This article is part of our MLS Fantasy Rankings series.
The rankings below are based on Major League Soccer's official fantasy game and cover all games in Week 6. While they can be used for DFS purposes, they are done with a focus on the league's season-long game.
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below, or hit up JD on Twitter @dfsMLS.
MATCHES (EDT)
- Friday, 10:00 pm: Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
- Saturday, 1:00 pm: New York City FC vs. Montreal Impact
- Saturday, 3:00 pm: D.C. United vs. Los Angeles Football Club
- Saturday, 3:00 pm: Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire
- Saturday, 7:00 pm: New York Red Bulls vs. Minnesota United
- Saturday, 7:30 pm: Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution
- Saturday, 7:30 pm: Orlando City SC vs. Colorado Rapids
- Saturday, 7:30 pm: Philadelphia Union vs. FC Dallas
- Saturday, 8:00 pm: San Jose Earthquakes vs. Portland Timbers
- Saturday, 10:00 pm: Seattle Sounders FC vs. Real Salt Lake
- Sunday, 3:00 pm: FC Cincinnati vs. Sporting Kansas City
For detailed stats and odds, check out the MLS Fantasy: Week 6 Cheat Sheet.
Forwards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Price | Notes | |
| 1 | Carlos Vela | LAFC at DC | 12.8 | If these teams play 10 times, I think the LAFC attack prevails over the United defense about 7-8 times. That doesn't mean Vela is a lock at this price, though. |
| 2 | Raul Ruidiaz | SEA v. RSL | 11.0 | It's not news that we should lean at least slightly towards forwards who do more than just score goals (Vela, Mitrita, Quintero, even Rooney) but we also have to consider many of the talented poachers when they have good matchups. Seattle are superior to RSL at every level. |
| 3 | Alexandru Mitrita | NYC v. MTL | 9.8 | Maxi is out and Mitrita had a poor match, but Montreal also allowed seven goals at SKC! I'll take their opponent's best attacking player just seven days later. |
| 4 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | LA at VAN | 11.7 | Supposedly he is committed to playing all the turf matches, too. I think Vancouver will do a better job against him than most seem to think, but just slightly. |
| 5 | Jozy Altidore | TOR v. CHI | 10.1 | While Chicago did just commendably shut out the Red Bulls, I'm going to need to see a handful more quality defensive outings to really believe they solved their issues. |
| 6 | Wayne Rooney | DC v. LAFC | 11.5 | |
| 7 | Carlos Darwin Quintero | MIN at NYRB | 12.4 | I don't hate the Loons this week, but Quintero is the only one I would realistically use given the matchup at Red Bull Arena. |
| 8 | Gyasi Zardes | CLB v. NE | 10.1 | If you pick Gyasi, you need to be looking for a brace. The forward pool is so good this week, that spending this much for 7 points would be disappointing. |
| 9 | Dom Dwyer | ORL v. COL | 9.9 | One of the tougher guys to rank this week, but I leaned conservative. If you see him as a top play, I don't blame you. |
| 10 | Jordan Morris | SEA v. RSL | 9.2 | It's going to be a fun year trying to time Morris' good outings. |
| 11 | Bradley Wright-Phillips | NYRB v. MIN | 9.9 | |
| 12 | Diego Rossi | LAFC at DC | 9.5 | |
| 13 | Jeremy Ebobisse | POR at SJ | 7.2 | |
| 14 | Fredy Montero | VAN v. LA | 8.6 | |
| 15 | Heber Araujo dos Santos | NYC v. MTL | 8.5 | If he starts, you could aggressively put him around 8-11 without many complaints from me. |
| 16 | Krisztian Nemeth | SKC at FCC | 7.2 | With a plethora of good forward choices this week, I'm not waiting to see who SKC uses on the road in the last match of the week (even if Nemeth is seemingly their only option). The same goes for other positions. With CCL on Thursday and again next week, anyone could be rested. That said, I expect whoever Vermes puts onto the field to perform relatively well against FCC. |
| 17 | David Accam | PHI v. DAL | 6.3 | |
| 18 | Cristian Espinoza | SJ v. POR | 8.7 | |
| 19 | Kei Kamara | COL at ORL | 8.7 | |
| 20 | Maximiliano Urruti | MTL at NYC | 8.7 | |
Midfielders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Price | Notes | |
| 1 | Alejandro Pozuelo | TOR v. CHI | 10.5 | A guaranteed price rise for an immediate MLS star against an unconvincing Fire defense. |
