Welcome back for another season of our contest "Guess the Starting XI and Final Score". As always, thanks to former regular Spencer for starting this several years ago. Like last season, we will keep the non-MLS and MLS standings separate. We will also do a first half, second half, and overall standings. Finally, I will have various monthly contests where we add in an ‘extra’ thing to predict, like goal scorers, cards, suspensions, etc. With the basics out of the way, let’s get to the scoring.
MLS Scoring Details
- Contest article will be posted 2-3 days prior to game day
- We will keep track of overall, first/second half, and monthly winners so that late joiners will have something to play for
- I will have a separate ‘contest’ for Voyageurs and Champions League.
- As the MLS season is 34 matches, the overall standings will be based on each participant’s top 30 match guesses. This will allow everyone a few misses or bad guesses throughout the season.
- The first/second Half standings will exclude your worst two match guesses.
- Predictions will be 'valid' if posted prior to the lineup being officially announced (1 hour before kickoff)
How Scoring is Determined
- You receive 1 point for every player you correctly guess to be in the Starting XI. Receive 1 bonus point for correctly predicting 10 starters. Receive 3 bonus points for correctly predicting 11 starters.
- You get 5 points for correctly guessing Win/Lose/Draw.
- You receive 1 point for correctly guessing each team’s final score. Receive 1 bonus point for correctly guessing both teams final score (for a total of 3).
- That means, if you correctly predict the Starting XI, Final Score, and Winner, you can earn 22 points!
At the end of each week, I will tally the scores and update the standings, to be posted with the next week's match thread.
Latest Match Standings
| Ranking | User | Overall Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | User | Overall Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score |
| 1 | MarcoD77 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| 2 | rtomsheck | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | olikchivas | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | chuckbiscuits | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | The Squirrel | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | jacinto | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | BlackPanther99 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | AtlantisB | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Westsider13 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Arjon | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | edmondk | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | dfree646 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GreyHouseEffect | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DougCuth | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | forbrydelsen | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Jph003 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Rob R. Scott | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Slowkid | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Second Half Standings
| Previous Rank | Current Ranking | Change in Ranking | User | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous Rank | Current Ranking | Change in Ranking | User | Overall Score |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | dfree646 | 187 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | olikchivas | 176 |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | GreyHouseEffect | 171 |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | BlackPanther99 | 171 |
| 6 | 5 | 1 | chuckbiscuits | 170 |
| 7 | 6 | 1 | jacinto | 169 |
| 4 | 7 | -3 | robbosg1 | 167 |
| 8 | 7 | 1 | DougCuth | 167 |
| 9 | 7 | 2 | Arjon | 167 |
| 10 | 10 | 0 | rtomsheck | 166 |
| 10 | 11 | -1 | The Squirrel | 165 |
| 12 | 12 | 0 | AtlantisB | 164 |
| 13 | 13 | 0 | Westsider13 | 163 |
| 14 | 14 | 0 | Jph003 | 158 |
| 15 | 15 | 0 | forbrydelsen | 155 |
| 17 | 16 | 1 | MarcoD77 | 153 |
| 16 | 17 | -1 | edmondk | 149 |
| 18 | 18 | 0 | Rob R. Scott | 139 |
| 19 | 19 | 0 | MarcusEarth | 82 |
| 20 | 20 | 0 | Slowkid | 43 |
| 21 | 21 | 0 | justcaps | 27 |
| 21 | 21 | 0 | tecate | 27 |
| 23 | 23 | 0 | Joel Prosser | 23 |
Match in Review (San Jose Earthquakes) and Preview (Portland Timbers)
Once again, Carl Robinson threw us some lineup curve balls while the squad threw us an uninspiring scoreline. Not a single prediction had Marinovic in the lineup over Ousted, while only a handful had de Jong over Harvey. With a fairly predictable lineup otherwise, this resulted in a lot of ‘9’ scores, with no bonuses. However, rtomsheck rolled the dice with de Jong, which gave them a ‘10’ for lineup and the ‘1’ bonus for getting 10/11 correct.
While some predictions were pessimistic thinking the Earthquakes would win, most were optimistic about a Vancouver Whitecaps victory, including myself. Only one person was neither optimistic or pessimistic, and that was MarcoD77 who correctly predicted a 1-1 draw. This led to them being the big winner this week, scoring a total of 17 points. Congrats!
It all comes down to this. Win or Draw and the Caps finish 1st. Lose and they could, and probably will, drop down to 3rd. Carl needs his best lineup. Does that mean Marinovic and de Jong stay in the lineup or do we see a return of Ousted and Harvey? Seems Robbo is playing matchups right now as he has confidence in either option at both positions. Bolanos has served his suspension, but has not been in great form. For the Caps to be successful in the playoffs though, I feel he needs to be on his game. Does he get that opportunity against Portland or do we see Shea or someone else start?
Can the Caps get a victory or has their inability of late to beat the top teams going to mean that they lose? Interestingly, I am more confident with this match being away than I would be if it were a home game.
Good luck!
Injured: Brett Levis, David Edgar, Matias Laba
Suspension: None