This article is part of our The Armband series.
I said not to screw things up last week and if you trusted me, things went well. While there were some surprising results, there were a ton of goals, meaning it was almost impossible to screw up. Neither David Villa nor Miguel Almiron led the fantasy scoring lists, but they both scored goals. If your MLS Fantasy captain ever scores three points or less, you're doing something wrong. Remember, I said to forget about my Week 1 rankings...
As with any other week, there are a few teams on bye. Unfortunately, one of them is expansion LAFC, who lead the league with six goals scored (all on the road). Luckily, it's easy to find players that are in good positions with the likes of NYC FC and Atlanta at home, among others.
Of the teams at home, I'm most wary of D.C. (v. Houston), Minnesota (v. Chicago), Montreal (v. Toronto) and Dallas (v. Seattle). That still leaves plenty of options to turn to for the Week 3 captain.
Villa is once again a popular pick and will be many times this season. He already has two goals on 13 shots and faces an Orlando team that didn't look much improved in two home matches. Maximiliano Moralez hasn't been as productive, but he still does a little bit of everything, making him a lock to get six or seven fantasy points, especially at home. The same goes for defenders Ben Sweat and Alexander Callens with the added five-point bonus if NYC grabs a clean sheet.
As for Atlanta, they returned to their dominant home form with a 3-1 win over D.C. on Sunday. I'll keep riding them at home until they let me down, and I'm not counting on that happening this week against Vancouver. Miguel Almiron and Hector Villalba picked up where they left last season and combined for two goals and three assists. That said, these two aren't my favorite choices because the Whitecaps have looked solid in the early going and most recently won at Houston.
Kansas City is an intriguing place to turn only because of how their first two matches have gone. After struggling to do anything on the road last season, they've been the opposite, including scoring four times against Chicago last weekend. Due to that inconsistency, I'm only relying on Felipe Gutierrez in the match against San Jose. Gutierrez scored a brace last week, but more helpful for fantasy is that he had seven fantasy points in Week 1 without a goal. Not only does he have goal upside, but he's also a safe option to touch the ball plenty in the middle of the SKC attack.
I'm tentative on what to do in the Real Salt Lake-Red Bulls match given what's happened the last two weeks. It's also a wonder how New York's lineup will look having to travel across the country after the CCL match on Tuesday against Tijuana. RSL have a bevy of options in the attack, but I'm only comfortable with Joao Plata and Albert Rusnak, both of whom make things happen for RSL.
It's usually a good idea to back Philadelphia at home, yet against Columbus there are some doubts. The Crew have been solid in their two matches and already won 2-0 at Toronto. I'd stay away from any of the Union defenders, but C.J. Sapong deserves to be in the conversation. As for the Crew, Gyasi Zardes loves life already with three goals to start the season. The only worrying part is that those three goals have accounted for 15 of his 20 fantasy points. If he doesn't score, his floor is a bit too low to trust on the road. That's the main reason I'm more comfortable backing Federico Higuain because while he also has 20 fantasy points, only 10 of them have come from goals.
A lot of people will turn to Sebastian Giovinco and Toronto, and there's plenty of reason to do that as Montreal have already allowed five goals. However, I'm slightly tentative to go that route because Toronto were in Mexico on Tuesday and guys like Giovinco, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley all played 90 minutes. If Giovinco goes off, I'll accept that I was wrong, but he won't be one of my top options this week.
Of the top players on the road, Nemanja Nikolic is definitely on the list after scoring a brace against Sporting. Minnesota may have their home opener, but they just lost Kevin Molino to a torn ACL and the back line is still a mess having allowed four goals. That said, I'm more keen on backing Aleksandar Katai, who was great in the opener with three crosses and four shots to go with a goal. With Nikolic more dependent on goals, I feel better about Katai as captain.
Vako was amazing in the first match for San Jose, though he will be much harder to trust in Kansas City. He's still a guy who can produce even without goals or assists, and that's the main reason to consider him this week.
The last big names to have your eyes on are Nicolas Lodeiro (at Dallas) and Alberth Elis (at D.C.). The matchups aren't enticing, but Lodeiro is usually a good bet for captain and that was seen in the opener when he still had nine fantasy points despite his team not scoring. Lodeiro missed the midweek CCL match with a foot sprain, so his status is worth monitoring. As for Elis, he's been on a tear with one goal and two assists and I'm fine with taking a chance on him against the D.C. United back line.
