Fantasy Soccer Advice

Fantasy: Week 8 positional rankings ahead of a full weekend of matches

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Fantasy Overlay


Reid and Mike are joined by Tim who is back from his recent trip to Aruba and ready to review the first DGW of the season and all the fantasy winners from Round 7. After Mike treats everyone to a welcomed short injury list the guys answer a couple of Reddit questions and discuss the best way to deal with the rising costs of defenders and keepers. They wrap everything up with with a game-by-game review of the upcoming Round 8 and reveal which teams are worth picking up 4 players from. Oh and Tim gets a little slap happy with his 3-0 predictions.



Week 8 features several exploitable matches worth targeting for MLS Fantasy purposes. Letā€™s take a closer look at which ones to focus on in the Week 8 positional rankings.


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Goalkeepers


Both of my top two goalkeepers this week are facing weakened attacks, with Vancouver losing Kei Kamara to injury and Toronto likely to give several of their big name players a breather ahead of the second leg of the CCL final at Chivas de Guadalajara next Wednesday. Considering Tim Melia plays in the first game of the week on Friday night, we can put him on our bench as part of a ā€œkeeperooā€ and if weā€™re not happy with his score, plug in Chris Seitz for two shots at a clean sheet.

Rank
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1 
Tim Melia
SKC
vs. VAN
$5.8
2 
Chris Seitz
HOU
vs. TOR
$5.6
3
Luis Robles
RBNY
vs. CHI
$7.0
4 
Jimmy Maurer
DAL
vs. PHI
$6.5
5 
Stefan Frei
SEA
vs. MIN
$6.2
6
Zack Steffen
CLB
vs. NE
$6.2
7
Nick Rimando
RSL
vs. ATL
$7.5
8
Joe Bendik
ORL
vs. SJ
$5.3
9 
David Bingham
LA
vs. ATL
$6.4
10
Evan Bush
MTL
vs. LAFC
$6.9

Defenders

Fantasy: Week 8 positional rankings ahead of a full weekend of matches - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/Zusiwarmups.jpg?

Kansas City's Graham Zusi could easily be a difference maker on both ends of the field this week. | USA Today Sports Images


Graham Zusi bagged his second goal of the season in Week 7 and he should have multiple opportunities to collect both attacking and defensive fantasy points versus Vancouver on Friday (9 pm ET; TSN ā€” Full TV & streaming info).

Rank
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1
Graham Zusi
SKC
vs. VAN
$8.5
2
Victor Cabrera
MTL
vs. LAFC
$7.7
3
Ike Opara
SKC
vs. VAN
$6.6
4
Milton Valenzeula
CLB
vs. NE
$7.0
5
Anton Nedyalkov
DAL
vs. PHI
$7.5
6
Matt Besler
SKC
vs. VAN
$6.7
7
Tim Parker
RBNY
vs. CHI
$6.6
8
Chad Marshall
SEA
vs. MIN
$5.6
9
Matt Hedges
DAL
vs. PHI
$7.0
10
Jonathan Mensah
CLB
vs. NE
$7.9
11
Justen Glad
RSL
vs. COL
$6.8
12
Nouhou Tolo
SEA
vs. MIN 
$4.3
13
Reto Ziegler
DAL
vs. PHI
$7.3
14
Michael Murillo
RBNY
vs. CHI
$5.5
15
Adolfo Machado
HOU
vs. TOR
$6.1
16
Lamine Sane
ORL
vs. SJ
$4.8
17
Aaron Long
RBNY
vs. CHI
$6.1
18
Rolf Feltscher
LA
vs. ATL
$6.7
19
Harrison Afful
CLB
vs. NE
$6.3
20
Reggie Cannon
DAL
vs. PHI
$7.1

Midfielders


Despite notching just one assist through the first three games of the season, Nicolas Lodeiro is averaging over nine fantasy points per game. He gets it done through a combination of peripheral bonus points, and if he can get more involved on the scoresheet at home against Minnesota United on Sunday (4 pm ET; ESPN, TSN ā€” Full TV & streaming info), Lodeiro boasts the potential to put up big fantasy points in Week 8.

