2026 Strategy Clinic Week 10: Choosing Players from Quality Dyads and Triads

By: The Fantasy Physician

Week 10 Big Question – How do I pick players from teams with two or more good choices?

Most attentive managers had Niko Tsakiris in their Kickbase squads last week; the breakout San Jose midfielder, third on the overall Kickbase total points list, playing on a record-setting team (in a DGW), still priced at less than $10M, was the epitome of “chalk.”

That community of attentive managers felt their hearts drop at least three times last week: once when they saw the lineup drop for the weekend match in St. Louis and noted he was on the bench (he would later enter the match) and twice when he stepped up to the penalty spot and then handed the ball over to Timo Werner to take two separate penalties.  Niko finished the week with a combined 278 points over the two matches; Werner had 540 points over the same pair of matches.  A tip of the cap to the managers who captained Werner; they led the way.

Read on to see why Tsakiris and not Werner will be the choice this week.  But considered more generally, from certain teams you will have recurring choices between appealing pairs and triads of players.  Should you take both or all three? One or the other or the other other?  That’s what we tackle this week in the Fantasy Strategy Clinic.

MLS 2026 and Analytics and Heuristics for Tough Choices Among Teammates in 2026

You need some analytic framework to help you, and we will take the Tsakiris/Werner (or if you prefer the more familiar Niko/Timo) dyad as an example

