Sorare Deke's Diamonds for MLS Week 5: Fire Up Zaha

This article is part of our Sorare series.

Major League Soccer is an unorthodox league, to say the least. It's weird enough with the salary cap, roster restrictions and lack of a promotion/relegation system. A worldwide international break started this week and you'd think the league would take a reprieve. Think again.

Teams will play through this weekend (other than Inter Miami and New England) with some like Atlanta missing up to eight players. There will be many surprising starters who will likely only have utility on international breaks. Seven starting goalkeepers are also on international duty, so there will be some utility for backups in Columbus, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Orlando, Philadelphia, and New York for the Red Bulls.

Expect a wild weekend of MLS action, as most of the better players will be away representing their country.

Note: Player recommendations are not financial advice; I may or may not own these players in my Sorare gallery. I play under the username "SorareDeke" on Sorare.

Sorare GW 64 // MLS Week 5

Let's start this game week by using the RotoWire Cheatsheets to see the best matchups with win odds highlighted below.

1. Nashville SC 59.57% vs. CF Montreal
2. Charlotte FC 57.54% vs. San Jose Earthquakes
3. Orlando City SC 54.73% vs. D.C. United
4. Seattle Sounders FC 54.57% vs. Houston Dynamo
5. New York Red Bulls 54.14% vs. Toronto FC

Note: Prices are for in-season limited cards as of Thursday, March 20. The scarcities are Limited (/1000), Rare (/100), Super Rare (/10), and Unique (1/1). 

Optimal Plays

GOALKEEPERS

Ben Lundt (STL) $17.82 at Philadelphia Union

St. Louis City's clean sheet streak was in doubt after Roman Burki was diagnosed with a broken hand. Lundt stepped in and held Seattle scoreless last game, making it four straight matches without conceding to start the season. The streak will eventually end, but there's a lot to like about this trip to Philadelphia. 

St. Louis City will be at full strength (minus Burki), while Philadelphia will miss five starters due to international duty and one starter due to suspension. An undermanned Union side will struggle to score without Tai Baribo and Daniel Gazdag in the lineup. Road goalkeepers have shown solid upside early in the season with 10-plus AA outings, similar to what Lundt did at the end of last season, scoring 51.4 SO5 points in a 1-0 loss at LAFC.

Other Options: Kristijan Kahlina (CLT) $69.24 vs. San Jose; Joe Willis (NSH) $44.36 vs. Montreal; Stefan Frei (SEA) $39.78 vs. Houston; Roman Celentano (CIN) $35.53 vs. Atlanta; Anthony Marcucci (RBNY) $6.75 vs. Toronto

DEFENDERS

Noah Eile (RBNY) $16.38 vs. Toronto FC

Eile is coming off tremendous AA performances in his last two matches. 

Both outings were without a decisive action, showing Eile's upside even if RBNY doesn't keep a clean sheet (40.16 AA after conceding two goals against Orlando City). RBNY will be without starting goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, but the team's core will be intact. In this matchup, I project Eile to have a floor of 50 points, making him one of the safer defensive options with upside this weekend.

Other Options: Kai Wagner (PHI) $94.46 vs. St. Louis City; Walker Zimmerman (NSH) $46.35 vs. Montreal; Adilson Malanda (CLT) $30.73 vs. San Jose; Jackson Ragen (SEA) $13.35 vs. Houston; Lukas Engel (CIN) $7.56 vs. Atlanta; Andres Herrera (CLB) $7.14 vs. NYCFC

MIDFIELDERS

Evander (CIN) $78.86 vs. Atlanta United

While Evander has been solid in his last five matches, he hasn't shown the elite upside of last season.

Evander had 20-plus AA in the two matches without a decisive. In the matches with a decisive, he had negative AA. This feels like the matchup where he can contribute a decisive with 20-plus AA. Cincinnati hosts Atlanta United, who are missing four center-backs due to international duty, and Bartosz Slisz will be out in the midfield. Cincinnati also has issues on the backline, with Teenage Hadebe away getting his green card, Gilberto Flores suspended due to a red card, and Miles Robinson dealing with a hamstring issue. 

This could be a high-scoring affair, and without Kevin Denkey, Cincinnati will be leaning on the combination of Evander and Luca Orellano to produce.

Other Options: Marcel Hartel (STL) $55.26 at Philadelphia; Albert Rusnak (SEA) $51.26 vs. Houston; Hany Mukhtar (NSH) $40.90 vs. Montreal; Edvard Sandvik Tagseth (NSH) $38.50 vs. Montreal; Djordje Mihailovic (COL) $37.05 vs. Portland; Emil Forsberg (RBNY) $23.10 vs. Toronto; Marco Pasalic (ORL) $21.74 vs. DC; Aleksey Miranchuk (ATL) $20.62 at Cincinnati; Dylan Chambost (CLB) $14.25 vs. NYCFC; Diogo Goncalves (RSL) $12.01 vs. FC Dallas; Sebastian Berhalter (VAN) $10.32 vs. Chicago; J.C. Ngando (VAN) $4.40 vs. Chicago; Joaquin Pereyra (MIN) $3.17 vs. LA Galaxy

FORWARDS

Wilfried Zaha (CLT) $13.41 vs. San Jose Earthquakes

Zaha has just one (fluke) goal to his name through three MLS starts. After struggling in his debut, he has outputs of 28.9 and 11.6 AA in his last two matches. This matchup against San Jose without Patrick Agyemang feels like a Zaha takeover match. He has 80-plus point upside in his bag, and I like his score or assist prop against San Jose. Fire up Zaha at home in what should be his highest-scoring output to date.

Other Options: Diego Rossi (CLB) $35.64 vs. NYCFC; Kelvin Yeboah (MIN) $32.74 vs. LA Galaxy; Luca Orellano (CIN) $30.90 vs. Atlanta; Martin Ojeda (ORL) $26.20 vs. DC; Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (RBNY) $20.22 vs. Toronto; Cedric Teuchert (STL) $16.61 at Philadelphia; Rafael Navarro (COL) $13.41 vs. Portland; Jacen Russell-Rowe (CLB) $11.41 vs. NYCFC; Luis Muriel (ORL) $9.41 vs. DC; Jayden Nelson (VAN) $4.40 vs. Chicago; Paul Rothrock (SEA) $3.60 vs. Houston; Kerwin Vargas (CLT) $3.52 vs. San Jose; Jeong Sang-Bin (MIN) $2.20 vs. LA Galaxy