Week 7 Recap

The Behind the Numbers team continues to more or less tread water here at the beginning of the season. The Behind the numbers team put a respectable, but unremarkable 107 points in round 7. I didn’t have the right DC or MTL defenders which ended up really hurting as well as my irrational love of Victor Rodriguez burying me again with a lousy three points. Hope you grabbed that Vega price rise though. The Behind the Numbers team now stands at 579 points and an OR of 694. The TV went up to $117.8.

Fantasy philosophy

Our second double game week of the year is upon us. LAFC is a great DGW team and a true frustration over only being able to pick three of them. Vancouver, on the other hand, is more of a UGH, can I fit three of these players into my team? Based on last week, half the Dream Team came from DGW players, so you definitely still want to invest but Vancouver will test our creativity….probably switcheroo fodder if I ever saw it. Vela is probably your only real captain choice, too much risk not to.

Week 8 Defense Rankings

Total Budget this Week: $117.8

Goalkeepers

The top 4 defenses in this week’s matchup rankings all seem like legitimate options. Steffan is the clear premium keeper. You could maybe pair him with a cheap Rowe (ORL) going up against VAN on short rest traveling across the country. Alternatively, pairing Blake (PHI), Guzan (PHI), and Richey (CIN) in a switcheroo is budget friendly and CIN plays on Friday making it easy.

Defenders

Without any kind of functioning bonus point data or sort system on the MLS fantasy website to point us towards good defender picks, we’re left with staying cheap. LAFC is the better defensive DGW choice, but they’re also the better offense choice. Vancouver isn’t as pretty on defense. I’m likely staying away from LAFC and VAN defenders this week. If you’re so inclined, however, Beitashore (LAFC) and Adnan (VAN) are probably your best options.

Outside of the DGW players, Sauro/Williams (CLB) are beasts whoever starts. From ATL, I’m partial to Miles Robinson who is quietly racking up the passing bonus points. In PHI, your best option looks like Elliot based on his WhoScored.com ranking. Finally, CIN faces a struggling RSL at home, Deplange/Garza should offer good value as well.

Week 8 Offense Rankings

Week 8 Player Projections

Midfielders/Forwards

Top Offenses for Week 8

The offensive side gets a litter more fun for this DGW. Vela is a must own basically every week. For the other two LAFC pieces I’m still going offense, though with slightly different types. Rossi offers BOOM potential which can make or break a DGW. Kaye, on the other hand, is the solid, high floor midfielder to build stability in the midfield.

VAN is a trickier choice. There aren’t really any options you’d pick on a normal week, but there should be goals in both of these games. I still believe in DGW players always being the better choice over single game week players. Both WhoScored.com and @thedummyrun have Reyna and In-Beom as the top attacking options this week and it makes sense to me. I think VAN is starting to put it together and this week it seems worth the risk.

Outside of our DGW teams, there’s sort of an odd smattering of attacking potential. The only one I feel good about is TOR, with Pozuelo and Altidore showing great chemistry and attacking verve.

CHI, SKC, and PHI have good matchups but I’m not confident in their consistency of execution. SKC has been fun and should get rested with no more CCL. PHI continues to be xG darlings, but it’s never quite clear who to pick week to week.

2019 Week 8 BTN Team

Here’s my first draft based on the discussion above.

If you’d like to follow me on twitter, I’m @MLSFB_BTN. I typically post my updated lineup on Friday nights before the games start to show if my thinking has changed since this column went up.