Fantasy: Week 9 positional rankings

Reid, Michael and Blayne are joined by special guest Abbie Mood from Burgundy Wave to review all the most important fantasy takeaways from Round 8 and preview the MASSIVE DGW in Round 9. Before giving a shutout to the Patreon supporters, Reid gives Blayne and Michael a chance to share their latest Twitter argument and then everyone moves into previewing the best DGW and maybe SGW options for Round 9.

A pivotal Week 9 of MLS Fantasy sees 10 teams playing twice, and with players from those teams eligible to earn fantasy points in both games, there will be plenty of opportunities to make some moves up the leader boards. As always with a double game week, be mindful of roster rotation and confirm starting lineups on Wednesday to give your team the best shot at getting the most minutes out of your players.

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Goalkeepers

Fantasy: Week 9 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/styles/image_landscape/s3/images/Johnson.jpg

Sean Johnson | USA Today Sports Images

Sean Johnson has two clean sheets in his last three outings, and he has arguably the best schedule of all double-game week goalkeepers with home games vs. the Chicago Fire and Orlando City.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Sean Johnson	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$6.8
2	Stefan Frei	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$7.7
3	Zack Steffen	CLB	vs. DC, at HOU	$8.5
4	Vito Mannone	MIN	vs. LA, vs. DC	$6.4
5	Evan Bush	MTL	at NE, vs. CHI	$6.4
6	David Bingham	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$6.5
7	Cody Cropper	NE	vs. MTL, at SKC	$4.8
8	Bill Hamid	DC	at CLB, at MIN	$8.1
9	David Ousted	CHI	at NYC, at MTL	$5.4
10	Daniel Vega	SJ	at SEA, at DAL	$5.0

Defenders

Fantasy: Week 9 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/nycfc.png

Ronald Matarrita (right) | USA Today Sports Images

Ronald Matarrita notched his first assist of the season and finished with 12 points in Week 8. He has six shots over his last three outings and his involvement in the New York City FC attack gives his fantasy upside a big boost with the possibility of earning both attacking and defensive points.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Ronald Matarrita	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$6.3
2	Kelvin Leerdam	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$7.9
3	Anton Tinnerholm	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$7.1
4	Brad Smith	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$7.8
5	Alexander Callens	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$7.3
6	Maxime Chanot	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$7.6
7	Chad Marshall	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$8.0
8	Romain Metanire	MIN	vs. LA, vs. DC	$7.4
9	Kim Kee-hee	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$7.0
10	Diego Polenta	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$6.7
11	Zakaria Diallo	MTL	at NE, vs. CHI	$7.1
12	Jorgen Skjelvik	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$6.4
13	Daniel Lovitz	MTL	at NE, vs. CHI	$6.6
14	Andrew Farrell	NE	vs. MTL, at SKC	$6.5
15	Daniel Steres	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$6.6
16	Giancarlo Gonzalez	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$5.2
17	Ike Opara	MIN	vs. LA, vs. DC	$6.9
18	Edgar Castillo	NE	vs. MTL, at SKC	$5.6
19	Jonathan Mensah	CLB	vs. DC, at HOU	$8.3
20	Shea Salinas	SJ	at SEA, at DAL	$5.4

Midfielders

Fantasy: Week 9 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/styles/image_landscape/s3/images/Lodeiro_10.jpg

Nico Lodeiro | USA Today Sports Images

Nicolas Lodeiro’s dip in production recently is reason for hesitation considering his lofty price tag, but on a double game week we can look past that as he’s historically been one of the top fantasy producers in the game. He’ll look to get back on track Wednesday (10:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info) vs. a San Jose Earthquakes unit that has allowed the most assists in the league before a high-profile rematch at home against LAFC on Sunday (3:30 pm ET | ESPN — Full TV & streaming info).

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$11.5
2	Maxi Moralez	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$9.7
3	Jonathan dos Santos	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$10.4
4	Carles Gil	NE	vs. MTL, at SKC	$10.6
5	Victor Rodriguez	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$8.9
6	Saphir Taider	MTL	at NE, vs. CHI	$10.8
7	Luciano Acosta	DC	at CLB, at MIN	$10.3
8	Cristian Roldan	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$10.0
9	Osvaldo Alonso	MIN	vs LA, vs. DC	$8.4
10	Nicolas Gaitan	CHI	at NYC, at MTL	$9.2
11	Federico Higuain	CLB	vs. DC, at HOU	$8.1
12	Alexander Ring	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$8.9
13	Aleksandar Katai	CHI	at NYC, at MTL	$8.3
14	Wil Trapp	CLB	vs. DC, at HOU	$7.7
15	Joe Corona	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$7.2
16	Pedro Santos	CLB	vs. DC, at HOU	$8.6
17	Artur	CLB	vs. DC, at HOU	$8.1
18	Sebastian Lletget	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$6.9
19	Alejandro Pozuelo	TOR	vs. POR	$12.0
20	Gustav Svensson	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$7.9
21	Junior Moreno	DC	at CLB, at MIN	$8.0
22	Dax McCarty	CHI	at NYC, at MTL	$8.5
23	Bastian Schweinsteiger	CHI	at NYC, at MTL	$8.0
24	James Sands	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$6.9
25	Uriel Antuna	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$5.6
26	Magnus Eriksson	SJ	at SEA, at DAL	$7.2
27	Ebenezer Ofori	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$5.9
28	Ethan Finlay	MIN	vs. LA, vs. DC	$5.0
29	Jackson Yueill	SJ	at SEA, at DAL	$5.9
30	Emmanuel Boateng	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$4.6

Forwards

Fantasy: Week 9 positional rankings - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/Zlatanaway.jpg

Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Imagn Images

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made his mark on the scoresheet in all five of his appearances this season, putting him in prime position for a massive fantasy point haul if he can avoid roster rotation. Up next is a depleted Minnesota United side on Wednesday (8:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info) who have conceded three or more goals in back-to-back games, before hosting Real Salt Lake on Sunday (8 pm ET | TV & streaming info), who are tied for the fifth-most goals conceded in MLS.

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Price
1	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	LA	at MIN, vs. RSL	$13.2
2	Darwin Quintero	MIN	vs. LA, vs. DC	$12.4
3	Wayne Rooney	DC	at CLB, at MIN	$10.7
4	Heber	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$7.8
5	Angelo Rodriguez	MIN	vs. LA, vs. DC	$8.2
6	Valentin Castellanos	NYC	vs. CHI, vs. ORL	$7.2
7	Jordan Morris	SEA	vs. SJ, vs. LAFC	$7.9
8	Gyasi Zardes	CLB	vs. DCU, at HOU	$8.8
9	Maxi Urruti	MTL	at NE, vs. CHI	$7.4
10	Cristian Espinoza	SJ	at SEA, at DAL	$8.9
11	C.J. Sapong	CHI	at NYC, at MTL	$8.7
12	Danny Hoesen	SJ	at SEA, at DAL	$8.9
13	Nemanja Nikolic	CHI	at NYC, at MTL	$8.7
14	Carlos Vela	LAFC	at SEA	$14.3
15	Josef Martinez	ATL	vs. COL	$9.5
16	Cristian Penilla	NE	vs. MTL, at SKC	$7.0
17	Harry Novillo	MTL	at NE, vs. CHI	$7.7
18	Juan Agudelo	NE	vs. MTL, at SKC	$4.8
19	Teal Bunbury	NE	vs. MTL, at SKC	$5.7
20	Alberth Elis	HOU	vs. CLB	$10.7