Fantasy Soccer Advice

Fantasy: Week 19 positional rankings

Week 19 of MLS Fantasy features all 24 teams in action, and while we get a break from the double-game week madness, there are still plenty of outliers to be mindful of when picking your squad this week.


Multiple players are filtering back in since returning from international duty, and with the U.S. Open Cup and Canadian Championship knockout rounds in full swing, there is sure to be some roster rotation over the busy MLS weekend. With that in mind, letā€™s key in on the top players at each position this week to help your team gain some ground on the fantasy leaderboards.


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Goalkeepers

Fantasy: Week 19 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/Clark_0.jpg?ad0MfxoxrI39wb14lON.wzfUW83I03wF

Steve Clark has three shutouts in seven appearances this season | USA Today Sports Image


Steve Clark has kept a clean sheet in each of his last three outings, and heā€™s in a good spot to make it four straight shutouts in a favorable home matchup against Colorado Saturday (11 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada).

Rank
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1 
Steve Clark
POR
vs. COL
$6.0
2 
Brian Rowe
ORL
vs. CLB
$5.8
3 
Kenneth Kronholm
CHI
vs. CIN
$4.9
4 
Bill Hamid
DC
vs. NE
$6.5
5 
Nick Rimando
RSL
vs. PHI
$6.2
6
David Bingham
LA
vs. SJ
$6.9
7
Vito Mannone
MIN
vs. DAL
$5.5
8
Luis Robles
RBNY
vs. NYC
$5.6
9
Evan Bush
MTL
vs. TOR
$5.0
10
Stefan Frei
SEA
vs. ATL
$6.8

Defenders

Fantasy: Week 19 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/jones-tight.jpg

Joevin Jones has started two of the Sounders last three games.| USA Today


As the Fantasy United FC gang pointed out Tuesday, the defender position is a bit of a crapshoot this week. With no clear cut options, Iā€™m looking at Seattleā€™s Joevin Jones to provide an attacking punch in my lineup this week. Since rejoining Seattle in May, Jones has shown flashes of his attacking prowess that saw him post 11 assists in 2017. While itā€™s yet to be seen how the return of international players will impact Jones, he could bring big attacking upside to the table in a home game against Atlanta Sunday (3:55 pm ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes in US; TSN1 in Canada) that could have some fireworks.

Rank
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1
Joevin Jones
SEA
vs. ATL
$6.8
2
Francisco Calvo
CHI
vs. CIN
$6.5
3
Larrys Mabiala
POR
vs. COL
$8.5
4
Jorge Moreira
POR
vs. COL
$6.5
5
Ike Opara
MIN
vs. DAL
$7.5
6
Ronald Mataritta
NYC
at RBNY
$6.0
7
Steve Birnbaum
DC
vs. NE
$7.1
8
Frederic Brillant
DC
vs. NE
$7.0
9
Zakaria Diallo
MTL
vs. TOR
$7.0
10
Ali Adnan
VAN
vs. SKC
$5.7
11
Daniel Steres
LA
vs. SJ
$6.4
12
Graham Zusi
SKC
at VAN
$7.3
13
Kelvin Leerdam
SEA
vs. ATL
$6.3
14
Kemar Lawrence
RBNY
vs. NYC
$6.3
15
Leonardo Jara
DC
vs. NE
$6.3
16
Hassani Dotson
MIN
vs. DAL
$5.1
17
Ryan Hollingshead
DAL
at MIN
$7.0
18
Aaron Herrera
RSL
vs. PHI
$6.1
19
Lamine Sane
ORL
vs. CLB
$6.4
20
Aaron Long
RBNY
vs. NYC
$7.0

Midfielders

Fantasy: Week 19 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/nico%20gaitan.jpg

Nico Gaitan has three goals and eight assists this season| USA Today


Despite being kept in check in his last outing, Nico Gaitan is hot off a monster 26-point Week 18 thanks to a three-assist, one-goal outburst against Atlanta in his last home game. He should see multiple opportunities to make his mark on the scoresheet in a juicy home matchup Saturday (8 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada) with an FC Cincinnati side that has shipped a combined 20 goals over their last four road games.

