MLS Fantasy Rankings: Week 24

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Updated on August 14, 2019 12:10PM EST

The rankings below are based on Major League Soccer's official fantasy game and cover all games in Week 24. While they can be used for DFS purposes, they are done with a focus on the league's season-long game.

If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below, or hit up JD on Twitter @dfsMLS.

Forwards
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Brian Fernandez	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	10.6	He hasn't scored in five of his last six, but he also has at least seven points in all but one of his matches at home since joining the Timbers. He's less frustrating and in a more functional (at the moment) attack than Zlatan.
2	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	10.8	Pavon's arrival certainly helps, but the Zlatancoaster can be a frustrating ride. Like Fernandez, Big Z's box scores look markedly better when you filter for only home games and he's probably essential this week unless you're really chasing the pack.
3	Carlos Darwin Quintero	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	9.1	The price is good for somebody with this much DGW potential, but considering his inconsistency and the fact that we will want 2-3 defensive pieces from the Loons, I think Darwin will be one of the most polarizing players this week.
4	Raul Ruidiaz	SEA at RSL, at LA	10.9	He's quietly scored in 8 of 11 starts this year, but it's easy to forget due to his numerous absences. Two road games isn't ideal for this price, but he'd make a good alternative if you're fading anyone above here.
5	Angelo Rodriguez	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	6.3	Although MLS hasn't ruled on the Mason Toye spitting incident yet, it's likely safe to rule him out for both matches this week. ARod has been good for 60-70 minutes a match and usually a disappointing two points. Given the duo of home games and potentially extended minutes, I think this is a great value if you need a third Loon (I don't think I'll have room for him, though).
6	Carlos Vela	LAFC at RSL	14.0
7	Kei Kamara	LAFC at RSL	8.4	Cheaper than Rubio, and despite his age, I feel like he's less likely to be rotated.
8	Diego Rubio	COL at MIN, at HOU	9.3	On quite the hot streak lately, but have to wonder if he is rested on of these games.
9	Jordan Morris	SEA at RSL, at LA	9.9	Morris is on a roll, too, but the price seems steep for a third forward with two road games. Both of those teams are relatively exploitable, though.
10	Nemanja Nikolic	CHI at POR, v. PHI	6.9
11	Jeremy Ebobisse	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	6.2	Unlikely to start both.
12	Jesus Ferreira	DAL at LA, at MTL	6.6	Dallas focused on generating offense in the run up to last week's game and it paid off. With Montreal transferring out Zakaria Diallo earlier this week, their defense will have some big question marks in Dallas' second match this week.
13	Erik Hurtado	SKC at ORL, v. SJ	5.4	SKC need these two games and Hurtado has Peter Vermes' confidence.
14	Dom Dwyer	ORL v. SKC, at MIN	6.6
15	Heber Araujo dos Santos	NYC at FCC	9.9
16	Tesho Akindele	ORL v. SKC, at MIN	7.0
17	Corey Baird	RSL v. SEA, v. LAFC	4.8
18	C.J. Sapong	CHI at POR, v. PHI	6.1	Revenge game?
19	Dominique Badji	DAL at LA, at MTL	5.9
20	Josef Martinez	ATL at POR	13.5

Midfielders
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Diego Valeri	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	12.3
2	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA at RSL, at LA	12.8	One yellow away from suspension, so I may be leery about a (C) but still want him in my lineup.
3	Felipe Gutierrez	SKC at ORL, v. SJ	10.7	JdS is the safer play, but Guti is a man on a mission and SKC need at least four points this week.
4	Jonathan dos Santos	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	9.1	Burned us last DGW (when I captained him!), but he's a very safe 10-15 points for a good price.
5	Sebastian Blanco	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	10.9	If you have the budget and space, I don't think tripling up on Portland attack is a terrible move. Valeri and Blanco don't have to be mutually exclusive in fantasy lineups.
6	Jefferson Savarino	RSL v. SEA, v. LAFC	11.3	Hard to find something Rusnak has been doing that Savarino hasn't been doing better, in fantasy.
7	Johnny Russell	SKC at ORL, v. SJ	8.4	Orlando are down their top two left backs for Russel's first match, I believe. That'll help!
8	Albert Rusnak	RSL v. SEA, v. LAFC	10.1
9	Cristian Pavon	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	9.8	Pavon is awesome, but I don't think he gets a full complement of minutes this week as he continues acclimating to MLS. 120 minutes might be enough for a big week, though!
10	Nicolas Gaitan	CHI at POR, v. PHI	9.7	Two tough games for an already inconsistent producer. I'd rather look elsewhere.
11	Nani	ORL v. SKC, at MIN	8.2	I could be wrong, but Nani hasn't struck me as a guy that's going to start three matches in eight days this season.
12	Aleksandar Katai	CHI at POR, v. PHI	8.0
13	Paxton Pomykal	DAL at LA, at MTL	8.4	Only this low because of two road matches, and I still might find a way to get him into my squad if somebody in the early matches doesn't do well from my bench.
14	Favio Alvarez	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	7.7	Decent bet to reach 10 pts, with some more upside. Beware he's one yellow away from a suspension.
15	Jan Gregus	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	9.4
16	Damir Kreilach	RSL v. SEA, v. LAFC	6.8	Please please please Freddy Juarez, get Kreilach back into his natural #8 position.
17	Michael Barrios	DAL at LA, at MTL	8.9
18	Ethan Finlay	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	7.9	With Minnesota's new acquisitions and depth, I don't see Finlay starting both of these games.
19	Cristian Roldan	SEA at RSL, at LA	8.5
20	Chris Mueller	ORL v. SKC, at MIN	6.0	If he starts Wednesday, strong bench play. Really nice match at Toronto last week.

