This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
Welcome back to our weekly DraftKings MLS recommendations. We're going to examine two potential winning lineups for this weekend's slate and dive into the strategic side of lineup construction, while still presenting a bundle of great plays to target. Keep in mind that there are countless ways to build a winning DraftKings lineup, and these are just two approaches that I think could pay off.
Lineup No. 1: Rowe-ing Against the Current
Let me just start by admitting that this strategy uses two tactics I'm typically weary of: fading Sebastian Giovinco and paying for one of the most expensive keepers. This week, however, I think they could work. It feels like this slate is particularly cruel to goalkeepers, and few are affordable and promising at once. For this reason, I'm looking to Brian Rowe of the fire-breathing Los Angeles Galaxy. He's on the road, which I actually like since it should lead to more shots coming his way, and a win is highly likely. Houston is still missing Giles Barnes, look as though they will foolishly start Cubo Torres on the bench once more, and should struggle to keep much possession against what has been a dominant Galaxy group of late.
As for Giovinco, we unanimously ranked him as the top forward option this week. I'll have plenty of him in my lineups. But, if we're looking to win a tournament, Robbie Keane and Kei Kamara are nearly as strong choices. With less ownership, and a great shot at scoring multiple times, these team-carrying scorers could be daily fantasy gold this weekend. Toronto's defense has only kept a clean sheet once in six matches, giving up 12 goals in the other five. In the same span, Kamara has tallied four goals and three assists. Keane has back-to-back hat tricks, and against a depleted Houston defense, I bet he's salivating to make it three in a row. You can't go wrong with any combination of the three, so why not pin your chances on the two who give you a lineup that's different than your opponents'?
A trio of budget players will help us round out our attack. David Accam should also be highly owned, but as fellow RotoWire soccer savant Schuyler Redpath noted on our podcast, he is too much of a value to ignore. $4,500 is a downright steal for the dynamic Chicago Fire attacker who will see a New England defense that allowed 13 goals in five matches before finally shutting out NYC FC last weekend. Even if Accam is held off the score sheet, he has a great floor with crosses, fouls drawn and shots attempted. In the midfield, I'm looking to Sebastian Lletget and Diego Fagundez. Lletget gets to play alongside Keane and Steven Gerrard, and his knack for scoring has been on display since joining the team earlier this season. Lletget has scored in five of his past six matches. He admittedly hasn't been accumulating many points in any of the other scoring categories, but for only $6,000, we can't ask for too much from the goalscorer. Fagundez got the nod over Seattle's Thomas in this lineup. I've been vocal about my love for Lee Nguyen in this week's match against a stumbling Chicago defense, but we'll have to settle for his cheaper midfield partner. When these two teams played just over a month ago, Chicago was fielding a stronger defensive unit and still lost 2-0. Fagundez got on the score sheet in that game, too. The Fire will be at home, and with Joevin Jones, but I still like the Revolution's chances to get on the score sheet.
Now, we just need to find budget defenders which feels like a real challenge this week. I have Lovel Palmer and Donny Toia pencilled in, but will be monitoring the lineups closely as matches approach. The former should provide a decent attacking presence, but he lacks much clean sheet opportunity. The latter is the opposite, hosting a weak Seattle attack but not providing as much offensive upside. Neither are guaranteed starters, but few fullbacks in this price range are. If they don't play, you'll certainly have options to pivot to as other lineups are released.
(Note: If you MUST have Giovinco, this lineup can easily be altered to upgrade Kamara or Keane by downgrading the keeper or midfield.)
Devil's Advocate: Fading Giovinco, even with his bruised heel, could prove costly. He's a constant threat for 90 minutes, and is playing a ho-hum Columbus defense. Rowe may be a good bet for a victory, but he has yet to make more than three saves in a match this season. It's possible that his upside is limited, especially if Houston fails to generate an attack. Fagundez and Lletget are solid values, but some of the premier midfielders have far more upside and could be the key to winning this week.
Why We'll Win: Ultimately, you win on DraftKings with goals. Kamara is the league's leading scorer, while Keane presumably would be had he not been injured and on international duty. Lletget and Accam have more goal scoring ability than essentially everybody else in their price range. Additionally, Rowe in goal could be the best clean sheet chance of the weekend, particularly if you find the Montreal-Seattle match as difficult to project as I do. If you're comfortable lacking a decent defensive pairing, this lineup is quite promising.
Lineup No. 2: Double the Sebastian
I can't write an article without one share of Sebastian Giovinco! He needs little explanation, and I'm not terribly worried about his heel injury. Robbie Keane has two more goals than Giovinco in the past two weeks, but Giovinco has just one fewer point on DraftKings. His peripheral scoring is simply impeccable, and the rate at which he takes shots is unrivaled. We're also going to use Sebastian Lletget once more. His price is too good, he fits the cheesy lineup title and he's a great compromise for lineups that can't afford Keane. Taking the "sidekick" is also a theme of this lineup, and one that I think helps us round out a fuller team than Lineup No. 1 while still maintaining good upside.
Other sidekicks I like are Ethan Finlay and Charlie Davies. Finlay and Kei Kamara have displayed stellar chemistry this season and their opponent, Toronto FC, is exploitable on the wing where Finlay plays. He leads the league in assists, but with four goals in five matches, isn't a stranger to the back of the net either. I previously mentioned how I feel about the Chicago Fire's defensive chances this weekend, so Charlie Davies makes for another great play. Lee Nguyen is actually slightly cheaper, if you don't mind putting a midfielder in your flex spot. Davies has cooled off from the beginning of the season, but still has a goalscorer's touch that can really boost a fantasy lineup. To round out the attack, I'm plugging David Accam in as well. The price is too appealing, and his DraftKings game log shows just two single-digit outputs in his last nine matches with significant playing time.
I fully realize that I just touted Accam's scoring potential, but to make this lineup work we're going to have to invest in the New England keeper. Bobby Shuttleworth may return from his concussion or Brad Knighton could get the nod after shutting out NYC FC last week. New England's defense should be better than it has been, and Chicago's attack is generally inconsistent. I'm not thrilled about this keeper selection, but I don't like many others this week either.
Defensively, we're going to grab Donny Toia again. His price and clean sheet potential remain appealing, but I'm hoping a sub-$3,000 option appears and I can move to that instead. I also selected Jack Jewsbury, who is equally underwhelming but seemingly always finds ways to get involved in Portland. Keep an eye on the lineups in case one of these options misses out.
While we're here, I have an interesting riff on this lineup: downgrading Finlay to Lamar Neagle (Seattle's only hope it appears) or fellow Columbus teammate Justin Meram could allow us to grab David Texeira or Tesho Akindele rather than a too-popular Accam. One of those Dallas forwards will get to play alongside the electric Fabian Castillo and Mauro Diaz, so they've got plenty of potential. We could also upgrade our keeper instead. Just some thoughts as you build your lineups today.
Devil's Advocate: Is it possible that two of Keane/Kamara/Giovinco will be necessary to cash this weekend? Definitely. Finlay and Davies could fairly easily be turned into a second member of the top-3 and a cheap midfielder. We're also relying on New England's keeper, which wouldn't have won us many fantasy games over the last two months.
Why We'll Win: We have pieces of all the top offensive plays without having to invest all of the cash a Keane and Kamara require. Davies could very well fly under the radar this weekend and make a great differential. Our attack should be more balanced than most of our opponents' lineups, and sacrificing our defense shouldn't be too much of a problem on a poor slate of budget back lines. Anyone investing heavily in their defensive options will risk losing far too much in the way of attacking points.
