Player Positional Rankings: MLS Fantasy Round 3

When ranking players for each round, I focus primarily on each player’s strength of matchup and likelihood of hitting their point ceiling. However, MLS Fantasy Round 3 brings another opportunity to increase your team budget which will help you climb the ranks faster, and this is where our Player Positional Rankings are particularly helpful. By picking a few players in the budget category who are poised for a value increase, you maximize the potential for your team’s value to increase, which means you’ll be sooner able to afford premium players in future rounds. While these rankings are not ordered by value increase potential, many of the players listed here are set to rise or fall in value, so be sure to check player profiles before you lock them into your squad, keeping in mind that sometimes the matchup warrants selection of a player poised for a value decrease if they continue on a low-scoring trend.

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

Start playing MLS Fantasy today

Get more advice on the MLS Fantasy Insider Podcast – Round 3 Preview

---

Note: (?) means the player might not start due to injury, lack of fitness, availability status or loss of starting spot.

GOALKEEPERS

Premium Goalkeepers

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Patrick Schulte	CLB	vs HOU	$6.70m
2. Joe Willis	NSH	vs POR	$7.10m
3. Brad Stuver	ATX	vs COL	$7.00m

Value Goalkeepers

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Oscar Ustari	MIA	vs CLT	$4.00m
2. Yohei Takaoka	VAN	vs MTL	$5.90m
2. Andrew Thomas (?)	SEA	vs LAFC	$5.00m

Sleeper Goalkeepers

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. CJ Dos Santos	SDFC	@ RSL	$7.00m
2. Rafael Cabral	RSL	vs SDFC	$6.00m
3. James Pantemis	POR	@ NSH	$6.00m

DEFENDERS

Premium Defenders

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Luca Orellano (?)	CIN	vs TOR	$8.00m
2. Kai Wagner	PHI	@ NER	$8.10m
3. Steven Moreira	CLB	vs HOU	$8.10m
4. Walker Zimmerman	NSH	vs POR	$7.40m
5. Mohamed Farsi	CLB	vs HOU	$7.60m

Value Defenders

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Wyatt Meyer	NSH	vs POR	$5.30m
2. Teenage Hadebe	CIN	vs TOR	$5.30m
3. Hector Martinez (?)	MIA	vs CLT	$4.50m
4. Jamar Ricketts (?)	SJE	vs MIN	$5.00m
5. Francis Westfield (?)	PHI	@ NER	$4.50m
6. Morris Duggan (?)	MIN	@ SJE	$4.50m
7. Matthew Edwards (?)	ATL	vs NYRB	$4.00m
8. Omar Valencia	NYRB	@ ATL	$5.00m
9. Femi Awodesu (?)	HOU	@ CLB	$4.00m
10. Finn Surman	POR	@ NSH	$4.60m
11. Alex Freeman (?)	ORL	@ NYC	$4.30m
12. Ian Smith	POR	@ NSH	$5.00m
13. Olwethu Makhanya (?)	PHI	@ NER	$4.00m

Sleeper Defenders

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Jordi Alba	MIA	vs CLT	$6.70m
2. Ryan Hollingshead	LAFC	@ SEA	$7.30m
3. Paddy McNair	SDFC	@ RSL	$7.50m
4. Bongokuhle Hlongwane	MIN	@ SJE	$7.70m
5. Andy Najar	NSH	vs POR	$6.80m
6. Rodrigues	SJE	vs MIN	$7.80m

MIDFIELDERS

Premium Midfielders

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Lucho Acosta	DAL	vs CHI	$8.60m
2. Hany Mukhtar	NSH	vs POR	$8.50m
3. Ryan Gauld (?)	VAN	vs MTL	$9.50m
4. Telasco Segovia (?)	MIA	vs CLT	$6.70m
5. Evander (?)	CIN	vs TOR	$9.10m
6. Anders Dreyer	SDFC	@ RSL	$8.60m
7. Myrto Uzuni (?)	ATX	vs COL	$8.00m
8. Miguel Almiron	ATL	vs NYRB	$8.80m
9. Cristian Espinoza	SJE	vs MIN	$8.30m
10. Albert Rusnak (?)	SEA	vs LAFC	$9.30m

Value Midfielders

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Jayden Nelson (?)	VAN	vs MTL	$6.30m
2. Dylan Chambost	CLB	vs HOU	$7.00m
3. Ignatius Ganago	NER	vs PHI	$6.30m
4. Osman Bukari	ATX	vs COL	$7.30m
5. Maxi Moralez	NYC	vs ORL	$7.10m
6. Pep Biel	CLT	@ MIA	$7.20m
7. David Martinez (?)	LAFC	@ SEA	$5.90m

Sleeper Midfielders

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Brian Gutierrez	CHI	@ DAL	$8.30m
2. Daniel Gazdag	PHI	@ NER	$8.80m
3. Jonathan Bamba	CHI	@ DAL	$7.70m
4. Marcel Hartel	STL	@ LAG	$8.20m
5. David Da Costa	POR	@ NSH	$8.50m
6. Federico Bernardeschi	TOR	@ CIN	$9.00m
7. Emil Forsberg	NYRB	@ ATL	$8.30m
8. Djordje Mihailovic	COL	@ ATX	$8.20m
9. Cengiz Under (?)	LAFC	@ SEA	$8.50m

FORWARDS

Premium Forwards

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Lionel Messi (?)	MIA	vs CLT	$10.40m
2. Christian Benteke	DCU	vs SKC	$9.30m
3. Petar Musa	DAL	vs CHI	$9.50m
4. Tai Baribo	PHI	@ NER	$8.30m
5. Alonso Martinez	NYC	vs ORL	$8.40m
6. Diego Rossi	CLB	vs HOU	$9.00m
7. Emmanuel Latte Lath	ATL	vs NYRB	$8.50m
8. Luis Suarez	MIA	vs CLT	$9.20m
9. Denis Bouanga	LAFC	@ SEA	$8.50m
10. Kevin Denkey	CIN	vs TOR	$8.80m
11. Jordan Morris (?)	SEA	vs LAFC	$8.80m
12. Chicho Arango	SJE	vs MIN	$8.40m
13. Gabriel Pec	LAG	vs STL	$8.20m

Value Forwards

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Tomas Angel	SDFC	@ RSL	$5.10m
2. Pedrinho (?)	DAL	vs CHI	$6.50m
3. Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi	MIN	@ SJE	$7.00m

Sleeper Forwards

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Hugo Cuypers	CHI	@ DAL	$8.50m
2. Jacen Russell-Rowe	CLB	vs HOU	$8.20m
3. Kelvin Yeboah	MIN	@ SJE	$8.40m
4. Brian White	VAN	vs MTL	$8.30m
5. Sam Surridge	NSH	vs POR	$7.50m

CAPTAIN

PLAYER	TEAM	OPPONENT	VALUE
1. Lionel Messi (?)	MIA	vs CLT	$10.40m
2. Lucho Acosta	DAL	vs CHI	$8.60m
3. Christian Benteke	DCU	vs SKC	$9.30m
4. Hany Mukhtar	NSH	vs POR	$8.50m