| 2 | Nicolas Lodeiro | SEA v. RSL | 11.9 | A few more games and we may need to re-evaluate Lodeiro's fantasy prowess in this year's Sounders system, but for now he's still pretty safe and really good. |
| 3 | Diego Valeri | POR at SJ | 11.2 | I began the year thinking some players may be a poor matchup with San Jose's unusual defensive system and Valeri could have been one of them. For right now, I just think it's a great matchup for everyone. |
| 4 | Victor Rodriguez | SEA v. RSL | 9.7 | Once again, a tempting alternative to what has been a relatively reserved Lodeiro this season. |
| 5 | Marco Fabian | PHI v. DAL | 9.0 | It's hard to look away from such a player that is so depended on by his team. The price is good compared to what he will eventually rise to. |
| 6 | Sebastian Blanco | POR at SJ | 9.9 | Like VRod, it's tempting to use Blanco over Valeri. I still lean towards the creator and PK taker though. |
| 7 | Federico Higuain | CLB v. NE | 8.6 | Pipa is rarely deserving of the top spots he once occupied, but he's still a savvy attacker that can exploit poorly organized teams like New England. |
| 8 | Nani | ORL v. COL | 8.8 | A breakout game is coming. |
| 9 | Luciano Acosta | DC v. LAFC | 11.0 | |
| 10 | Hwang In-beom | VAN v. LA | 8.3 | It's purely anecdotal but Galaxy on the road feel like a great team for midfielders like Inbeom to rack up points against. If he can hit a strike from distance, even better. |
| 11 | Romain Alessandrini | LA at VAN | 9.7 | |
| 12 | Pedro Santos | CLB v. NE | 8.0 | |
| 13 | Alexander Ring | NYC v. MTL | 9.5 | I prefer him in the bonus-point collecting deep midfield role, but if Dome insists on playing him higher up the field, we can work with that too. The price is, unfortunately, just a little high for the lack of scoring punch. |
| 14 | Johnny Russell | SKC at FCC | 9.8 | Any SKC mid works if you want to leave a spot open for them. In order after Russ: Ilie, Guti, Busio, Croizet, Rowe. Just remember they played CCL on Thursday. |
| 15 | Jonathan dos Santos | LA at VAN | 9.9 | |
| 16 | Albert Rusnak | RSL at SEA | 10.8 | |
| 17 | Michael Bradley | TOR v. CHI | 10.5 | Jonathan Osorio would do the trick here, too, if you really want to max out your TFC spots against Chicago. |
| 18 | Nicolas Gaitan | CHI at TOR | 9.6 | I'm not certain he's fit enough for a start yet, but once he is this Chicago attack could soar. Katai also looked good last week but isn't squeezing into the top 20. |
| 19 | Saphir Taider | MTL at NYC | 11.9 | |
| 20 | Carles Gil | NE at CLB | 10.4 | It's tough to leave out some other good all-around midfielders here: Royer, Roldan, Ilie Sanchez, Osorio, Moreno, Atuesta, Trapp/Artur. However, Gil has been performing at a high level even when the team around him has not. They'll have a good match one of these days. |
Defenders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Price | Notes | |
| 1 | Kelvin Leerdam | SEA v. RSL | 7.0 | Leerdam and Smith are still a weekly toss up, but against RSL I'll lean towards the better goal potential. |
| 2 | Gaston Sauro | CLB v. NE | 6.5 | Assuming he's back in the lineup, I'll take the price rise with good clean sheet chance. |
| 3 | Nick DeLeon | TOR v. CHI | 6.5 | I've been skeptical about DeLeon keeping his spot in the attack but maybe it's actually going to stick for a while. Surely, TFC don't think it's a permanent solution...? |
| 4 | Brad Smith | SEA v. RSL | 6.8 | |
| 5 | Kim Kee-Hee | SEA v. RSL | 6.5 | Not much reason to pay up for Chad Marshall with three cheaper Sounders defenders in the top 5. |
| 6 | Ali Adnan | VAN v. LA | 5.5 | He was not shy getting forward in his debut and already looks to be one of the league's best fullbacks. |
| 7 | Jonathan Mensah | CLB v. NE | 7.9 | Losing Harrison Afful will make the Crew's job tougher, but they still boast a top third defense. |
| 8 | Auro | TOR v. CHI | 6.3 | It always feels like Auro should be producing a little more offensively than he does, so it was good to see him get the assist on an aggressive charge into the box last week. |
| 9 | Andreu Fontas | SKC at FCC | 5.8 | Zusi works here too, but I'll take the safe and cheaper bonus points at FCC. Barath is a pivot if lineup rotates. |
| 10 | Justin Morrow | TOR v. CHI | 7.2 | |
