This article is part of our The Armband series.
It was an odd and frustrating Week 15 of MLS Fantasy, with six clean sheets and seven other teams being held to one goal. The players who stood out were slightly unexpected, as Alphonso Davies had four more fantasy points than anyone else in Vancouver's 5-2 win against Orlando. The Galaxy also scored three goals behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but not many benefitted from the seven goals between San Jose and LA FC as Adama Diomande and Chris Wondolowski both bagged braces. Meanwhile, Jonathan Osorio, and not Sebastian Giovinco, led the way for Toronto, while Miguel Almiron left early with a shoulder injury. Everyone's worst move ended up being Alberth Elis, who had his worst fantasy performance of the season even though the Dynamo won 2-0. You win some, you lose some, right?
Week 16 should be a little more straightforward as long as everyone who's expected to play makes the starting XI. That shouldn't be a problem with MLS taking a mini-break while the World Cup gets underway. The clear path for top captains is through Toronto at home against D.C. United. Toronto appear to be back on track after getting three points at Philly over the weekend, while United remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and have allowed two goals per match on the road. Most armband decisions will come between Giovinco and Victor Vazquez. Surprisingly, Vazquez may be the safer pick because he's around the ball more, and that leaves for more bonus points from key passes and chances created. Giovinco will likely be the favorite because of name and he's due for a huge performance, having not surpassed 12 fantasy points in a match this season.
Osorio is the top differential play, though it's hard to see him as the leading scorer in consecutive matches. In terms of a defender, no one jumps off the page even with a clean sheet, as Auro are probably the best options, yet neither has surpassed nine fantasy points in a match.
New York should also be a favorite to back, while Montreal and San Jose are the teams that could go for three or four goals, yet no one will capitalize. The Red Bulls have scored 15 and allowed three in six home matches and could be headed for another clean sheet against Seattle, who have nine total goals. With Kaku on international duty, Bradley Wright-Phillips is the way to go even if he's cooled off in recent matches. The forward still has nine goals and five assists and has been close to a lock to score in every home match. Guys like Florian Valot and Daniel Royer should be in lineups, but I'm not sure either is worth risking captaincy.
I'd be higher on Ignacio Piatti if the Impact didn't already have 11 losses and only one goal from their last three home games, but it's hard not to go against Orlando at this point, with eight goals allowed in their last two on the road. Piatti has some big outings this season and if Montreal score a goal or two, he'll likely be involved. And while he didn't play last match, nothing was made of it, so all signs point to him back in the starting lineup.
The Earthquakes deserve a look not only because they scored three goals last match, but also because the Revs are on a long road trip, with matches in Louisville and Chicago last week and now in San Jose. It's likely they'll have tired legs and that should lead to a couple more goals, though maybe not for Wondolowski. I'd rather put money on the younger Danny Hoesen, who has four goals and two assists in his last six starts. He hasn't shown incredible upside, with only one match over nine fantasy points, but the potential is there if New England get in a hole early. If for some reason you doubt Toronto, I'd look at Hoesen.
Elsewhere, I'm avoiding Colorado and Chicago, while Columbus and Atlanta will be hard to project, especially with Almiron unlikely to play. The Crew haven't lost in a while, but they also haven't won their last four in all competitions. On the downside, Atlanta haven't allowed more than one goal on the road since the opener and without Almiron, I'm not going to back Josef Martinez. Federico Higuain and Gyasi Zardes are on the map, but I'd rather trust other sides with better matchups. Higuain deserves a look only because he has at least nine fantasy points in his last four matches without a red card.