Rank
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1
Nicolas Lodeiro
SEA
vs. MIN
$12.2
2
Romain Alessandrini
LA
vs. ATL
$10.2
3
Miguel Almiron
ATL
at LA
$12.3
4
Ignacio Piatti
MTL
vs. LAFC
$11.2
5
Diego Valeri
POR
vs. NYC
$9.5
6
Mauro Diaz
DAL
vs. PHI
$10.2
7
Albert Rusnak
RSL
vs. COL
$9.4
8
Sacha Kljestan
ORL
vs. SJ
$10.8
9
Johnny Russell
SKC
vs. VAN
$8.8
10
Federico Higuain
CLB
vs. NE
$10.3
11
Alejandro Romero Gamarra
RBNY
vs. CHI
$9.0
12
Tomas Martinez
HOU
vs. TOR
$8.3
13
Maxi Moralez
NYC
at POR
$11.8
14
Pedro Santos
CLB
vs. NE
$7.8
15
Yoshi Yotun
ORL
vs. SJ
$8.9
16
Joao Plata
RSL
vs. COL
$10.4
17
Jeisson Vargas
MTL
vs. LAFC
$8.0
18
Daniel Salloi
SKC
vs. VAN
$7.0
19
Daniel Royer
RBNY
vs. CHI
$7.5
20
Sebastian Blanco
POR
vs. NYC
$9.6
21
Roland Lamah
DAL
vs. PHI
$9.5
22
Diego Fagundez
NE
at CLB
$9.4
23
Jesus Medina
NYC
at POR
$8.9
24
Magnus Eriksson
SJ
at ORL
$9.9
25
Michael Barrios
DAL
vs. PHI
$7.4
26
Dax McCarty
CHI
at RBNY
$8.6
27
Chris Mueller
ORL
vs. SJ
$4.5
28
Saphir Taider
MTL
vs. LAFC
$8.1
29
Florian Valot
RBNY
vs. CHI
$6.0
30
Jacori Hayes
DAL
vs. PHI
$6.8

Forwards

Fantasy: Week 8 positional rankings ahead of a full weekend of matches - https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/images/bwp_3.jpg

Along with Ibrahimovic, Bradley Wright-Phillips is also a smart play with his New York Red Bulls hosting the struggling Chicago Fire. | USA Today Images


Zlatan Ibrahimovic earned his first start and scored a goal at Chicago in Week 7, setting the stage for his first start at home in a high profile matchup versus Atlanta United on Saturday (10:30 pm ET; TV & streaming info). The opportunities will be there for Ibrahimovic to give both LA Galaxy fans and fantasy managers something to smile about, and given his penchant for scoring goals, another multi-goal game could be in order.

Rank
Player
Team
Opponent
Price
1
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
LA
vs. ATL
$10.0
2
Bradley Wright-Phillips
RBNY
vs. CHI
$9.9
3
Carlos Vela
LAFC
at MTL
$12.0
4
David Villa
NYC
at POR
$11.1
5
Alberth Elis
HOU
vs. TOR
$11.5
6
Josef Martinez
ATL
at LA
$11.5
7
Clint Dempsey
SEA
vs. MIN
$9.0
8
Dom Dwyer
ORL
vs. SJ
$10.5
9
Maxi Urruti
DAL
vs. PHI
$7.7
10
Gyasi Zardes
CLB
vs. NE
$8.3
11
Diego Rossi
LAFC
at MTL
$11.7
12
Nemanja Nikolic
CHI
at RBNY
$10.4
13
Ola Kamara
LA
vs. ATL
$7.8
14
Darwin Quintero
MIN
at SEA
$9.5
15
Jefferson Savarino
RSL
vs. COL
$8.0
16
Mauro Manotas
HOU
vs. TOR
$9.0
17
Will Bruin
SEA
vs. MIN
$7.3
18
Fanendo Adi
POR
vs. NYC
$7.4
19
Cristian Penilla
NE
at CLB
$9.3
20
Cristian Colman
DAL
vs. PHI
$5.5