MLS Fantasy Rankings: Week 6

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Published on September 9, 2020

MATCHES (EDT)

Wednesday, 8:00 pm: Inter Miami CF vs. Atlanta United
Wednesday, 8:00 pm: Minnesota United vs. FC Dallas
Wednesday, 8:00 pm: Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC
Wednesday, 9:00 pm: Colorado Rapids vs. Houston Dynamo
Wednesday, 9:30 pm: Real Salt Lake vs. Los Angeles Football Club
Thursday, 10:00 pm: Seattle Sounders FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday, 3:30 pm: Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew
Saturday, 7:00 pm: D.C. United vs. New York Red Bulls
Saturday, 7:00 pm: New York City FC vs. FC Cincinnati
Saturday, 7:30 pm: Orlando City SC vs. Inter Miami CF
Saturday, 7:30 pm: Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution
Saturday, 8:30 pm: FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo
Saturday, 8:30 pm: Nashville SC vs. Atlanta United
Saturday, 9:30 pm: Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids
Sunday, 8:30 pm: Sporting Kansas City vs. Minnesota United
Sunday, 9:30 pm: Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Montreal Impact
Sunday, 11:00 pm: Los Angeles Football Club vs. Portland Timbers
Sunday, 11:00 pm: San Jose Earthquakes vs. Los Angeles Galaxy

FORWARDS
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Diego Rossi	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	10.6	RSL have allowed 10 goals in their past three games. Portland have allowed eight in the same frame. LAFC have had an underwhelming stretch, but I'm still buying.
2	Cristian Pavon	LAG at SJ	12.6	It pains me not to front load players with two swings at the points piñata, but just like an older sibling stepping in with a big swing, Pavon deserves to crash the party.
3	Brian Rodriguez	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	7.2
4	Bradley Wright-Phillips	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	6.5
5	Franco Jara	DAL at MIN, v. HOU	7.8	I'm inclined to rank him lower as he has mustered just one lone shot in each of his two starts. His first goal was silky smooth, and he'll find many more, but I don't know if it's worth the gamble this week.
6	Alberth Elis	HOU at COL, at DAL	11.0	Elis is a gamble given his fitness / substitute appearances, but MLS has few more dangerous wingers.
7	Mason Toye	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	4.5	With Amarilla out, and Schoenfeld questionable for the second match at SKC, Toye could get two starts playing in front of the electric Emanuel Reynoso and Kevin Molino.
8	Heber	NYC v. FCC	6.8
9	Raul Ruidiaz	SEA v. SJ	12.0
10	Romell Quioto	MTL v. TOR, at VAN	8.9	Montreal are far from the league's most relentless attack, but Quioto has looked strong under the guidance of Thierry Henry.
11	Gyasi Zardes	CLB at CHI	9.4
12	Erick Torres	ATL at INT, at NSH	5.9	I'd probably pick a single game week player before Cubo, but two matches against the expansion sides can't be ignored no matter how defensively promising they may seem.
13	Jesus Ferreira	DAL at MIN, v. HOU	5.8
14	Mauro Manotas	HOU at COL, at DAL	7.7	Also recovering from injury, but just tied Will Bruin for 2nd all time in Dynamo scoring.
15	Kacper Przybylko	PHI v. NE	10.0
16	Gustavo Bou	NE at PHI	10.6	Bad matchup, but too involved in the Revs attack to ignore.
17	Jordan Morris	SEA v. SJ	9.7
18	Diego Rubio	COL v. HOU, at RSL	5.8	Monitor the starting situation with Kei Kamara on the mend, but Houston and RSL are a nice pair of opponents.
19	Jozy Altidore	TOR at MTL	7.2	Jozy's tendonitis and fitness are the only things keeping him from being in the top half of these rankings each week. The risk of a quiet game or early sub just simply outweight the reward.
20	Corey Baird	RSL v. LAFC, v. COL	6.7	It's a cop out, but here are players I doubt will feature in both games, but would strongly consider over Baird if they do: Julian Carranza, Juan Agudelo, Sam Johnson, Adam Jahn, Kei Kamara, Maxi Urruti, Zdenek Ondrasek, Chris Wondolowski, Christian Ramirez, Andres Rios.

