MLS Fantasy Rankings: Week 20

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Updated on July 17, 2019 6:20PM EST

The rankings below are based on Major League Soccer's official fantasy game and cover all games in Week 20. 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.

Additional comments will be added later

Forwards
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Brian Fernandez	POR v. ORL, at SEA	10.5	Prevailing wisdom is to go with the double home game players, but this isn't just any road match, it's Fernandez's first taste of a big rivalry. Don't let 120 scoreless minutes distract from the fact that he scored in each of his previous five matches to kick off his MLS career.
2	Josef Martinez	ATL v. HOU, v. DC	12.0	Josef looks hungry after returning from Copa America. Both opponents have been pretty good in the defensive end this year, but Houston are having a very poor stretch of late.
3	Jozy Altidore	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	10.3	Jozy will likely be underowned, with the above two strolling into most lineups and everyone assuming that Pozuelo will provide enough TFC attacking coverage. With some other expensive options in the midfield, I don't foresee myself being able to afford this good third attacking choice.
4	Wayne Rooney	DC at FCC, at ATL	10.8	The Cincy game is appealing, but I'm comfortable passing on Rooney this round.
5	Alberth Elis	HOU at ATL, at TOR	10.6	Unlucky not to score multiple goals last week.
6	Gustavo Bou	NE v. VAN, at FCC	9.5	New England's attack gets instantly frightening with Bou in the mix. Bruce Arena sounds ready to unleash him this week.
7	Carlos Vela	LAFC at LA	12.0
8	C.J. Sapong	CHI v. CLB, at PHI	7.4
9	Gyasi Zardes	CLB at CHI, v. MTL	8.7
10	Kekuta Manneh	FCC v. DC, v. NE	7.1	Two home games make Manneh a solid choice for your third forward (from the bench),
11	Mauro Manotas	HOU at ATL, at TOR	8.3
12	Romell Quioto	HOU at ATL, at TOR	8.0
13	Fredy Montero	VAN at NE, v. SJ	8.4
14	Teal Bunbury	NE v. VAN, at FCC	7.8
15	Darren Mattocks	FCC v. DC, v. NE	6.5	Presumably gets at least one start now that he's settled back in from the Gold Cup.
16	Jeremy Ebobisse	POR v. ORL, at SEA	5.3
17	Tesho Akindele	ORL at POR, v. NYRB	6.3	Slightly more assured of minutes folllowing Dwyer's red card.
18	Fanendo Adi	FCC v. DC, v. NE	7.4
19	Brian White	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	6.7	BWP could steal a start, but it's more likely he continues to work his way back to fitness with substitute appearances.
20	Bradley Wright-Phillips	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	8.0

Midfielders
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Alejandro Pozuelo	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	10.9	The gang is back together and Pozuelo should overcome two solid opponents in the comfort of his home stadium.
2	Carles Gil	NE v. VAN, at FCC	11.3	(NOTE: Weather looks ugly Wednesday.) One yellow away from suspension, but he gets to play two of the league's worst teams.
3	Diego Valeri	POR v. ORL, at SEA	11.5	Tough situation here because if Portland rotates it will be Wednesday, not for the rivalry match. However, if Portland rotate, Nani is the only big name to bring in that has a remaining DGW.
4	Pity Martinez	ATL v. HOU, v. DC	9.5	NOTE: Not in starting lineup Wednesday
5	Sebastian Blanco	POR v. ORL, at SEA	11.1	See Diego Valeri^
6	Nicolas Gaitan	CHI v. CLB, at PHI	10.1	Gaitan will want to erase the bad memories of last week with a big game. I like the narrative!
7	Nani	ORL at POR, v. NYRB	9.5
8	Pedro Santos	CLB at CHI, v. MTL	8.1	It's a big week for cellar-dwelling Columbus who desperately need to win at least one of these matches. Both opponents are susceptible and Santos will be tasked with leading the attack.
9	Michael Bradley	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	9.1
10	Yordy Reyna	VAN at NE, v. SJ	8.5
11	Daniel Royer	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	9.5
12	Jonathan Osorio	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	9.3
13	Kaku	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	8.4
14	Aleksandar Katai	CHI v. CLB, at PHI	8.5
15	Julian Gressel	ATL v. HOU, v. DC	8.1	NOTE: Playing at right back Wednesday
16	Paul Arriola	DC at FCC, at ATL	8.4
17	Emmanuel Ledesma	FCC v. DC, v. NE	7.6	I think Ledesma is certainly worth a look for a 4th or 5th midfield option at this price.
18	Chris Mueller	ORL at POR, v. NYRB	6.4
19	Justin Meram	ATL v. HOU, v. DC	7.0	NOTE: Not in starting lineup Wednesday
20	Cristian Penilla	NE v. VAN, at FCC	7.9

