This article is part of our The Armband series.
I'd be lying if I said I suggested Florian Jungwirth in my article last week. The San Jose center-back has become one of the easier players to trust in the MLS Fantasy game. He already has 102 fantasy points, which places him first in the league, ahead of Romain Alessandrini at 92 and David Villa at 91. The defender has a respectable five clean sheets, but it's everything else that gives him worth each match. He already has two goals and two assists and always racks up clearances, recoveries and tackles. With two matches last week, he was one of the better players with 16 fantasy points.
Of course, with so many double gameweeks, it wasn't just Jungwirth who produced, as almost everyone on the Fire had a great week due to a combined 4-0 scoreline in their two matches. Gerso Fernandes stole headlines with a hat trick in midweek play, while Miguel Almiron did the same over the weekend. And per usual, Villa came through for anyone that backed him with a brace after starting on the bench in the first match of the week.
Things are mostly back to normal in Round 13 with only one team playing twice: FC Dallas (at CHI, v. HOU). The Fire will be a tough opponent, but the Dynamo have been one of the worst road teams this season with a minus-11 goal differential in five matches. It may even make sense to treat it like a regular one-match week for Dallas with the hope that all of their top players appear against Houston. Maximiliano Urruti hasn't scored in the last two matches, but I'd bet he finds the back of the net in at least one of these games. But outside of Urruti, the next-best captain option would be between Kellyn Acosta or one of Walker Zimmerman or Matt Hedges on the back line.
As for Chicago, I'd be slightly cautious despite their current form. Dallas has allowed only seven goals all season and just two in four road matches. Granted, it'd be hard to come up with a reason not to captain Nemanja Nikolic, who already has 10 goals. In a normal week, I'd turn to the Red Bulls (v. NE), but with only one point in their last four matches, I'd only feel comfortable with Sacha Kljestan, who has back-to-back games with an assist. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored in his last game, and if you're hoping to bank on some renewed confidence, this could be the game as the Revs are giving up two goals per match on the road.
Backing someone on Minnesota could end up being a popular choice as it faces a struggling Orlando City, which has two points in its last five matches. Christian Ramirez (seven goals) remains a poacher in front of net, but Kevin Molino (five goals, three assists) is the safer option due to more involvement in the midfield. The Sounders could be worth a look too in the battle of the Northwest. While their last two home matches have resulted in two total goals, the Timbers have given up seven in their last two on the road. In the same vein as Jungwirth, albeit at left-back, Joevin Jones is providing stats without clean sheets due to his attacking on the wing. Then again, you'd have to captain him over either Nicolas Lodeiro or Clint Dempsey and that doesn't seem like a good idea.
Finding the right person in the Toronto-Columbus matchup may be difficult, but there will be goals. There have been at least three goals in four of the last five games for the Crew and two of the last three for Toronto. Jozy Altidore is suspended due to yellow card accumulation, making Toronto a tough team to back with Sebastian Giovinco (quad) still out. For Columbus, Justin Meram has been slightly more consistent than Federico Higuain or Ola Kamara.
As for two of the higher-scoring teams in MLS, it'll be a battle between Almiron and Villa for the armband with Atlanta hosting NYC FC. I'd say Villa is easier to trust given how all over the place Atlanta has been this season, from a 3-1 home loss to D.C. to a 4-1 win against Houston. Almiron is coming off a hat trick, but he also didn't surpass four fantasy points in his prior three matches.
As for Jungwirth and the Earthquakes, they get a winnable match, but could have some trouble considering the Galaxy have won their last two on the road. That said, there have been at least three goals in LA's last three games so Anibal Godoy, Jahmir Hyka or Chris Wondolowski may be the better choices. But I just got done saying how great Jungwirth is, so why would anyone do that?
