MLS Top Plays: Saturday, July 18th
This week we’ll keep it short and simple, DraftKings has their typical offerings for MLS and as we edge closer to EPL starting in August. I’m sure we’ll start seeing some big GPP announcements for the start of the EPL season in order to draw in some attention from those who have taken the summer off from soccer. But until then, we have some MLS games to cover.
Here are the plays.
Goalkeepers
Tim Melia, Sporting Kansas City $5,400 – This week DraftKings has all the home keepers priced up, My advice would be to go with the home keeper that you can fit into your lineup based on the Vegas odds. I’m going to try to fit either Tim Melia of Kansas City, as they are the biggest favorites at home versus Montreal, or I could side step to Dan Kennedy for FC Dallas who’s going up against a DC United team that has only managed to score five goals away from home this season and is in the midst of a streak of just a single win in the last six matches.
Tyler Deric, Houston Dynamo $3,700 – I don’t like taking players that are not in the best position to succeed, especially in goalkeeper. However, with all the home keepers’ prices skyrocketing, we’ll have to make exceptions here. For GPPs I will be targeting Houston Dynamo keeper Tyler Deric who is facing Real Salt Lake on the road. In their last six away matches, RSL have only scored 7 goals and only have 10 points in that span at home. I like Deric as a flyer in a GPP as he will enable you to roster a couple of these high dollar forwards we’ll be getting to later.
Other Goalkeepers I Like: Dan Kennedy (FCD, $5,200), Joe Bendik (TOR, $3,100) Adam Kwarasey (POR, $5,100)
Defenders
Chris Tierney, New England Revolution, $6,000 – He has a single goal and a single assist on the season. But hear me out. He has actually been a tad bit unlucky this season as he has 28 key passes on the season. On the season Tierney actually averages close to an entire key pass more per game at home than he does on the road. And with Davies and Agudelo expected to be back there might be a chance to turn this into an assist.
Marcel De Jong, Sporting Kansas City $4,700 – He’s cheaper than Tierney, so if you roster him you can save a few dollars in salary to use at forward or midfield. De Jong actually provides a solid floor with the ability to whip in crosses and take shots. SKC are a favorite here and I’ve already pinpointed their goalkeeper as a top option. If you feel confident in the SKC game with Montreal being on the road, then do not hesitate to pair both the keeper and his defender in this one.
Other Defenders I Like: Tyrone Mears (SEA, $6,300), Alvas Powell (POR, $4,100), Iraola (NYC, $3,000), Jack Jewsberry (POR, $3,200), London Woodberry (NER, $4,400)
Midfielders
Darlington Nagbe, Portland Timbers $6,300 – There are six players priced above $10K on DraftKings, and if you want to build a GPP lineup with one or two of those players you’ll have to get some discounts elsewhere. One of my favorite cheap plays for the midfield is Darlington Nagbe for Portland. Portland is playing at home right now and Nagbe is coming off a great game where he scored and assisted on a goal last week against a tough Seattle team. This week he’s up against the defense of Vancouver who are coming off four straight games of allowing a goal in the back of their net.
Javier Morales, Real Salt Lake $7,900 – With Houston coming to town, the bookkeepers have this game as advantage Salt Lake. The numbers look a bit different, as Houston still manages 12.9 shots per game on the road and tends to be aggressive. Salt Lake does a good job of controlling possession 52% on average at home. This makes me lean more towards the active midfielder of RSL Javier Morales. He’s a great cash game play as he consistently draws fouls, takes shots and puts his teammates in a position to score goals as evidenced by his 48 key passes on the season (a Key Pass every 22 minutes of live action play) Morales is a good play this week and will be in any of my cash game rosters.
Other Midfielders I Like: Mauro Diaz (DAL, $8,700), Kaka (ORL, $10,400), Benny Feilhaber (SKC, $9,300), Lloyd Sam (NYRB, $7,800), Benoit Cheyrou (TOR, $4,800)
Forwards
Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC, $11,600 – The top reason we have been trying to save salary all day is Giovinco. There are several weeks this season so far where if you didn’t have Giovinco you didn’t have a chance at cashing. This feels like one of those weeks. Giovinco is one of the best forwards in the game and will be motivated to perform at the top of his game today to show off for the home crowd. Giovinco has a floor of double digits by just shots taken and fouls drawn. Fade him at your own peril.
If you choose to fade Giovinco then you can go with David Villa, (NYC $11,400) who has the same floor as Giovinco and has just as much upside for $200 cheaper. You can roster him as a contrarian play or even as a cash game option, as he is capable of scoring a hat-trick, my only concern is he’s playing on the road against a New England Revs team that, while reeling, is looking to improve its performance and could be able to come close to shutting down Villa.
Other options at the pricey end include Dom Dwyer (SKC, $9,300), Bradley Wright-Phillips (NYRB, $11,600) and Fabian Castillo (FCD, $10,800)
If you want to go cheap at forward, then your options are mostly GPP choices, with Fenando Adi (POR, $8,600) leads the way in my book as a likely source for potential goals. Portland should be able to get some shots off, and may even get to score goals. You can also go with Krisztian Nemeth (SKC, $7,500) This all depends on whether he starts as a forward or behind the forwards. I expect him to start up front and to be a secondary attacking option next to Dom Dwyer.
Some other cheap forward options include: Cyle Larin (ORL, $7,400), Kakuta Manneh (VAN, $6,700), Jozy Altidore (TOR, $7,400)
With that, we’ll be done for the week. Good Luck with all your lineups.