MLS Fantasy Rankings: Week 31

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Published on October 5, 2019

The rankings below are based on Major League Soccer's official fantasy game and cover all games in Week 31. 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.

Forwards
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Carlos Vela	LAFC v. COL	15.5	Colorado have been playing well, but Vela is looking to set the goals record and help the team get the points record.
2	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	LA at HOU	13.8	Totally outclasses this Houston defense, but is he motivated at all for this game?
3	Diego Rossi	LAFC v. COL	9.1	Vela osmosis. (Permit me some creative license, biology majors)
4	Jozy Altidore	TOR v. CLB	10.7	Has a goal or assist in 5 of 6. TFC are jostling for playoff positioning.
5	Raul Ruidiaz	SEA v. MIN	11.0	Could be under-owned after the recent flop of a double game week.
6	Ola Kamara	DC v. FCC	8.8	Rooney is out for this one against a vulnerable opponent. Ola has three goals in three starts.
7	Jeremy Ebobisse	POR v. SJ	6.1	I like Ebobisse, and I'm generally a big Timbers fan, but I'm being careful not to get too sucked in to ranking purely based on motivations and need this week. It's an important factor, but certainly not the only one.
8	Carlos Darwin Quintero	MIN at SEA	8.6
9	Alexandru Mitrita	NYC at PHI	9.6	Peaking at the right time for NYC. Will need to watch the lineup to see if the Pigeons are taking it easy or playing for keeps in this one.
10	Kacper Przybylko	PHI v. NYC	9.4
11	Chris Wondolowski	SJ at POR	7.6	Supporters' Section showing last match shows Wondo wants this as much as anybody. Translating that to a win and hopefully some goals will be more difficult than ripping his shirt off, but I believe!
12	Zdenek Ondrasek	DAL v. SKC	6.9
13	Tesho Akindele	ORL v. CHI	4.6	With the season lost, Benji Michel could get the nod instead. I'd rank him a few spots lower but still playable as a third forward in this matchup.
14	Heber Araujo dos Santos	NYC at PHI	9.9
15	Kei Kamara	COL at LAFC	7.7	Kei heroics on Decision Day really shouldn't surprise anyone.
16	Mauro Manotas	HOU v. LA	9.7
17	Sam Johnson	RSL at VAN	5.5	RSL are playing for home field in the opening round and Johnson is one goal away from double-digits for the season.
18	Gustavo Bou	NE at ATL	10.8	Tough matchup but his quality is undeniable.
19	Alberth Elis	HOU v. LA	7.6	When he gets points they usually come in bunches, so I guess he'd be a decent differential this week. I'll look elsewhere, though.
20	Brian Rodriguez	LAFC v. COL	6.9

Midfielders
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Sebastian Blanco	POR v. SJ	10.4	Healthier, better suited to the matchup, and more likely to score than Valeri. Plenty will use both. Many will captain the safer Valeri, but in an unexpected Decision Day twist, I'm leaning Blanco.
2	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA v. MIN	12.9	With a tie favoring Seattle in the standings, they may start more defensively, but Lodeiro is too good to pass up for those looking to play it safe.
3	Magnus Eriksson	SJ at POR	10.3	Call it a hunch.
4	Diego Valeri	POR v. SJ	12.5	A calf injury and against an energetic San Jose side that will be sure to try and eliminate him from the game? That's not great. A club legend who is potentially playing his last home game with the team and would end his legacy by missing the playoffs unless he steps up? Pretty sure Valeri will find a way.
5	Cristian Pavon	LA at HOU	11.5
6	Nani	ORL v. CHI	10.7	Nani should want to cap off a good first season by giving the home fans some rare joy this year, even if it's a small consolation.
7	Maximiliano Moralez	NYC at PHI	11.7	No motivation here, except to asset dominance over Philly, but if Maxi plays then he has to be a strong consideration.
8	Michael Barrios	DAL v. SKC	9.6
9	Alejandro Pozuelo	TOR v. CLB	10.0	Our memories of Poz are better than the current fantasy version.
10	Eduard Atuesta	LAFC v. COL	11.3
11	Cristian Espinoza	SJ at POR	9.5	San Jose at their best could embarrass the Timbers and they've been fairly fearless on the road all year despite the poor results.
12	Pity Martinez	ATL v. NE	9.9
13	Vako	SJ at POR	8.9
14	Saphir Taider	MTL v. NYRB	11.6	Jackson Yueill lacks the same scoring punch, but he needs to be all over the midfield in this match and could accumulate some bonus points as an alternative.
15	Johnny Russell	SKC at DAL	9.5
16	Lucas Rodriguez	DC v. FCC	7.3	Paul Arriola would work, too.
17	Jonathan dos Santos	LA at HOU	9.5
18	Felipe Gutierrez	SKC at DAL	10.4
19	Carles Gil	NE at ATL	13.0
20	Latif Blessing	LAFC v. COL	8.7

