Matchups are one of the most important factors to consider when crafting your fantasy lineup each week. In MLS, where home field provides a greater advantage than most leagues, players frequently deal with cross-country travel and multiple competitions, which can impact performance. It’s important to consider these factors, as well as performance metrics such as home/away form and player injuries to pinpoint favorable matchups. Each week I’ll focus on a few matchups you should target to help your team collect those precious fantasy points. With the first double gameweek upon us, the stakes are high—make sure you’re considering both matchups when building your lineup. Let’s dive into which matchups should be on your FMLS menu for round 13.  

Nashville SC vs New York Red Bulls (Wed, 8:30pm ET), vs DC United (Sat, 8:30pm ET) 

GEODIS Park is a fortress once again, and with Nashville being just one of four teams with two home games this week, their fantasy assets could rack up some big points. History suggests that Wednesday’s matchup won’t be a walk in the park—Nashville are winless in five all-time meetings with the Red Bulls (2 losses, 3 draws)—but this year’s Red Bulls side isn’t quite as strong defensively.

After hanging seven goals on the Galaxy last week, they could be riding a little too high coming into a much tougher environment. Nashville have been on fire at home, scoring 11 goals (8.4 xG) across their last three at GEODIS. Saturday’s fixture looks far more one sided, as they’ll host a DC United side that has allowed 17 goals in just six road matches. I expect Nashville to control both matches, score plenty of goals and hopefully keep at least one clean sheet. With this being the first DGW of the season, remember to pay extra attention to home/away splits and travel between games—these factors can make a big difference in a week like this one.

PLAYER TARGETS:

• Hany Mukhtar (MID, NSH)
• Sam Surridge (FWD, NSH)
• Andy Najar (DEF, NSH)
• Joe Willis (GK, NSH)

San Diego FC vs Colorado Rapids (Wed, 10:30pm ET), vs Sporting Kansas City (Sat, 10:30pm ET)

San Diego join Nashville as one of the few double-home teams this week, and they have two super tasty matchups against Colorado and Sporting KC. The newcomers have had no problem finding the back of the net, scoring 13 goals (10.8 xG) in six home matches. Both Colorado and SKC rank in the bottom ten for non-penalty xG against, and I don’t think either defense will have an answer for Chucky Lozano or Anders Dreyer—who should both be locked into your team this week. While San Diego’s defense hasn’t been as strong as their attack, it’s still worth a look with two home matches, especially against an SKC side that ranks dead last in npxG. If you enjoy scoring points, do yourself a favor and load up on San Diego this week.

• Chucky Lozano (FWD, SD)
• Anders Dreyer (MID, SD)
• Paddy McNair (DEF, SD)
• Onni Valakari (MID, SD)

Philadelphia Union vs LA Galaxy (Wed, 7:30pm ET), @ Atlanta United (Sat, 7:30pm ET)

The Union are flying under Bradley Carnell, sitting just two points off the top of the Eastern Conference after an entertaining 2-2 draw with Columbus last week. Their first matchup is at home against LA Galaxy, who remain winless through 12 weeks and are coming off a 7-0 thrashing by the Red Bulls—I don’t see that streak ending against a red-hot Philadelphia side. The second matchup isn’t as juicy, but Atlanta have had their own struggles, ranking bottom ten in xG against. They’ve been a team I’ve successfully targeted a few times already this season, and I’ll be looking to do the same again here. If you’ve been playing fantasy for a while, this week may feel like a throwback to peak 2022 Philadelphia—when picking which three Union players to load up on felt nearly impossible. 

• Kai Wagner (DEF, PHI)
• Quinn Sullivan (MID, PHI)
• Tai Baribo (FWD, PHI)
• Mikael Uhre (FWD, PHI)

---

Contributor: Eli Redpath, @vurkes on Discord