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 absences to pinpoint favorable matchups. Let’s dive into the round 21 DGW slate:

Nashville SC vs Columbus Crew (Wed, 7:30pm CT), vs Toronto FC (Sat, 7:30pm CT)

Nashville get a favourable home double gameweek after a tough loss in Miami last week. First up, they’ll host Columbus on Wednesday, who come into this one undefeated in their last five. Despite that streak, they’ve only kept one clean sheet through those five matches. Additionally, the Crew have kept just one clean sheet on the road this season. With Nashville having one of the best attacks in the league, I expect them to hang a couple goals on Columbus at home. Saturday’s matchup should be a shoo-in against Toronto, who have won just four matches this season. Not much needs to be said there, I expect the Boys in Gold to come out and pick up three points, hopefully providing some solid fantasy points as a result.

PLAYER TARGETS:

• Hany Mukhtar (MID)
• Sam Surridge (FWD)
• Andy Najar (DEF)

Seattle Sounder vs Colorado Rapids (Wed, 9:30pm CT), vs San Jose Earthquakes (Sat, 7:30pm CT)

Seattle are one of the strongest home teams in MLS, and they just happen to have two home matches this week, perfect. The bookmakers have the Sounders down as heavy favorites in both matches, and I’m right there with them. On Wednesday they’ll host the Rapids who haven’t won at Lumen Field since 2016. They’ll be riding their high horse after a 3-0 victory over the free-falling Whitecaps, but I expect Seattle to keep them quiet and pick up a win. Saturday the Sounders will host the Quakes in a matchup that I think sets up perfectly for Albert Rusnak. Opposing 10s have been feasting against San Jose and the Slovakian playmaker should have a ton of room to operate in the half spaces. While neither of the Rapids or Quakes are pushovers, double home games for a team like Seattle is the formula for DGW success. Don’t overthink it.

PLAYER TARGETS:

• Albert Rusnak (MID)
• Jackson Ragen (DEF)
• Jesus Ferreira (FWD)

San Diego FC vs Toronto FC (Wed, 9:30pm CT), vs Vancouver Whitecaps (Sat, 9:30pm CT)

Staying with the theme of double home teams, we’ll close out this week’s target matchups with red-hot San Diego FC. In their last 10 matches, San Diego have seven wins, one draw, and two losses. Their attack has been potent, scoring 23 goals in those last 10 matches. I expect them to add a few to that tally on Wednesday against Toronto. We mentioned them earlier, they’re terrible, and San Diego should destroy them. Saturday looks tougher on paper against the Whitecaps, but I still expect San Diego to perform fantasy-wise. In the reverse fixture a few weeks ago this one ended 5-3 in favor of San Diego, and Milan Iloski scored four himself. I don’t expect this one to be quite as crazy, but we should still see some goals. I’m expecting the new boys on the block to continue their inaugural season success and bless our fantasy teams with some precious points.

PLAYER TARGETS:

• Anders Dreyer (MID)
• Chucky Lozano (FWD)
• Milan Iloski (FWD) *watch lineups
• Christopher McVey (DEF)

---

Contributor: Eli Redpath, @vurkes on Discord