MIDFIELDERS
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Carlos Darwin Quintero	HOU at COL, at DAL	9.6	I was slow to trust him last week, but after two more big outings, he can't be ignored. I do have some slight concerns about rest for Quintero during a congested schedule and on the precipice of his 33rd birthday.
2	Alejandro Pozuelo	TOR at MTL	15.0	Given his run of great form (thanks Vancouver!), Pozuelo deserves this lofty ranking even with just one match. However, he's an easy scratch for anybody looking to take a calculated risk and make up some ground on the masses.
3	Albert Rusnak	RSL v. LAFC, v. COL	7.2	Rusnak and Kreilach rested for much of the 4-0 drubbing in Minnesota so I would expect them to play a full complement of minutes at home.
4	Emanuel Reynoso	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	8.6	Two tougher tests are ahead than in his first start, but Reynoso looks to be a gamechanger.
5	Ezequiel Barco	ATL at INT, at NSH	11.0	This is the only corner of MLS content that has yet to be attacked by Atlanta fans so let me try something here...Barco is really good at getting fouled and kind of good at other stuff.
6	Jose Cifuentes	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	6.9
7	Rodolfo Pizarro	INT v. ATL, at ORL	9.5	Even if he buried the half dozen or so quality chances he's missed this year, I'd still find Pizarro's MLS tenure to be a bit disappointing.
8	Vako	SJ at SEA, v. LAG	9.0	San Jose seem like a total wildcard this week. I give a slight rankings edge to Vako over Espinoza due to big game potential.
9	Kevin Molino	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	9.6	Reynoso's arrival threatened Molino's spot in the XI but some injuries will likely keep them both on the field at once for the next few games at least. It's a dynamic that will take a deft tactical touch from Adrian Heath, but if they get it right, I can see big things for the Loons.
10	Damir Kreilach	RSL v. LAFC, v. COL	9.2
11	Cristian Espinoza	SJ at SEA, v. LAG	8.8
12	Younes Namli	COL v. HOU, at RSL	8.1	The production has been lacking, but Namli aces the eye test. Colorado would be quite boring without his creativity off the dribble.
13	Latif Blessing	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	8.2
14	Lucas Zelarayan	CLB at CHI	9.9	Sat out last match with a knock and only plays once, but he's easily been one of the best players when on the field in 2020.
15	Jan Gregus	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	9.8	So safe it hurts. Certainly not my favorite play with this year's change to double game week fantasy scoring, but it's hard to fault anyone that wants to roster him.
16	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA v. SJ	11.7
17	Sebastian Lletget	LAG at SJ	9.4	I have whiplash from how drastically the Galaxy went from absolute dumpster fire to unstoppable force. I'm a little afraid they could swing right back at any moment.
18	Saphir Taider	MTL v. TOR, at VAN	9.3	Lying deeper in the Montreal formation doesn't help Taider reach his former fantasy heights, but he's still good and Vancouver are on the docket!
19	Lewis Morgan	INT v. ATL, at ORL	8.5
20	Pedro Santos	CLB at CHI	7.2	Maxi Moralez, Nani (knock?) and Pablo Piatti were also contenders deserving of a top20 spot.

