Player Positional Rankings: MLS Fantasy Round 19

MLS Fantasy Round 19 is going to be another tricky one to navigate due to minutes uncertainty for returning international players, plus the hangover those clubs returning from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup are surely feeling right now.

The challenge in assessing this round is compounded by several defensive matchups that are so unfavorable that it makes me wish picking defenders was purely optional. To put it bluntly, if your defenders end this round with a combined score that’s expressed by a single digit, don’t be surprised.

There’s a faint silver lining to this “gross, I have to pick defenders” situation, however. When the defensive matchups are this bleak, it usually means the attacking matchups are pretty good. Which would be awesome if they actually were. Unfortunately I’m having serious doubts about most of them. The ones I’m reasonably sure about from an attacking perspective are FC Cincinnati (vs CHI) and San Diego FC (vs HOU).

What about Nashville SC (vs PHI), you ask? I’ve ranked Nashville SC attackers high despite my doubt they’ll score multiple goals on one of the best defenses in MLS, one that conceded only once in Columbus just a few days ago. So it’s possible that Surridge and Mukhtar are bad chalk, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt due to their individual form and the team’s momentum.

What about Inter Miami CF (@ MTL), you ask? I’ve ranked Messi first despite my doubt that he will even make the trip, and if he does, there’s no guarantee he’ll even start. Plus, Zlatan Ibrahimovic says that apart from Messi, Inter Miami CF’s roster is built entirely from a selection of statuary found in some starving artist’s bargain bin at a strip mall. Gee, I’m so thankful that Zlatan already assessed the matchup for me. Basically it all hinges on whether Messi starts, but we already knew this despite Zlatan’s sage assessment.

What about New York City FC (vs TOR) at Yankee Stadium, you ask? Well, NYCFC does have the highest clean sheet probability this round, so I’m inclined to recommend taking their defenders (cough) over their attackers. Another reason is, Toronto FC might bunker now that Insigne and Bernardeschi are no longer with the club, and this would make NYCFC attackers less appealing. That, and the high probability that Alonso Martinez will score only one goal in the 67th minute, then get subbed off immediately for Mounsef Bakrar. By the way, sometimes I actually miss Nick Cushing (there, I said it).

In summary, yeah, this round could turn out to be high-scoring, but all of us could just as easily end on 50 points. It’s going to come down to who makes the starting XI (and what formation they’re in) on teams having favorable attacking matchups, so it’s extremely important that we closely monitor lineups this week.

Props to @Brandon on Discord for putting together this list of remaining international call-ups for Round 19:

• Teams on a DGW: None
• Teams on a BYE: None

Start playing MLS Fantasy today

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Note: (?) means the player might not start due to injury, lack of fitness, availability status or loss of starting spot. (OOP) means the player is expected to play out of position. (+) means the player is ranked only if they become available for selection before their match locks.

GOALKEEPERS

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Tomas Romero	NYC	vs TOR	$6.00m
2. Rafael Cabral	RSL	vs STL	$8.30m
3. Joe Willis	NSH	vs PHI	$8.10m

Sleeper Goalkeepers

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Stefan Frei	SEA	vs CLB	$7.80m
2. Yohei Takaoka	VAN	@ LAG	$9.40m

DEFENDERS

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Luca Orellano (?)	CIN	vs CHI	$9.50m
2. Justin Haak	NYC	vs TOR	$9.60m
3. Thiago Martins	NYC	vs TOR	$9.40m
4. Andy Najar	NSH	vs PHI	$8.60m
5. Bongi Hlongwane (OOP)	MIN	@ DAL	$8.40m
6. Daniel Lovitz	NSH	vs PHI	$8.50m
7. Kai Wagner	PHI	@ NSH	$12.10m
8. Christopher McVey	SDFC	vs HOU	$9.60m
9. Justen Glad	RSL	vs STL	$7.20m
10. Alexandros Katranis	RSL	vs STL	$6.10m

Sleeper Defenders

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Mohamed Farsi	CLB	@ SEA	$8.20m
2. Ilay Feingold	NER	@ POR	$9.70m
3. Edier Ocampo	VAN	@ LAG	$7.70m

MIDFIELDERS

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Anders Dreyer	SDFC	vs HOU	$14.20m
2. Evander	CIN	vs CHI	$13.70m
3. Hany Mukhtar	NSH	vs PHI	$13.80m
4. Hannes Wolf	NYC	vs TOR	$10.30m
5. Djordje Mihailovic (?)	COL	vs STL	$12.90m
6. Cristian Espinoza	SJE	vs NYRB	$12.40m
7. Pep Biel	CLT	vs ORL	$12.30m
8. Albert Rusnak	SEA	vs CLB	$13.00m
9. Martin Ojeda	ORL	@ CLT	$13.40m
10. Philip Zinckernagel	CHI	@ CIN	$11.90m

Sleeper Midfielders

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Carles Gil	NER	@ POR	$14.00m
2. Marco Pašalić	ORL	@ CLT	$11.40m

FORWARDS

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Lionel Messi (?)	MIA	@ MTL	$13.80m
2. Sam Surridge	NSH	vs PHI	$12.50m
3. Milan Iloski (+)	SDFC	vs HOU	$TBD
4. Chucky Lozano (?)	SDFC	vs HOU	$11.40m
5. Cristian Arango	SJE	vs NYRB	$13.00m
6. Alonso Martinez	NYC	vs TOR	$11.20m
7. Kevin Denkey	CIN	vs CHI	$11.60m
8. Christian Benteke (?)	DCU	vs ATL	$10.50m
9. Denis Bouanga	LAFC	@ ATX	$12.00m
10. Rafael Navarro	COL	vs SKC	$9.20m

Sleeper Forwards

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Dejan Joveljic	SKC	@ COL	$11.70m
2. Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi (?)	MIN	@ DAL	$10.40m

CAPTAIN

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Lionel Messi (?)	MIA	@ MTL	$13.80m
2. Anders Dreyer	SDFC	vs HOU	$14.20m
3. Evander	CIN	vs CHI	$13.70m