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After a short summer break, the free-to-play Sorare Academy returned last week with a bumper chance to win prizes.
There are 15 more opportunities to land a Sorare card this week as we again focus on all things Major League Soccer (MLS).
This time we hand over to guest writer Frip to take us through the fixtures.
Frip has been playing Fantasy MLS for over 10 years now and peaked when reaching an overall rank of 1st in the 2014 McDonald’s FIFA World Cup game. Since then he’s rekindled a love for Fantasy Football through Sorare. You can find him on Twitter posting regular MLS injuries, transfers and other news here.
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Last gameweek
A whopping 30 managers secured a prize last week as we doubled up to celebrate our return. Top of the leaderboard was manager Quovad with this team:
Five match-ups to target this weekend
MLS is back with another full set of 14 games this weekend. Starting on Friday with Cincinnati hosting Orlando, we have a packed set of fixtures that include the ‘California Clasico’ between LA Galaxy and San Jose (and a car parade through San Jose, if you’re into that).
Sorare Academy players have a myriad of choices in these fixtures, so let’s take a look at some of the best ones to target with your picks.
Charlotte FC at CF Montreal
As in other leagues, the best defensive fixtures are found in match-ups where the home team is heavily favoured. This weekend doesn’t have any obvious standouts like that in store for us, but Montreal hosting 2022 newcomers Charlotte FC might be the closest thing to it. Charlotte have yet to win away from home and Montreal pose a tough task as well.
Be careful with Djordje Mihailovic and Kamal Miller, who are both set to miss this fixture with injuries. Both of them would be great picks if healthy, but alas, it’ll just be Sebastian Breza and Joel Waterman for me here.
Sporting Kansas City at Seattle Sounders
Seattle gets to host a possibly tired Kansas City, after the latter play in the US Open Cup midweek. Seattle are undefeated in their last five, having won four of those games.
You could do worse than picking five Seattle players this weekend but keep an eye on injury news as mainstays Raul Ruidiaz and Xavier Arreaga are going to miss out. The good news is that last season’s Defender of the Year runner-up Yeimar Andrade could return to the starting XI for this one.
Nicolas Lodeiro is my captain this weekend as he has a high floor and ceiling thanks to his all-around scores and likelihood of picking up a goal or assist.
I’ll be following injury updates for Yeimar closely as this is a risky pick.
Los Angeles Galaxy at San Jose
This fixture has produced some incredible games over the years, usually with lots of goals involved. An attacker from either team here could round out your line-up in the Extra spot. I particularly like midfielder Jamiro Monteiro, who picks up solid all-around scores and could always get on the scoresheet himself. Christian Espinoza may have been a bit quiet lately but this is the type of game I would want him in my lineup for.
My Galaxy pick here would be Dejan Joveljic, who is unfortunately still a substitute despite making the difference off the bench repeatedly this season.
New York Red Bulls at LAFC
LAFC have another tough match-up at home this weekend after they held Seattle to a 1-1 draw last week. This time, however, they have the benefit of playing the Red Bulls after their midweek Open Cup game. LAFC were careful with Carlos Vela last weekend due to his lingering injury and the same thing could happen this weekend. If you’re like me and don’t want to take a risk on Vela then Christian Arango is a solid forward option for this game. Jose Cifuentes is the go-to if you need a midfielder
Defensively, LAFC have just made a splash by signing former Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini. He’ll be eligible to play in early July and until then Mamadou Fall, Sebastien Ibeagha, Jesus David Murillo, and possibly Eddie Segura will share centre-back duties. Avoid.
Atlanta United at Toronto FC
This one is for the contrarians among you who’d like to back a red-hot team on the road. Atlanta is coming off of a 2-0 win and faces a Toronto defence that has allowed the second-most goals in the league so far. There are plenty of choices in Atlanta’s XI and you could double dip with both Luiz Araujo and Josef Martinez, or even bring in Alan Franco as well.
As far as Toronto goes, their #10 Alejandro Pozuelo is always a threat and that’s before he gets even more support from star signing Lorenzo Insigne in a couple of weeks.
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