It's Round 35 already! Where has the time gone?
Only two more weeks until everyone gets their playoff wildcard to start fresh again, but it's all about finishing strong. If you're still behind after the regular season don't despair, you can make some gutsy underdog calls and really go against the grain.
Montreal and Los Angeles are the two teams to load up on this round as they both feature double-headers. Tough decisions are to be made in the Galaxy camp though, with Robbie Keane ($11.1m) featuring in only one game and Landon Donovan ($10.3m) reported as having lingering ankle issues. The other question to ask is whether Montreal Impact can break their skid and salvage a post season date? This week, we touch on the must haves of both teams.
Montreal Impact
There's news that Marco Di Viao ($9.7m) and Patrice Bernier ($8.1m) are both carrying knocks. We've held on to Di Vaio as we believe he'll be a trooper and play through any issues he has, but we worry about Bernier's status and have since sold him.
Like many on the Impact side Hassoun Camara ($5.1m) hasn't been posting the greatest fantasy numbers of late, but offers the most upset potential on the Montreal back line. With so many injuries in their defensive core we've decided to bank on a player that teammates look up to, Alessandro Nesta ($4.9m). The former italian international hasn't had a fantasy worthwhile season this year but there's no question of his importance to this squad.
Looking at their past performance, we're banking that the Impact will concede at Los Angeles tonight but there's still a real chance at a clean sheet when they go back home to Montreal to face the Philidelphia Union in a playoff standing implication match.
After the injured Bernier, there's not a lot to choose from in the middle of the park for the Impact. Looking for a player who can play the full ninety minutes really makes it slim pickings but again we run into Bernardello ($7.2m) he might not be the workhorse or point machine that Bernier is, but one things for sure, he's healthy, and at this point in the season sometimes that's all you can ask for.
Los Angeles Galaxy
The goal scoring sensation Robbie Keane ($11.1m) looks to only feature in just the second of the two games for the Galaxy this round, but possibly that's enough? We all know the potential damage he can do, the stat line says it all, 9 games of 11 or more points this season. We've picked him! When is Keane ever a bad choice? Never!
Landon Donovan's ($10.3m) injured ankle is reportedly still bothering him. He recently commented that it was a little worse than initially thought so we're steering clear of this one. Sprained ankles are not to be messed with and while the Galaxy are still yet to secure their playoff spot, they have a strong enough team and poised well enough in the standings to be able to get by without him. The Galaxy surprisingly have a record of 6-3-1 when Donovan didn't feature for them this year. If that doesn't show that they can cope without him for now, we don't know what else will.
Omar Gonzalez ($6.2m) and Sean Franklin ($5.3m) are perhaps our most favourite picks for this week, as we're confident the Galaxy will be able to get at least one clean sheet. These two defenders have accumulated a great amount of fantasy points this season and very quietly too, which is even a bigger sign of a defender doing his job correctly. When defenders are good picks, almost always, the goalie is too. Jaime Penedo ($4.9m) is a great pick this week, but we can understand if he doesn't crack your maximum three Galaxy picks. The team has lots of attractive depth and look destined for another MLS Cup journey.