| 11 | Alexander Callens | NYC v. MTL | 7.1 | The Pigeons' defense has been pretty rough thus far, but Piatti is set to miss another match and Montreal have not had much action in the attacking third this year relative to the rest of the league. |
| 12 | Ruan | ORL v. COL | 5.2 | He's not going to get many bonus points, or even defensive bonus points, but the attacking potential is exciting. Since there's a solid clean sheet chance here, he gets a fairly high ranking. |
| 13 | Chris Mavinga | TOR v. CHI | 5.7 | |
| 14 | Aaron Long | NYRB v. MIN | 6.3 | |
| 15 | Reto Ziegler | DAL at PHI | 7.0 | We're not scared of Philly's attack now, are we? |
| 16 | Walker Zimmerman | LAFC at DC | 8.3 | If it exists, Zimmerman has proven time and again he has the "clutch" factor. As far as MLS regular season goes, this match is being hyped pretty hard. |
| 17 | Michael Amir Murillo | NYRB v. MIN | 7.9 | |
| 18 | PC | VAN v. LA | 4.9 | |
| 19 | Rolf Feltscher | LA at VAN | 5.6 | |
| 20 | Jack Elliott | PHI v. DAL | 5.8 | |
Goalkeepers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Price | Notes | |
| 1 | Zack Steffen | CLB v. NE | 7.7 | Columbus are a well-drilled veteran side that will know how to handle Friedel's Revs. |
| 2 | Stefan Frei | POR at SJ | 7.5 | |
| 3 | Alex Bono | TOR v. CHI | 6.0 | Great first half of a keeperoo. Chicago have a little too much potential offensively for me to rank him higher. |
| 4 | Jeff Attinella | POR at SJ | 5.3 | Portland's defense is not as bad as San Jose. This might be the game the Quakes break out, but Attinella/Frei is a tempting keeperoo that may let you upgrade to VRod, Ruidiaz, or Lodeiro. |
| 5 | Sean Johnson | NYC v. MTL | 6.6 | Montreal attack is nothing to be afraid of, but neither is New York's defense in 2019 so far. |
| 6 | Andre Blake | PHI v. DAL | 6.7 | |
| 7 | Luis Robles | NYRB v. MIN | 5.7 | It's not often we've been able to get one of the league's best keepers this cheap. |
| 8 | Tim Melia | SKC at FCC | 7.1 | |
| 9 | Brian Rowe | ORL v. COL | 5.6 | I will rarely put my fantasy fate in the hands (bad hands, at that) of Brian Rowe. Yes, even when the matchup is this good. |
| 10 | Bill Hamid | DC v. LAFC | 7.9 | |
Value Rankings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
(forwards and midfielders under $7.5, defenders under $6.0; not ranked above) | ||||
Rank | Player | Price | Notes | |
| 1 | Jorge Moreira | POR at SJ | 5.4 | He had a ton of juice in his Timbers debut. Great price for a dual threat defender against the league's worst team. |
| 2 | Joao Moutinho | ORL v. COL | 5.5 | |
| 3 | Jesus Ferreira | DAL at PHI | 4.6 | Since Paxton Pomykal has risen above the threshhold for the value rankings (and barely missed top 20 mids this week), we will need to get our Dallas fix elsewhere. A goal and two assists last week from a $4.6 player is enough to take a chance on. Ferreira has long been viewed as a homegrown player with tons of promise. |
| 4 | Joe Corona | LA at VAN | 6.9 | |
| 5 | Robinho | CLB v. NE | 5.8 | |
| 6 | Drew Moor | TOR v. CHI | 5.4 | Mavinga is worth the $0.3 more to me, but Moor is a good option too. |
| 7 | Alex Muyl | NYRB v. MIN | 7.3 | |
| 8 | Brenden Aaronson | PHI v. DAL | 6.2 | Great switcheroo option. This kid can play and chip in at all levels. |
| 9 | Julio Cascante | POR at SJ | 4.0 | I would only want to play a Timbers CB from the bench, but if you can wait on one of your switcheroos, this could open up some salary for a Seattle or SKC upgrade. (Cascante is cheapest but pick your poison) |
| 10 | Kellyn Acosta | COL at ORL | 5.7 | |
Captain Rankings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Price | Notes | |
| 1 | Alejandro Pozuelo | TOR v. CHI | 10.5 | The Fire did keep Red Bulls off of the score sheet, but TFC have found the right recipe so far this year. |
| 2 | Carlos Vela | LAFC at DC | 12.8 | Not an ideal matchup, but he's a safe captain each week with high upside regardless of matchup. |
| 3 | Nicolas Lodeiro | SEA v. RSL | 11.9 | I'd actually be more nervous about captaining Lodeiro than Vela. |
| 4 | Diego Valeri | POR at SJ | 11.2 | Portland will see this match as a prime opportunity for 3 points. |
| 5 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | LA at VAN | 11.7 | The gambler's choice. Could make a case for any of the top 7-9 forward though. |