DEFENDERS
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Reto Ziegler	DAL at MIN, v. HOU	10.7	At a minimum, Minnesota will be without Amarilla, Finlay, Ozzie Alonso, and Aaron Schoenfeld.
2	Chase Gasper	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	5.2
3	Brooks Lennon	ATL at INT, at NSH	7.7	Atlanta's defense is a bit of a conundrum right now, but Lennon has been starting consistently and positioned well for attacking points.
4	Ben Sweat	INT v. ATL, at ORL	7.1	It's no coincidence that Miami kept a clean sheet in Blaise Matuidi's first match. Sweat should continue to have opportunities to create from the attacking flank, with a rock solid center defense backing him up.
5	Leandro Gonzalez Pirez	INT v. ATL, at ORL	5.3
6	Zachary Brault-Guillard	MTL v. TOR, at VAN	7.4	This may be too high, but I remain intrigued by his offensive upside from the wingback spot.
7	Jorge Figal	INT v. ATL, at ORL	4.4	Figal isn't shy to dribble into the midfield and he also has multiple shots in nearly every game this season.
8	Rudy Camacho	MTL v. TOR, at VAN	8.5	A 16 point week is tough to ignore (17 if he wouldn't have gotten a yellow!)
9	John Nelson	DAL at MIN, v. HOU	7.4
10	Eddie Segura	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	7.7	RSL and a Blanco-less Timbers aren't bad opponents to try breaking a defensive slump against.
11	Ryan Hollingshead	DAL at MIN, v. HOU	6.7
12	Romain Metanire	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	4.2
13	Oswaldo Alanis	SJ at SEA, v. LAG	7.3	Don't forget about the potential for some set piece upside here, even if the matchups aren't ideal.
14	Keegan Rosenberry	COL v. HOU, at RSL	5.3	A relatively easy pair of matches - Pick a Rapids defender and cross your fingers?
15	Anton Tinnerholm	NYC v. FCC	8.2
16	Ronald Matarrita	NYC v. FCC	10.0
17	Harrison Afful	CLB at CHI	9.5	Columbus have three straight clean sheets and also have already kept Chicago scoreless earlier in the season.
18	Anton Walkes	ATL at INT, at NSH	8.2
19	Lalas Abubakar	COL v. HOU, at RSL	5.2
20	Luis Binks	MTL v. TOR, at VAN	8.5

GOALKEEPERS
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Brad Guzan	ATL at INT, at NSH	8.2	There's no clear cut keeper this week, and Atlanta have left a lot to be desired defensively, but Guzan seems the most palatable of some bland options.
2	Luis Robles	INT v. ATL, at ORL	5.7
3	Clement Diop	MTL v. TOR, at VAN	8.4	The Impact just shut out the far tougher of these two teams. As a result, many will favor Diop to have a good fantasy week.
4	Jimmy Maurer	DAL at MIN, v. HOU	6.1
5	Sean Johnson	NYC v. FCC	10.1	Expensive, but a good fall-back if your first keeper on the bench doesn't pan out.
6	William Yarbrough	COL v. HOU, at RSL	4.7
7	Dayne St. Clair	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	5.5	A clean sheet in his MLS debut should firm up his hold on the starting gig over Greg Ranjitsingh.
8	Eloy Room	CLB at CHI	9.5
9	Zac MacMath	RSL v. LAFC, v. COL	6.5
10	Marko Maric	HOU at COL, at DAL	6.5

VALUE RANKINGS
(forwards and midfielders under $7.5, defenders under $6.0; not ranked above)
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Michael Barrios	DAL at MIN, v. HOU	7.4
2	Robin Lod	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	6.8	I don't find Lod to be a remarkable player in any way, but his work rate helps Minnesota's engine run and he has produced at a nice clip this year.
3	Cade Cowell	SJ at SEA, v. LAG	4.1	Excited for what this kid can become! With different matchups and another few games under his belt, he may have broke into the top 20.
4	Hassani Dotson	MIN v. DAL, at SKC	7.4
5	Andre Shinyashiki	COL v. HOU, at RSL	4.0	If I knew he'd start both, top 20 forward for sure this week.
6	Memo Rodriguez	HOU at COL, at DAL	6.8
7	Jonathan Lewis	COL v. HOU, at RSL	5.1	Cole Bassett would work too, but Lewis has the scoring punch.
8	Diego Palacios	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	4.6
9	Sam Vines	COL v. HOU, at RSL	4.0
10	Shea Salinas	SJ at SEA, v. LAG	4.0	Both the Quakes and our fantasy teams have benefitted when Salinas has played under Almeyda.

CAPTAIN RANKINGS
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Diego Rossi	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	10.6	Not as safe as a midfielder, but the potential is hard to pass up.
2	Carlos Darwin Quintero	HOU at COL, at DAL	9.6	Even with two scheduled games, I think he's a bit riskier than Poz and Pavon.
3	Alejandro Pozuelo	TOR at MTL	15.0	Immaculate consistency combined with scoring output leaves him in the conversation despite just one match.
4	Cristian Pavon	LAG at SJ	12.6	Same as Poz, but tougher matchup / higher upside.
5	Brian Rodriguez	LAFC at RSL, v. POR	7.2	I wasn't feeling Rusnak here, so allow me to present the idea of a Rossi alternative if you still like LAFC but need to make up some ground in the standings.