Defenders
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Larrys Mabiala	POR v. ORL, at SEA	8.5	NOTE: He is questionable to start Wednesday and may be held out as a precaution ahead of the big rivalry match against Seattle this weekend.
2	Leandro Gonzalez Pirez	ATL v. HOU, v. DC	6.5
3	Miles Robinson	ATL v. HOU, v. DC	6.4	I'm leaning towards using both top Atlanta CBs this week.
4	Omar Gonzalez	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	7.0
5	Francisco Calvo	CHI v. CLB, at PHI	6.5
6	Jorge Moreira	POR v. ORL, at SEA	7.0
7	Chris Mavinga	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	6.4	Gonzalez projects for more bonus points, but Mavinga saves 0.6 on a week with a tight budget.
8	Bastian Schweinsteiger	CHI v. CLB, at PHI	5.8
9	Jalil Anibaba	NE v. VAN, at FCC	4.9	One of the best values of the week, but careful with Wednesday's weather.
10	Leonardo Jara	DC at FCC, at ATL	6.6
11	Kendall Waston	FCC v. DC, v. NE	5.7	When price comes into play, I'd probably go find a cheaper FCC defender, but Waston is top dog if we're strictly projecting points.
12	Steve Birnbaum	DC at FCC, at ATL	6.7
13	Auro	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	6.0
14	Frederic Brillant	DC at FCC, at ATL	6.6
15	Justin Morrow	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	5.7
16	Harrison Afful	CLB at CHI, v. MTL	5.4
17	Aaron Long	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	6.8	All road games are winnable for the Red Bulls.
18	Michael Amir Murillo	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	5.6
19	Kemar Lawrence	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	5.9
20	Edgar Castillo	NE v. VAN, at FCC	5.9

Goalkeepers
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Brad Guzan	ATL v. HOU, v. DC	5.3
2	Matt Turner	NE v. VAN, at FCC	4.9
3	Quentin Westberg	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	6.2
4	Steve Clark	POR v. ORL, at SEA	6.5
5	Bill Hamid	DC at FCC, at ATL	6.4
6	Kenneth Kronholm	CHI v. CLB, at PHI	5.1
7	Spencer Richey	FCC v. DC, v. NE	4.8
8	Eloy Room	CLB at CHI, v. MTL	5.0
9	Luis Robles	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	5.4
10	Brian Rowe	ORL at POR, v. NYRB	6.3

Value Rankings
(forwards and midfielders under $7.5, defenders under $6.0; not ranked above)
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Cristian Casseres	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	7.0	Casseres is a very steady source of cheap points that also can sneak onto the score sheet.
2	Brandon Bye	NE v. VAN, at FCC	5.3
3	Mathieu Deplagne	FCC v. DC, v. NE	4.5	A wingback with two home games is almost always worth considering, given their opportunities at both ends.
4	Marco Delgado	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	7.4
5	Juan Agudelo	NE v. VAN, at FCC	6.8	With Bou joining the lineup this week, there are enough questions about how Agudelo fits into the lineup that I am being cautious in projecting his minutes.
6	Hwang In-beom	VAN at NE, v. SJ	6.7
7	Marc Rzatkowski	NYRB at TOR, at ORL	6.9
8	Allan Cruz	FCC v. DC, v. NE	7.2
9	Alvas Powell	FCC v. DC, v. NE	4.7	Andrew Farrell and Jorge Luis Corrales are some other cheap defender options, but Powell has a little more appeal with the double home games.
10	Erickson Gallardo	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	7.0	Another attacking piece for a Toronto team looking to make a push. The quick winger should get his first minutes this week.

Captain Rankings
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Alejandro Pozuelo	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	10.9	With Portland rotation (I think only mildly likely) and Gil's yellow card risk, Pozuelo is the safe choice this week.
2	Carles Gil	NE v. VAN, at FCC	11.3	NOTE: Probably would bump him down a few spots with Wednesday's weather news.
3	Brian Fernandez	POR v. ORL, at SEA	10.5
4	Josef Martinez	ATL v. HOU, v. DC	12.0	NOTE: A lackluster lineup release minutes ago would have me reconsidering Josef for captain.
5	Jozy Altidore	TOR v. NYRB, v. HOU	10.3