Week 2 of the MLS Season had more goals, which means more fantasy points!
After a week full of shutouts, the second week of the MLS fantasy season had substantially more scoring opportunities. Hopefully you remembered to take out any Orlando or New England players after their match was postponed. Let’s take a look at this week’s team of the week.
Here is the Round 2 Dream Team. Atlanta's Miguel Almiron leads the way with 18 after his big game in the Minnesota snow. pic.twitter.com/1hHtX1LI7A
— MLS Fantasy Soccer (@MLSFantasy) March 13, 2017
We had our first hat trick of the year from Josef Martinez, and he wasn’t even the highest scoring player on his own team. Miguel Almiron edged him out by a point while both of them terrorized Minnesota’s struggling back line.
It was another good week for Tim Melia who got his second straight shutout. NYCFC is also well represented with three players getting double digit point totals.
Three Good Pickups:
Jorge Rodrigo Bava
For those of you not wanting to break the bank on keepers, Bava has been a great option in the first two weeks. His value just pushed up to $5.1 after a 9 point, shutout performance against Real Salt Lake. Although Atlanta United could be a much stronger challenge next week.
New York Red Bull Defenders
After back-to-back wins to start the season, the Red Bulls defense is looking like a good, consistent chance for some points. Sal Zizzo and Aaron Long look to be solid, cheaper long term buys that can get plenty of clean sheet bonuses as the year goes on.
Houston Dynamo Forwards
I was skeptical if Houston could keep their offense looking as good as they did in week one. After a 3-1 win over Columbus it looks like that success isn’t just fool’s gold. Erick Torres, Alberth Elis, and Romel Quioto combined for 21 points in week two after putting up 20 in week one.
Three Bad Pickups:
Jelle Van Damme
Despite the controversy surrounding his sending off, Van Damme didn’t do his fantasy owners any favors by only staying on the field for 33 minutes. It’s still a small sample size, but his single point earned this season is nowhere dear what it costs to pick him up.
Fanendo Adi
Adi falls on this list because of the huge missed opportunity he had. He and Van Damme are a matchup of two giants going up for headers. The Timbers striker should have had a clear advantage, however he got only two points while being up a man for the majority of the match, and not having to go up against the Galaxy’s best defender. He had a big chance in the second half but couldn’t get the ball past a slew of trailing defenders.
Lamar Neagle
Neagle was a popular value buy at the beginning of the season. Right now he still is selected by 8.3% of owners, but he only has two substitute appearances so far and got zero points against NYCFC.
Three players to get this week:
Dominique Badji
For the second week in a row, Minnesota’s defense was absolutely torched. This week they travel to Colorado to face the Rapids at altitude. At this point it’s worth seeing how often you can take advantage of such a poor defense while you can. Badji is a solid and cheap option while Shkelzen Gashi is back, but still getting back to full strength.
Jozy Altidore
Altidore got a goal in week 2 and has a tendency to score in bunches. Plus he will be going up against a Vancouver team who has a big midweek game in Mexico days before.
Haris Medunjanin
The new Philadelphia midfielder has gotten 7 points each of the first two weeks and has plenty of weapons surrounding him. Medunjanin could be your consistent buy that isn’t being picked up by many players.
Next: Winningest MLS Franchises in League History
You can still join the MLS Multiplex Fantasy League on MLSSoccer.com! Just the code 526-380. Check it out now and see who is leading in the standings after week 2.