As Halloween stores start to pop up in empty storefronts across the country, the Round 26 MLS Fantasy Soccer Manager dream team got in the spirit early donning a slew of black shirts.
D.C. United led attackers with their six-goal party, and Columbus Crew SC shored up the back with their clean sheet. The black shirts ended up holding six of the 11 spots on the ideal squad.
Top point earner on the week was D.C.’s Luciano Acosta ($8.8) who rode three assists and a goal to a 20-point performance. Not far behind him was hat-trick hero Patrick Mullins ($6.6). Mullins and Acosta are starting to figure things out as a duo for D.C. United, and could be worth a look going forward as low-cost forwards. They were joined on the dream team by midfielder Patrick Nyarko ($7.5).
Justin Meram ($8.8) tied with Kaká ($11.6) for top midfielder marks with a goal and an assist, and his crewmates Nicolai Naess ($7.8) and Harrison Afful ($7.5) were top defenders in a 3-4-3 week. For newcomer Naess, this is his second clean sheet in four appearances, and his first time in the dream team.
The rest of the squad was as follows:
With the roster rotation associated with the midweek games MLS played last week, it’s not surprising that our curve was quite a bit lower than that 148-point earning dream team. Robert Cordiero’s GUWOP squad were able to handle the craziness best, captaining Acosta and building depth with Kaká and Michael Barrios ($8.2) to a 100-point round. Congratulations and enjoy your prize!
Danger!
This round takes place during an international weekend, so we get the fun combo of teams taking the weekend off and teams playing with international absences. Here’s what you need to know before you hit the proverbial dance floor this time out:
- The round transfer deadline is Thursday, September 1st
- The following teams are not playing this round: Houston Dynamo, Montreal Impact, Orlando City, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kansas City, Toronto FC
- Keep an eye on the Injury Report and this running list of International call-ups
Toronto FC aren’t in action this round, but with the news thatSebastian Giovinco ($13.9) will be out for four weeks with his injury suffered in last week’s game, the strategy to fill out a roster for round 27 has to start with his transfer. Be thrifty with your moves, so there’s still money in the bank when you want to add him back for those last few rounds.
As far as who I’m targeting this week, I plan to work D.C. United’s Mullins into my squad and his teammate Nyarko as well. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a team facing New York City FC should expect a shootout full of goals.