1. Position: Say you are putting together a Rush Challenge with an obligate 3-6-1 formation and already decided that Messi is a lock.  Well, Niko is a midfielder and Timo is a forward, so your decision is made – Niko because you would have to give up Messi to take Timo.  However, plenty of teams have power dyads in the same position (eg Berhalter and Muller on Vancouver) and so you won’t always skate so easy.
2. Top 25 Lists: Kickbase is a little short on analytic tools for the manager (reportedly they have a web-based one forthcoming). The App has a lot of information, but you must play with it to find it, sometimes in some non-intuitive places.  On a home screen at the bottom, click on the icon that looks like a soccer pitch (furthest to the right), and is -somewhat confusingly labeled “COMPETITIONS.” At the top, also to the right, you can see “TOP 25.”  Tap that and you have two sets of toggle switches to play with. One gives you top 25’s from the current (or most recent) gameweek and the other – “26” – gives you the top 25 for the 2026 MLS season.  Below that, there are choices for “ALL” ie all players or the top 25 at each position, labeled as “GK”, “DEF”, “MF”, and “FWD”.  Looking at the “ALL” group on the day we post this, Niko is third overall with 1,653 total points and Timo is not on the list, despite having a higher average than say teammate Beau Leroux for the simple reason that Leroux has played more matches.  Playing a lot matters because for the most part we cannot check actual gameday lineups before choosing or players, so having a high average across a large number of games (the product of which is total season points, of course) is desirable and makes us lean Niko.  Timo had some early-season injuries that limited his minutes.
3. Average vs Form: Still, we are looking at one match.  Don’t we want the player with the highest average? If we tap on “TSAKIRIS” in the top 25 list we find his average of 165 points (Kickbase uses an 0 with a slash through it as a symbol for average throughout the app).  Since Timo is not on a top 25 list, we can use the search function – a typical magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner when on the COMPETITIONS screens – and enter his name to find his profile, where we see his average is 159. Again, this would appear to favor Niko if only slightly.  But what if Timo’s recent average is higher? Is that a better indicator?  The Kickbase app has no direct way to compare players’ form eg say their average in the last 3 or 5 matches.  Considering that Timo started to take the team’s penalties in the last two matches and only made the starting 11 in the last 3, we must look at this.  When looking at an individual player profile, an icon at the lower right with three vertical parallel lines – suggesting a bar graph – is the place to look at the player’s match-by-match point totals.  Hit that and you see that Timo has a 233, 268, and 272 in the last three matches.  Last three for Niko are 187, 205, and 73. I can’t emphasize enough how important looking at these bar graphs are.  Average favors Niko slightly, but form favors Timo heavily.  Except…
4. Injuries and Rotation Risk: Unfortunately, Timo left the midweek US Open Cup match with an apparent hamstring injury.  It is very unlikely that Timo will play this weekend and maybe we don’t see him until after the World Cup.  Kickbase releases varied amounts of information to managers about player availability based on paid membership level (free, Pro, or Member) and so little icons warn you about that.  In general, we can’t see actual match lineups before the Kickbase game locks each week, so we must pay a lot of attention to these availability issues, the subject of an earlier article.  However, we can see the lineups for the first match (or matches) of the gameweeks in the hour or less before kickoff, and it so happens that first match this weekend is Toronto hosting San Jose at 1pm Eastern time. So if somehow Bruce Arena sprays some magic spray on Timo’s hamstring and he is suddenly fit, you will be able to see that before making your final selection.  Another example: you will often be choosing between Denis Bouanga and Heung-Min Son on LAFC.  Generally, Son rotates more and Bouanga almost always plays.  LAFC is currently engaged in the semifinal of the CONCACAF Champion’s Cup, playing a home-and-away pair of high stakes matches against Mexican side Toluca.  Son played the whole match this past Wednesday, but Bouanga was suspended because of yellow cards in prior matches.  Advantage, Bouanga, because he rested midweek.
5. Price, Simple or Per Fantasy Point:  Budget matters, in some Kickbase competitions much more than others.  Niko is currently $9.6M and Timo is $30.1M, so Niko is a much better value than Timo.  That said, some high prices come with excellent value when evaluated as $ per fantasy point.
6. Match-specific factors:  Toronto’s starting left back – Richie Laryea – is out with an injury.  Since Timo Werner lines up on the left wing, if he were to play this weekend, he might be up against a depth defender with that as an added advantage. Nouhou Tolo, Seattle’s left back (and not a bad choice this week), playing for Cameroon in an AFCON event famously shut down Mohammed Salah, at that point probably the best right winger in the world.  Do you think he can do well against Shapi Suleymanov of SKC?  In years past, some MLS Fantasy Boss Discord mavens had discerned that NYRB was consistently limiting point totals for opponents central attacking midfielders.  This sort of information ie a real understanding of MLS teams and players may push you in a direction when considering a pair like Timo and Niko or similar choices.
7. Fantasy Goals – Floor and Ceiling:  Some players standout for having a high floor; whether they can achieve big things or not, they will not often fail to deliver some solid minimum.  Some players have a more boom-bust type distribution of scores with some very high booms.  Niko is a player who will be played through no matter what.  He has been taking the bulk of the set pieces for San Jose.  He has a high floor.  Timo may have higher upside potential playing closer to goal, taking recent penalties, etc. but could get shut out of the action if opposing defenses figure out how to stop San Jose’s attack in general.  He may have a lower floor but higher ceiling than Niko.  As fantasy managers construct their squads, sometimes they have one or the other of these goals in mind.
8. Fantasy Goals – Chalk, Differentials, and Ownership:  Messi is the poster-child of the high ownership player.  He has high floor, high ceiling, and is a frequent captain choice. So he is a popular choice and many take him because they don’t want to miss out on a high score, knowing that if he duds, you will have company with other managers and not suffer too much. He was and is chalk.  Last gameweek, Niko was heavy chalk and Timo was more of a differential choice.   He was a low ownership player with  higher risk (and much higher reward as it turned out) than Niko.  Part of planning your squads is deciding when you need to run with the pack – so you don’t get left behind – and when you want to get creative and take a chance on someone.
9. Intangibles, Eye Tests, and Hunches: Managers looking at LA Galaxy may in general be picking between forwards Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec.   Painstil is on the bubble for making Ghana’s national team for the rapidly approaching World Cup.  Pec – though a past Brazilian youth international – is not.  Last week they had a late breakaway and Painstil – perhaps unwisely – called his own number instead of dishing to Pec.  Unfortunately, his one-on-one shot was saved by RSL’s Rafael Cabral.  While an assist would have helped Painstil’s score more than a Big Chance Missed (which gives negative points), overall we may like a selfish attacker because shooting and especially scoring generates a lot of points.  These kinds of intangibles can and should inform manager’s choices but live in a place beyond the statistics.  Confidence, players’ personal distractions, subtle positional adjustments, relationships with other players may all figure into your decisions.  Watching matches and making mental notes makes you a better fantasy manager.
10. Taking Double and Triple Stacks:  Sometimes the answer is not an OR but rather an AND.  When you see San Jose has a strong matchup, the answer may be to take both Timo AND Niko if both are healthy.  For various reasons players on the same team may show some positive correlation in their scores. An assist from Niko that helps Timo score a goal gives you good returns from both.  Every goal scored by one team gives you 5 points for each player irrespective of their involvement.  Bonuses for winning matches (and penalties for losing them) further tether scores for players on the same team.  Highly correlated player returns may increase reward and risk, just as they do in the short term in financial investments.  Factors that may weigh against stacking players from the same team: less attractive matchups, better alternatives to the lesser player in the stack on another team and limiting downside risk by diversifying your team.