Defenders
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Ryan Hollingshead	DAL v. SKC	9.1	My favorite mix of offensive and defensive potential this week.
2	Frederic Brillant	DC v. FCC	9.9	DC should outclass Cincy this week and with Rooney out, many players could favor taking three pieces of their clean sheet chances.
3	Reto Ziegler	DAL v. SKC	9.1
4	Steve Birnbaum	DC v. FCC	7.8
5	Jorge Moreira	POR v. SJ	9.2	Good defensive and great attacking potential but probably not both at once. Portland will likely focus on not conceding initially, but if scored upon will push forward in droves.
6	Omar Gonzalez	TOR v. CLB	6.4	Toronto may be going overlooked against a Columbus team without much to care about this week.
7	Leandro Gonzalez Pirez	ATL v. NE	8.5	Revs may be reluctant to show Atlanta all of their cards with a potential playoff rematch looking likely (win or lose).
8	Miles Robinson	ATL v. NE	9.0
9	Eddie Segura	LAFC v. COL	7.3	I think the likeliest scenario for this game is LAFC score first, Colorado need to push for three points, and eventually get a goal but probably after LAFC bury a few.
10	Walker Zimmerman	LAFC v. COL	5.8
11	Joseph Mora	DC v. FCC	6.7
12	Matt Hedges	DAL v. SKC	7.5
13	Justen Glad	RSL at VAN	9.1	Tripling down on RSL defense, especially if Lennon starts, would be a good differential if you're chasing in the standings.
14	Larrys Mabiala	POR v. SJ	8.3	Set piece threat may need to come up big in an important match.
15	Auro	TOR v. CLB	8.4
16	Reggie Cannon	DAL v. SKC	5.2
17	Chris Mavinga	TOR v. CLB	4.8
18	Brad Smith	SEA v. MIN	6.5	Metanire in the same match could make some sense, too.
19	Franco Escobar	ATL v. NE	7.1
20	Kim Kee-Hee	SEA v. MIN	6.4

Goalkeepers
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Bill Hamid	DC v. FCC	8.6	Best fixture of the week for a team that will have to rely on defense in the playoffs.
2	Jesse Gonzalez	DAL v. SKC	6.8	SKC would love to spoil Dallas' season, but I think Luchi and company take care of business.
3	Alex Bono	TOR v. CLB	4.7	Make sure he starts, but the price is nice if so.
4	Brad Guzan	ATL v. NE	7.5
5	Tyler Miller	LAFC v. COL	6.5	Another option you'll have to make sure is starting.
6	Nick Rimando	RSL at VAN	8.4	Last regular season match ever for one of the best keepers, and best humans, we've had the pleasure to cheer on in MLS.
7	Andre Blake	PHI v. NYC	5.7
8	Stefan Frei	SEA v. MIN	7.1
9	Brian Rowe	ORL v. CHI	6.6	I'm leery of taking defenses in games with little meaning.
10	Steve Clark	POR v. SJ	8.2	It's just hard for me to believe San Jose end the year with a 0-goal whimper.

Value Rankings
(forwards and midfielders under $7.5, defenders under $6.0; not ranked above)
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Diego Palacios	LAFC v. COL	5.2	One of the week's best values if he starts again.
2	Joevin Jones	SEA v. MIN	5.5
3	Jesus Ferreira	DAL v. SKC	6.5
4	Victor Rodriguez	SEA v. MIN	6.6
5	Paxton Pomykal	DAL v. SKC	7.2
6	Andy Polo	POR v. SJ	5.2	Whoever starts in the Portland attack in place of Fernandez, probably Polo or Asprilla, would be worth considering just for the stakes of the game alone.
7	Billel Tuiloma	POR v. SJ	5.4
8	Chris Mueller	ORL v. CHI	4.1	Young players starting in the meaningless matches are sure bets to be low-owned, but finding the right one could really bolster a lineup and save you some cash.
9	Dominique Badji	DAL v. SKC	5.0
10	Danny Hoesen	SJ at POR	4.9

Captain Rankings
Rank	Player	Matchup	Price	Notes
1	Carlos Vela	LAFC v. COL	15.5	At risk of an early substitution, but if you're comfortable in your standings or playing head to head, I think Vela is the overwhelming favorite this week.
2	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	LA at HOU	13.8	Just saying...a hat-trick would see Zlatan break the scoring record and surpass Vela (if he blanks) on the year.
3	Sebastian Blanco	POR v. SJ	10.4	Portland may be a trap entirely, but there are too many juicy scenarios where one of Blanco or Valeri have a big day.
4	Nicolas Lodeiro	SEA v. MIN	12.9
5	Diego Valeri	POR v. SJ	12.5