MLS Fantasy Round 22 team reveals and top picks

The brand new campaign continues! We take a look at MLS Fantasy Round 22 team reveals and top picks from some of the most experienced managers around. They share their thoughts on their teams going into the new round including captaincy.

Looking at MLS Fantasy Round 22 can be extremely beneficial for new managers. Seeing some of the best assets, who managers will be looking to captain and their general thoughts can help bring clarity within our own teams. So, lets take a look at some of our expert MLS Fantasy Round 22 team reveals.

@dmpwright

Notes

New York Red Bulls and LAFC both have favourable home fixtures and play at opposite ends of the gameweek. This means I can easily pivot to John McCarthy should Carlos Coronel not keep a clean sheet.
In defence, I have paired Coronel and McCarthy with John Tolkin and Diego Palacios, respectively. Palacios didn’t play in LAFC’s last Leagues Cup game and I may switch him to Aaron Long or Ryan Hollingshead should he miss out again.
Yeimar Gómez and Tim Parker also come into the team based on their clean sheet potential. Julian Gressel takes the final defensive spot. While I’m not expecting him to record a clean sheet in the ‘Hell Is Real’ derby, which is historically a high-scoring affair, he is likely to also at least share set pieces. Because of this he should do well offensively.
In midfield, Lucho Acosta, Ryan Gauld and Emmanuel Reynoso all pick themselves thanks to their recent strong form and promising matchups. One of Acosta or Gauld will likely be my captain.
Héctor Herrera also looks a decent bet at home to Portland and has the benefit of both a solid floor and reasonable ceiling, having recorded at least seven Fantasy points and four double-digit hauls in his last five home games.
Eduard Löwen is my final midfield pick but I may yet switch him for Riqui Puig.
Upfront, Cucho Hernández and Dénis Bouanga are certain inclusions, with only my third forward slot up for debate. Currently, I’ve selected Brian White. He should benefit from a rejuvenated Whitecaps team following their summer transfer activity. However, Jefferson Savarino and his strike partner Cristian Arango are also in my thoughts, as is Kwadwo Opoku given Toronto’s form and the absence of goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

@melvin

Notes

Defender – Hollingshead (LAFC; 7.3) – A good fixture vs Colorado rapids makes him a good pick. He is also cheap way into LAFC with good defensive stats this season.
Defender – Brooks Lennon (ATL; 11.4): Brooks Lennon scored a goal in back-to-back games in gw 19 and 20, keeping two clean sheets in that span to also tally 29 points. In addition, with two goals and an assist across his last six outings, Lennon continues to prove he’s also one of the top defenders in MLS regardless of matchup.
Midfielder – Luciano Acosta (CIN; 13.9m) – Cincinnati’s standout player, as evidenced by his 13-game streak of 11 goals and six assists. This suggests that we should anticipate more from him this round.
Forward – Denis Bouanga (LAFC; 10.8m) – Denis Bouanga converted a penalty kick to finish with 13 points in Round 20. He has in total 12 goals and three assists in 21 games. Bouanga is the focal point to their attack and his four-week average is 6.67. He also now registered over 20 shots across his last four appearances.

@MotleyBarnets

Notes

My starting ‘keeper will be McCarthy ($7.3m) with Coronel ($6.1m) playing the part of a Keeper-roo should Red Bulls do well in the early game against DC United.
In defence Parker ($9.7m) and Czichos ($8.6m) will be joined by a scrub, whilst Crew new-boy Gressel ($9.9m) will tussle with Palacios ($9m) for a switcher-roo on my bench.
Across the midfield, my captain Gauld ($11.7m) will be joined by Lowen ($11.1m), Herrera ($11.1m), Acosta ($13.9m) and Reynoso ($9.6m).
Up front, I’ll be starting Bouanga ($10.8m) with a scrub and Cucho ($11.5m) will take up my last bench spot.

@Mahoney

Notes

Round 21 was 147 points and up to 1280 overall.
Captain choice for 22 is not obvious to me. I am on Puig for now. Gauld, Cucho are also options.
Changed over a lot of the squad this week. LA vs RSL ought to lead to a bunch of points.
There are lots of good defenders on the road.
CLT, Miami, Philly, Nash, Dallas and NE all postponed this week so stay away.

Top picks from @dmpwright

MLS returns this weekend after a 5-week hiatus, in which time Lionel Messi et al. have transformed Inter Miami from also-rans to Leagues Cup contenders. Unfortunately for MLS Fantasy players, Messi is unavailable for Round 22, with Miami’s home fixture against Charlotte postponed as a result of their Leagues Cup progress. Nashville and Philadelphia’s games vs New England and FC Dallas, respectively, have also been rescheduled for the same reason.

Ryan Gauld, Vancouver Whitecaps – Midfielder, $11.7m

Ryan Gauld was one of my top targets in Round 21 and boy did he deliver against the LA Galaxy, scoring two goals from seven (!) shots and creating two big chances for a total of 17 Fantasy points. Much has changed in Vancouver since then, with Canadian international defender Richie Laryea joining from Toronto FC (via Nottingham Forest) and creative linchpin Julian Gressel departing for the Columbus Crew.

While we don’t know what to expect of the new-look Whitecaps, the latter move only enhances Gauld’s Fantasy appeal, with the Scot now likely to be on all set pieces following Gressel’s move and an outside bet for captaincy in Round 22.

Lucho Acosta, FC Cincinnati – Midfielder, $13.9m

Lucho Acosta is fast becoming a fixture-proof MLS Fantasy asset. The diminutive Argentine places second in MLS for xG+xA (0.77 per game) and has only failed to score three times since Round 11, racking up 11 goals, six assists and no fewer than seven double-digit Fantasy hauls in that time. Cincinnati face Columbus in the ‘Hell Is Real’ derby in Round 22, a fixture that has only once finished scoreless and averages nearly 3.5 goals per game – and I’m expecting plenty of offensive involvement from Acosta.

Cucho Hernández, Columbus Crew – Forward, $11.5m

Talking of MLS Fantasy unicorns, Cucho Hernández is another player who should be locked in your team for Round 22. Don’t be fooled by his off-colour performance in his last MLS outing: with Lucas Zelarayán controversially departing Columbus during the summer transfer window, Cucho is likely to take up an even more important role for the Crew and will be looking to add to the five goals and 10 assists he’s amassed on the season when his side face Cincinnati.

Differentials – John Tolkin, New York Red Bulls – Defender, $9.1m

John Tolkin is likely to be a transfer target for several European clubs come the offseason and with good reason: among all defenders, he sits tenth for shots (1.07), tenth for xG+xA (0.19) and fifth for key passes (1.66) per game. Couple that with his penchant for bonus points and the Red Bulls’ favourable home fixture against DC United, Tolkin is certainly under consideration for a place in my team.

You may then be wondering why I’ve only listed him as a differential: well, despite their impressive defensive numbers (including a league-low 0.92 xGA and 6.74 shots against per game), the Red Bulls always seem to find a way to concede a sloppy goal or two – in fact, they’ve only kept five clean sheets all season. For that reason, Tolkin will be a bench play at best for me this weekend.