Repeatedly, throughout the season you will face choices among players on the same team that you fancy;  you can use the ten tools above to refine your decision-making.

Choices and Stacks for Week 10 (Kickbase)

We should always begin with assessing matchups, and as in recent weeks past, we provide you with some xG based looks at the matchups from both attacking and defending perspectives.

Attacking Tiers (input data from both tables from Footy Stats)

Defending Tiers (input data from both tables from Footy Stats)

Attacking players:

• Vancouver: Berhalter, Muller, and White – Playing LA Galaxy on the road.  Berhalter more chalk and Muller or White may be higher upside differentials.  I would not stack this week.
• San Jose: Werner and Tsakiris – take Tsakiris as Werner is injured.
• RBNY: Hall, Mehmeti, and Forsberg – Hall and Mehmeti are best values.  Position would likely help you make your choice as Hall is a forward and Mehmeti a midfielder.  Forsberg is a differential choice.
• RSL: Luna, Gozo, Guilavogui, and Solans – value choices are Gozo and Solans though Solans is not clearly a locked starter.  Gozo and Guilavogui have higher averages than their counterparts.
• LA Galaxy: Pec, Paintsil, Klauss, Reus – against Vancouver, matchup analysis says best to skip the Galaxy this week.  But in general, Pec and Painstil are close and would use intangibles (quality of opponents defenders on a given players side of the field, World Cup situation, injuries etc) to choose when choosing. Reus is the first choice midfielder from this team and just took his first penalty. Klauss is out injured until after World Cup, but may be a good differential choice at forward.
• Cincinnati: Denkey and Evander – not a bad stack when matchups are good.  Positional needs may often dictate choice when choosing one. Evander will generally have the higher floor.
• Columbus: Rossi and Abou Ali – easy now that Abou Ali is unfortunately injured; take Rossi, a good choice this week.  Abou Ali favored if Rossi plays in a less advanced position when both are on the field.
• Cuypers and Zinckernagel – This might be my favorite double stack of the week.  Cuypers missed a penalty and then bagged a brace last week.  Zinckernagel is heating up and had a monster score last week. I favor Zinckernagel over Cuypers barely this week and support taking both where that fits, which may be forward-heavy formations in Kickbase.  Despite a shutout last week, the Cincinnati backline remains a McGyver job and is targetable.
• Nashville:  Mukhtar, Surridge, and Espinoza – this has been one of the trickiest multi-player choices to make this season, though I would discourage taking them this week because they have to emphasize next week’s CONCACAF match and they are on the road.  With an eye to future weeks, Mukhtar is the safest ie has the best floor.  All of Surridge’s goals have been at home, where he should always be a strong consideration.  Espinoza is the differential play.  Stacks are very good idea when they are at home against a week opponent.
• FC Dallas: Musa and Farrington – in general Musa>>Farrington but check the injury report as both were out last week.  Taking one on the road against a leaky RBNY defense this week is an interesting but risky differential play.
• Toronto: Sargent and Mihailovic – another easy one while Mihailovic is injured, but in general positional considerations should influence choice.  Not a great matchup this week against stout San Jose defense, but Toronto continues to have wacky home matches and wacky often translates into fantasy points.
• LAFC:  Bouanga and Son, Delgado and Eustaquio:  this week I would fade LAFC given their focus on CONCACAF Champions Cup.  Rotation risks are high but Bouanga did not play midweek because of yellow card suspension in CCC, so he is the best choice, though I like him more at home.  Eustaquio is returning from injury so favor Delgado until Eustaquio’s fitness is clearly established, at which point favor Eustaquio.  Stacks from this team make sense when they do (not this week).

