Notes |
1 | Diego Rossi | LAFC v. VAN, v. SJ | 9.1 | Losing his help right and left, but still my favorite fantasy play. |
2 | Diego Valeri | POR v. SEA, at VAN | 12.4 | 34 year old legs make me nervous when assigning the arm band in a congested schedule. |
3 | Alejandro Pozuelo | TOR at NYC, v. CLB | 14.5 | Tough matchups aren't ideal, but he's performed well enough in every two-game stretch this season. |
4 | Nicolas Lodeiro | SEA at POR, at LAG | 13.7 | Even if you told me he only could score via PKs, I'd still like him this week. |
5 | Johnny Russell | SKC v. ORL, at COL | 9.4 | Assuming a full complement of playing time, Russell should feast against the Orlando and Colorado left backs. |