Fantasy: Week 5 positional rankings

Reid, Mike, Blayne and Matt Pollard from Last Word on Soccer sit down to review the many fantasy insights that the few games in Round 4 revealed. The r/FantasyMLS question thread was ON FIRE this week, so they guys also spend some time covering many of the hot topics including player price changes, rolling transfers, which players have surprised and disappointed, and ….. ZLATAN! They wrap everything up with a quick preview of each game for Round 5 and the usual chalkboard picks. SPECIAL BONUS: There is also a special IN DEPTH interview with Matt going over the impact of Zlatan and the big LAG vs LAFC game. This will first be available to our Patreon supporters and then available to everyone later in the week.

After an international break where 11 MLS teams were out of action, MLS Fantasy is back in full swing with several juicy matchups to target in Week 5.

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Goalkeepers

Zack Steffen has kept two clean sheets in three appearances, and he should slot right back into the lineup after notching his first career international clean sheet turning in the US national team’s 1-0 win over Paraguay on Tuesday. A Crew SC home game (Saturday, 3 pm ET; TV & streaming info) against a Vancouver attack that have just one goal over their last two games sees Steffen back at the top of the goalkeeper chart this week.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Zack Steffen	CLB	vs. VAN	$7.0
2	Stefan Frei	SEA	vs. MTL	$6.0
3	Alex Bono	TOR	vs. RSL	$5.8
4	Tim Melia	SKC	vs. DC	$4.4
5	Chris Seitz	HOU	vs. NE	$5.8
6	Tim Howard	COL	vs. PHI	$5.3
7	Richard Sanchez	CHI	vs. POR	$4.7
8	Brad Guzan	ATL	at MIN	$5.4
9	Joe Bendik	ORL	vs. RBNY	$5.5
10	Andre Blake	PHI	at COL	$7.0

Defenders

Both Graham Zusi and Milton Valenzuela have shown their worth in the attacking third, and with Zusi on a share of set pieces in Sporting Kansas City’s dynamic attack he possesses arguably the highest fantasy ceiling of any defender in MLS. Steven Beitashour has quietly churned out seven bonus points in his first two games, and two assists in his last outing highlights the attacking upside he carries.

Rank	Playe	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Graham Zusi	SKC	vs. DC	$7.0
2	Milton Valenzuela	CLB	vs. VAN	$7.0
3	Steven Beitashour	LAFC	at LA	$6.0
4	Jonathan Mensah	CLB	vs. VAN	$7.5
5	Johan Kappelhof	CHI	vs. POR	$5.1
6	Ike Opara	SKC	vs. DC	$5.1
7	Lalas Abubakar	CLB	vs. VAN	$6.5
8	Gregory van der Wiel	TOR	vs. RSL	$5.2
9	Matt Besler	SKC	vs. DC	$5.2
10	Drew Moor	TOR	vs. RSL	$6.5
11	Alexander Callens	NYC	at SJ	$7.5
12	Laurent Ciman	LAFC	at LA	$6.5
13	Daniel Steres	LA	vs. LAFC	$5.2
14	Harrison Afful	CLB	vs. DC	$7.0
15	Kelvin Leerdam	SEA	vs. MTL	$5.6
16	Leandro Gonzalez Pirez	ATL	at MIN	$5.1
17	Chad Marshall	SEA	vs. MTL	$5.5
18	Mohamed El-Munir	ORL	vs. RBNY	$5.9
19	Brandon Vincent	CHI	vs. POR	$5.8
20	Jack Elliott	PHI	at COL	$6.5

Midfielders

Felipe Gutierrez has a combined four goals and 33 fantasy points over his last three games, and while his price continues to rise he’s still very much affordable at $9.7 million. A home game versus D.C. United in which SKC’s high-octane attack should continue to thrive plants Gutierrez and teammate Johnny Russell firmly on the fantasy radar in Week 5.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Felipe Gutierrez	SKC	vs. DC	$9.7
2	Federico Higuain	CLB	vs. VAN	$11.6
3	Miguel Almiron	ATL	at MIN	$10.8
4	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA	vs. MTL	$11.2
5	Aleksandar Katai	CHI	vs. POR	$9.5
6	Johnny Russell	SKC	vs. DC	$8.9
7	Vako	SJ	vs. NYC	$10.0
8	Magnus Wolff Eikrem	SEA	vs. MTL	$7.2
9	Sacha Kljestan	ORL	vs. RBNY	$9.9
10	Ignacio Piatti	MTL	at SEA	$11.2
11	Victor Vazquez	TOR	vs. RSL	$10.0
12	Justin Meram	ORL	vs. RBNY	$8.6
13	Diego Valeri	POR	at CHI	$9.5
14	Joao Plata	RSL	at TOR	$10.2
15	Maxi Moralez	NYC	at SJ	$11.0
16	Benny Feilhaber	LAFC	at LA	$9.3
17	David Accam	PHI	at COL	$9.3
18	Albert Rusnak	RSL	at TOR	$10.9
19	Pedro Santos	CLB	vs. VAN	$9.1
20	Jesus Medina	NYC	at SJ	$9.9
21	Jack Price	COL	vs. PHI	$7.2
22	Borek Dockal	PHI	at COL	$8.3
23	Danny Hoesen	SJ	vs. NYC	$8.5
24	Cristian Martinez	CLB	vs. VAN	$5.0
25	Tomas Martinez	HOU	vs. NE	$8.5
26	Magnus Eriksson	SJ	vs. NYC	$8.7
27	Ethan Finlay	MIN	vs. ATL	$6.6
28	Yamil Asad	DC	at SKC	$8.3
29	Sebastian Lletget	LA	vs. LAFC	$6.6
30	Bastian Schweinsteiger	CHI	vs. POR	$10.1

Forwards

Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi exploded for a combined 39 points in Week 2 and they’ve had three weeks to prepare for Saturday’s clash with cross-town counterparts LA Galaxy (3 pm ET; FOX — full TV & streaming info). If Zlatan Ibrahimovic happens to make the Galaxy starting lineup he simply can’t be ignored in what has the makings of a shootout. Sebastian Giovinco has a good matchup against the same Real Salt Lake squad that Vela and Rossi lit up, but riding the hot hand with Alberth Elis may be the safer route with Toronto FC likely prioritizing Tuesday’s Concacaf Champions League semifinal.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Carlos Vela	LAFC	at LA	$10.5
2	Sebastian Giovinco	TOR	vs. RSL	$10.0
3	Alberth Elis	HOU	vs. NE	$10.5
4	Josef Martinez	ATL	at MIN	$11.0
5	Nemanja Nikolic	CHI	vs. POR	$11.6
6	David Villa	NYC	at SJ	$11.3
7	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	LA	vs. LAFC	$10.0
8	Diego Rossi	LAFC	at LA	$10.2
9	Gyasi Zardes	CLB	vs. VAN	$9.6
10	Ola Kamara	LA	vs. LAFC	$9.3
11	Jozy Altidore	TOR	vs. RSL	$9.5
12	Bradley Wright-Phillips	RBNY	at ORL	$9.9
13	Mauro Manotas	HOU	vs. NE	$8.6
14	Chris Wondolowski	SJ	vs. NYC	$9.2
15	Hector Villalba	ATL	at MIN	$10.0
16	Dominique Badji	COL	vs. PHI	$7.6
17	Dom Dwyer	ORL	vs. RBNY	$9.0
18	Will Bruin	SEA	vs. MTL	$7.1
19	Christian Ramirez	MIN	vs. ATL	$7.5
20	Kei Kamara	VAN	at CLB	$9.7

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Schuyler Redpath -

@DraftKicks