Now defenders:

• Vancouver:  Laborda, Blackmon, Ocampo (and soon Veselinovic returning from injury):  Laborda has the top average. Blackmon’s floor is very solid. Ocampo is cheap.  They have played a lot of their matches at home but that will be changing and the return of Veselinovic – historically a locked starter at centerback – will add some uncertainty, though overall I expect the 4 above to be the ongoing starting group once Veselinovic is fully reintegrated.
• San Jose: Munie, Kikanovic, Roberts – Averages and prices in descending orders. Overall excellent prices.
• Columbus:  Arfsten, Amundsen, Moreira, Zawadzki, Camacho (and Farsi returning from injury):  Arfsten is always the first choice but is expensive.  Camacho is cheap.  The others are in the middle.   Arfsten and Zawadzki are generally safest because their roles are less interchangeable and so face less rotation risk.  Keep watching for new equilibrium in starting pattern once Farsi is fully reintegrated into the team.
• Nashville:  Woledzi, Palacios, Najar – nearly identical averages. Najar is more expensive and Woledzi/Palacios are cheaper and identically priced.  Najar is the more attacking option when that’s relevant.
• LAFC: Segura, Tafari, Porteous, Palencia, Long – excellent choice all but with Long returning from injury (and had “average” made up scores from two matches with limited minutes), the starting group is less clear, like Columbus. They are listed by average in order here with Segura highest, and like Bouanga, he sat out the midweek CCC fixture with a yellow card suspension so he may be safer than others.  Palencia is the only real right back in the group so may be the most predictable starter.  Overall, I might look elsewhere this week.  Too many uncertainties.
• Chicago: Gutman, Elliott, Mbokazi – Gutman and Elliott have similar averages, both higher than Mbokazi.  Gutman is the more attacking option and you might favor him when Chicago is at home has a favorable attacking profile.  Both are true this week, though a shutout is unlikely.  Mbokazi is slightly less expensive but not cheap.
• Seattle:  Ragen and Nouhou – fine choices this week against SKC, even though they are on the road.  Ragen is the higher average player; Nouhou is the cheap way into relative certainty on the Seattle defense.  When Yeimar returns from injury, the regular starting group will be more clear, but will probably be Ragen, Yeimar, Alex Roldan, and Nouhou.  For now stick to Ragen or Nouhou.

Comment on goalkeepers:  In years past, many managers would pair goalkeepers with defenders when they smelled a possible clean sheet. This makes some sense in Kickbase if the planned avenue for returns is a clean sheet, but it makes less sense when considering a goalkeeper based on shot-stopping actions.

We live with the weight of choices in life and MLS Fantasy.  At least the MLS Fantasy ones don’t matter too much, so don’t forget to have fun and let go when the dice are cast (ie at first kickoff time).  Kickbase helps us further by giving us single week Rush challenges with self-limited consequences for bad choices or bad luck.  You don’t have to choose between playing it safe and taking some creative chances, but emphasize putting the latter into your single week Rush challenges.

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The “Fantasy Physician” is Ron Birnbaum, @Half Century City on Discord
The “Fantasy Therapist” is Mike Leister, @Kenobi on Discord
The “Fantasy Meteorologist” is Asher Malaschak, @Storminator on Discord
The “Fantasy Gastroenterologist” is Christian Ward, @xward on Discord