Rank
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1
Nicolas Gaitan
CHI
vs. CIN
$9.6
2
Nicolas Lodeiro
SEA
vs. ATL
$11.5
3
Diego Valeri
POR
vs. COL
$11.6
4
Alejandro Pozuelo
TOR
at MTL
$10.5
5
Aleksandar Katai
CHI
vs. CIN
$9.0
6
Jonathan dos Santos
LA
vs. SJ
$10.0
7
Nani
ORL
vs. CLB
$9.5
8
Maxi Moralez
NYC
at RBNY
$12.0
9
Saphir Taider
MTL
vs. TOR
$10.0
10
Sebastian Blanco
POR
vs. COL
$11.0
11
Carles Gil
NE
at DC
$10.9
12
Johnny Russell
SKC
at VAN
$9.0
13
Kaku
NYRB
vs. NYC
$8.8
14
Felipe Gutierrez
SKC
at VAN
$9.8
15
Albert Rusnak
RSL
vs. PHI
$9.6
16
Daniel Royer
RBNY
vs. NYC
$9.0
17
Marco Fabian
PHI
at RSL
$9.0
18
Pity Martinez
ATL
at SEA
$9.5
19
Yordy Reyna
VAN
vs. SKC
$8.6
20
Cristian Espinoza
SJ
at LA
$9.3
21
Mark-Anthony Kaye
LAFC
at HOU
$10.5
22
Pedro Santos
CLB
at ORL
$8.0
23
Paxton Pomykal
DAL
at MIN
$9.1
24
Magnus Eriksson
SJ
at LA
$8.2
25
Latif Blessing
LAFC
at HOU
$9.5
26
Dax McCarty
CHI
vs. CIN
$7.8
27
Vako
SJ
at LA
$7.2
28
Chris Mueller
ORL
vs. CLB
$6.9
29
Przemyslaw Frankowski
CHI
vs. CIN
$6.6
30
Fabian Herbers
CHI
vs. CIN
$4.8

Forwards

Fantasy: Week 19 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/Zlatanceleb2921.jpg

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has three braces this season| USA Today


Zlatan Ibrahimovic was back at it again with a brace and 12 points in Week 18, and heā€™ll look to exact revenge at home Friday (11 pm ET | UniMĆ”s, UDN, Twitter in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada)against a San Jose Earthquakes unit that shut him out in the most recent version of the Cali Clasico just two games ago. Ibrahimovic has done most of his damage at home this season with 10 of his 13 goals coming at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Rank
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
LA
vs. SJ
$10.3
2
Carlos Vela
LAFC
vs. HOU
$12.0
3
Brian Fernandez
POR
vs. COL
$10.9
4
Wayne Rooney
DC
vs. NE
$11.1
5
Darwin Quintero
MIN
vs. DAL
$10.7
6
CJ Sapong
CHI
vs. CIN
$7.3
7
Nemanja Nikolic
CHI
vs. CIN
$7.8
8
Raul Ruidiaz
SEA
vs. ATL
$10.5
9
Josef Martinez
ATL
at SEA
$11.5
10
Alberth Elis
HOU
vs. LAFC
$10.9
11
Jozy Altidore
TOR
at MTL
$10.0
12
Diego Rossi
LAFC
at HOU
$10.5
13
Dom Dwyer
ORL
vs. CLB
$8.0
14
Mauro Manotas
HOU
vs. LAFC
$8.8
15
Kacper Przybylko
PHI
at RSL
$8.0
16
Tesho Akindele
ORL
vs. CLB
$6.6
17
Heber
NYC
at RBNY
$9.0
18
Brian White
RBNY
vs. NYC
$6.7
19
Valentin Castellanos
NYC
at RBNY
$8.0
20
Bradley Wright-Phillips
RBNY
vs. NYC
$8.5