Defenders
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Romain Metanire	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	8.0	Two home games, two opponents they can shut out, and added attacking potential. He's expensive, but worth it. Still, if you have to cut costs somewhere, defense should usually be your first choice.
2	Ike Opara	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	9.2	More of a goal threat than Metanire, but less of a threat for assists. Only ok at generating bonus points for a center back.
3	Larrys Mabiala	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	8.8	Opara but with tougher matchups.
4	Jorge Moreira	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	8.3	Metanire, but more dynamic, and one yellow away from a suspension.
5	Hassani Dotson	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	6.3	More likely for 120 than 150+ minutes, which means he might only have one shot at clean sheet points.
6	Francisco Calvo	CHI at POR, v. PHI	7.4	He scores points enough ways that the difficult fixtures aren't terribly concerning. Still, I think my salary will need to be allocated elsewhere.
7	Michael Boxall	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	7.9
8	Diego Polenta	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	6.6	Galaxy defense has been a sieve lately, but mostly all in tough matchups. Another two pretty good opponents this week, but at home and in two matches LA could really use points from.
9	Giancarlo Gonzalez	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	5.7	Take the savings on Polenta if you can use it.
10	Justen Glad	RSL v. SEA, v. LAFC	8.3	Steady bonus generator, but I'm not about to pay $8.3 for a defender playing Seattle and LAFC.
11	Robin Jansson	ORL v. SKC, at MIN	6.7	Likeliest Orlando defender to play two games. I'm not sure any of the others will.
12	Aaron Herrera	RSL v. SEA, v. LAFC	7.5
13	Ryan Hollingshead	ORL v. SKC, at MIN	8.9
14	Rolf Feltscher	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	4.5	I don't think his late sub last match was due to significant injury (not seeing anything and honestly don't recall from watching the game). He should generate some attacking opportunities at home, but is also at slight risk of rotation.
15	Carlos Ascues	ORL v. SKC, at MIN	6.0	Ability to play in the midfield helps his chances of getting to 180 minutes.
16	Graham Zusi	SKC at ORL, v. SJ	6.9	How the mighty have fallen!
17	Reto Ziegler	DAL at LA, at MTL	7.9	Two games = two chances for penalties Ziegler can take.
18	Bastian Schweinsteiger	CHI at POR, v. PHI	6.9
19	Joevin Jones	SEA at RSL, at LA	5.6	120 minutes would be optimistic, but he subbed on and immediately generated some attack last match.
20	Jonathan Bornstein	CHI at POR, v. PHI	6.5

Goalkeepers
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Vito Mannone	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	7.8	By far the best pick this week, but you have to sacrifice Opara/Quintero/ARod/Dotson for him. In the back of my head, I'm very slightly concerned Shuttleworth gets thrown a start this week, but not for any news or team chatter related reason in particular.
2	Steve Clark	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	7.7	Not a bad alternative to Mannone.
3	David Bingham	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	6.9	A lot of people will want to use Loons and Timbers spots on field players. If that's the case, a Rowe/Bingham keeperoo might be the move.
4	Brian Rowe	ORL v. SKC, at MIN	7.1
5	Tim Melia	SKC at ORL, v. SJ	6.7	Maybe a sneaky play this week, but tough to trust them these days.
6	Stefan Frei	SEA at RSL, at LA	6.8
7	Kenneth Kronholm	CHI at POR, v. PHI	6.1
8	Nick Rimando	RSL v. SEA, v. LAFC	7.8	I know he has two at home, but no thank you.
9	Jesse Gonzalez	DAL at LA, at MTL	7.1
10	Clint Irwin	COL at MIN, at HOU	4.0	Tim Howard's calf injury may not keep him out both matches.

Value Rankings
(forwards and midfielders under $7.5, defenders under $6.0; not ranked above)
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Osvaldo Alonso	SEA at RSL, at LA	7.1	Can't imagine you have a spot left, but if so, Ozzie is always an underrated DGW pick.
2	Bryan Acosta	DAL at LA, at MTL	6.4	You can consider Santiago Mosquera too. Rotation is a risk for both.
3	Uriel Antuna	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	5.1	Surrounded by good players now. Given his Gold Cup production, we'd like to see more from him in MLS.
4	Lalas Abubakar	COL at MIN, at HOU	5.4	We need to save money somehow and a Rapids defender should do the trick. I think the Houston game is mildly favorable and Minnesota have been playing so much, who knows.
5	Robin Lod	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	6.6	The Finnish international is a player to watch once he's fully integrated.
6	Tommy Smith	COL at MIN, at HOU	4.0	Sat last match with a knock, so make sure he's starting the first match.
7	Diego Chara	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	7.2
8	Harry Shipp	SEA at RSL, at LA	5.7	This name almost hurt to type.
9	Andreu Fontas	SKC at ORL, v. SJ	4.7	If Orlando's lineup looks weak, I'll think about this from the bench.
10	Kellyn Acosta	COL at MIN, at HOU	5.3

Captain Rankings
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Diego Valeri	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	12.3	Vintage Valeri is back, just in time for the fantasy stretch run!
2	Brian Fernandez	POR v. CHI, v. ATL	10.6	Tempting, but the scoring lull is enough to keep him behind Valeri.
3	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	LA v. DAL, v. SEA	10.8	A lot of people will have him #1 or #2. I get it.
4	Romain Metanire	MIN v. COL, v. ORL	8.0	With two good clean sheet opportunities and some attacking output, Metanire is one of the few defenders of the year that I've considered putting the armband on. Ike Opara would work, too, if you're chasing a set piece goal.
5	Felipe Gutierrez	SKC at ORL, v. SJ	10.7	Lodeiro is one yellow away from a suspension and has two road games. Since the captaincy carries a lot of importance, I'd rather pick someone below him with less risk.