This article is part of our DraftKings Fantasy Soccer series.
Welcome to RotoWire's renovated DraftKings article. We're going to examine two potential winning lineups for this weekend's slate and dive into the strategic side of lineup construction, while still presenting a bundle of great plays to target. Keep in mind that there are countless ways to build a winning DraftKings lineup, and these are just two approaches for this week.
Lineup No. 1: Heroes at Home
With a million ways to go on this expansive slate, we'll focus on some attractive values playing at home for this lineup. I probably don't need to explain the Sebastian Giovinco selection, but just in case you've been sleeping for the entire MLS season, he is essentially MLS's Lionel Messi. Leaving him out of your lineup is, at best, a GPP prayer. Robbie Keane and Bradley Wright-Phillips are both top forwards at a discount price with home fixtures. Captain Keano looks to be fit after a lengthy injury absence and scored three goals midweek against a bunch of Pacific Coast college all-stars. He's been the best goal scorer in the league since his arrival, fairly convincingly, and assuming he starts against an injury-laden Philadelphia Union, he'll will be a top play. Wright-Phillips might be flying under most peoples' radar, but his last five shot tallies at home are 6-5-5-3-5 which makes for a nice floor when you factor in his upside. BWP had a whopping three hat tricks last season, when he tied the MLS goal scoring record at 27. I respect Vancouver's defense far more than the Union's but it's not keeping me away from New York's star striker.
As I tend to do, I have spent most of the budget on three forwards. Luckily, there's plenty of value to be had on this slate. While Seattle should have some good midfield values, and we get to see their lineup first, I'm buying the opposing keeper David Bingham to save some cash. No Clint Dempsey (suspension) and no Obafemi Martins (hamstring) against a good San Jose back line makes $3,700 an attractive price. I'm left guessing who will start in some of the later matches. Will Johnson, Maxim Tissot and Pedro Ribeiro are all options I considered, but I landed on Tommy McNamara. He didn't start in NYC FC's midweek match, while Kwadwo Poku did, so I think Tommy Mac gets the nod this weekend. He's already helped the offense look much more capable, and is a great dart to throw for just $4,200.
This pick lets us afford one of two midfielders that I've been looking at in the low $6,000 range: Michael Bradley or Felipe Martins. If you are a proponent of stacking players, either of these two guys go with one of the forwards. I don't think stacking players in a tournament lineup is a must, but it's definitely one strategy to consider. I went with Martins simply because it's hard to forget Bradley's usual fantasy form, but the U.S. National Team key cog is riding high after a great couple of friendlies for the USA.
We're left with finalizing our defense, and I'm targeting two home teams again. Los Angeles is one of the more obvious clean sheet picks of the entire season against Philly, so Oscar Sorto is an affordable fullback selection that I like a lot. He hasn't been racking up points in any big way, but we can't get too picky with our barrel-scraping budget. Finally, I looked at two different Montreal defensive options, Hassoun Camara and Ambroise Oyongo. Neither are guaranteed to start, but Oyongo is available and Camara is nearly healthy again. Should either play, they're what we need to make all our other pieces fit, and they do provide some offensive upside.
Devil's Advocate: Let's start with the part we just finished: defense. This lineup lacks a lot of high-end appeal on the back end, and if one of the Montreal options doesn't start, we're left having to downgrade Sorto or Keane just to field a full lineup. It's a calculated risk, but not one that needs to be taken on a big slate. The forward options look great, but many people will be looking to have at least Giovinco and Keane, and will the rest of our lineup be able to push us ahead of the others? BWP better step up if we're putting all of our remaining eggs in that basket.
Why We'll Win: We have three of the top five goal scorers (in talent, not 2015 stats) in the league, and at home to boot. Our defensive choices have a solid chance to hold their own, leaving it to our midfield to produce. Felipe and McNamara should be in good positions to grab us the points we need to cash our entries, and we may not even need their help should two of our three forward stars earn their keep.
Lineup No. 2: Daring Differentials
Despite a hefty six-game slate, there are a lot of obvious plays this week. Keane and Giovinco could easily be over 50 percent owned, while Marco Pappa and Lamar Neagle will be heavily targeted as well with Seattle's missing stars. There's good reasons to grab all of these players, but often the biggest winners come up with a smart lineup that involves some picks from off the beaten path. That's what we're looking to do with this lineup.
Before we get to the differentials though, let's get some of our cliche plays out of the way. Giovinco, locked and loaded. Los Angeles defense and keeper against a Philadelphia Union squad traveling across the country without Sebastian Le Toux, Fernando Aristeguieta, Conor Casey and Steven Vitoria...sold! We're left with $25,800 to split between two midfielders and two forwards, not a lot, but plenty to work with.
First, I want more of Los Angeles. Philadelphia is missing their high-paid center back (Vitoria), and Los Angeles is warming up offensively. Gyasi Zardes had a goal midweek, but was subbed off at half time presumably to rest for this match. He's fresher than Keane, and has more playing time under his belt this season. If Keane is an obvious play to everybody and their brother, isn't it likely that Gyasi will be involved? Jose Villareal is also an option, if you want to grab a cheaper piece of L.A. of shuffle the savings elsewhere.
One of my first thoughts when picking differentials this week was Cyle Larin. The first overall pick in Major League Soccer's most recent draft has been on fire lately. He's scored five goals in eleven MLS appearances (eight starts), and he also picked up a goal in both of Canada's recent World Cup qualifying wins (yes, those are already happening). Montreal tends to allow plenty of shots, and assuming Larin starts atop the formation, he's the best bet to rifle a handful of his own. It would be irresponsible not to mention that he also gets to receive some excellent service from the world-renowned Kaka.
We're left with just under $11,000 for midfielders. The Seattle and San Jose game intrigues me, and I love the fact that we'll get to see those lineups before any of our rosters lock. Seattle at home could still put up a fight, and while I like Bingham as a cheap keeper, I'm looking to Cristian Roldan or Thomas to get the start and pick up some extra attacking responsibilities. I probably prefer Thomas should he start, but let's put Roldan in so we know where our budget stands if we need to pay the extra $400. With such a cheap pick, we now can afford the second tier of midfielders, and I'm staying in this game for my favorite. Matias Perez Garcia did not play midweek for San Jose and their offense tends to run through him. The shifty midfielder has not found the goals or assists to match his on-field effort, but frequently earns double digit points on DraftKings. With a nice floor, and a ceiling that we have yet to see, MPG should live up to his name and earn us plenty of mileage for the money against a Seattle team that's both missing key players and coming off a frustrating loss to Portland.
While I'm a big fan of the lineup we've selected, the beauty of this roster is that there are a lot of interchangeable parts. If you like Maxi Urruti, Diego Valeri, Ignacio Maganto or numerous other good values, it's very easy to shuffle some salary around. Make this your starting template, and tweak it to your drafting strengths.
Devil's Advocate: Star power is severely lacking from this lineup. This is an unnecessary risk with plenty of elite plays available on this slate, and paying up for a surer bet is the smart choice. Even the best daily fantasy players would find it challenging to strike gold on all four differential picks. Also, a lot of salary could be shifted from defense rather than chasing clean sheet points.
Why We'll Win: Our foundation of the Los Angeles defense and Giovinco is quite strong. We may be missing Keane, but we've built an affordable attack with two promising young international quality forwards. That's a good calculated risk and still grabs us a piece of the L.A. attack. The midfield could go any number of ways, but by targeting two players in the early game, we minimize our risk of getting stuck with late roster surprises. San Jose went into Seattle and scored three goals once already this season, against a much stronger Sounders side, so Perez Garcia could be a sneaky good pick.
