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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.
· 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.
I am posting TWO different sets of standings. Last match's results and the first half standings.
MATCH 9 RESULTS
| Ranking | User | Overall | Match 9 (Colorado Rapids) | ||||
| Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Goal Scorer | ||
| 1 | MarcoD77 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | -1 |
| 1 | olikchivas | 21 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | -1 |
| 3 | rtomsheck | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | The Squirrel | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | DougCuth | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | BlackPanther99 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | edmondk | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | GreyHouseEffect | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | jacinto | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |
| 3 | MarcusEarth | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1 | -1 |
| 3 | justcaps | 19 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 3 | |
| 12 | Arjon | 18 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -1 |
| 12 | Jph003 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -1 |
| 12 | chuckbiscuits | 18 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -1 |
| 12 | WestCoastCule | 18 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 3 | -1 |
| 16 | AtlantisB | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | -1 |
| 17 | Soccer Mum | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| 18 | forbrydelsen | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 | Westsider13 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
FIRST HALF STANDINGS (MATCHES 1 TO 17)
| Previous Rank | Current Ranking | Change in | User | Overall |
| Ranking | Score | |||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Arjon | 109 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | chuckbiscuits | 101 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | Jph003 | 101 |
| 6 | 2 | 4 | olikchivas | 101 |
| 8 | 5 | 3 | MarcoD77 | 100 |
| 2 | 6 | -4 | AtlantisB | 99 |
| 6 | 6 | 0 | rtomsheck | 99 |
| 10 | 8 | 2 | WestCoastCule | 94 |
| 11 | 9 | 2 | The Squirrel | 93 |
| 11 | 10 | 1 | justcaps | 92 |
| 5 | 11 | -6 | mattock | 90 |
| 14 | 11 | 3 | BlackPanther99 | 90 |
| 9 | 13 | -4 | forbrydelsen | 88 |
| 15 | 14 | 1 | DougCuth | 87 |
| 16 | 15 | 1 | GreyHouseEffect | 84 |
| 13 | 16 | -3 | Westsider13 | 83 |
| 18 | 17 | 1 | edmondk | 82 |
| 17 | 18 | -1 | Soccer Mum | 78 |
| 20 | 19 | 1 | jacinto | 69 |
| 22 | 19 | 3 | MarcusEarth | 69 |
| 19 | 21 | -2 | Tanzaniamagic | 52 |
| 20 | 22 | -2 | jamesmarkgraham | 50 |
| 23 | 23 | 0 | Wardy1700 | 41 |
| 24 | 24 | 0 | Norwegian Would | 38 |
| 25 | 25 | 0 | GTCrane | 33 |
| 26 | 26 | 0 | soccerdad66 | 32 |
| 27 | 27 | 0 | Zee Samnani | 22 |
| 28 | 28 | 0 | smatthew | 20 |
| 29 | 29 | 0 | Acumen | 9 |
| 29 | 29 | 0 | CalgaryRik | 9 |
| 29 | 29 | 0 | RedArmyNic | 9 |
| 29 | 29 | 0 | WRCAPS | 9 |
| 33 | 33 | 0 | ArrSea | 8 |
Match in Review (Colorado Rapids) and Preview (Houston Dynamo)
Another match, another Vancouver Whitecaps win. That meant that prediction scores were high. We actually had TWO perfect predictions (MarcoD77 and olikchivas). Another seven predictions only slightly missed out on the final score. Nice job everyone. The one place where there were problems was with goal scorer. Considering most, if not all, of us did not know Shea would even be available, no one correctly predicted him as the goal scorer. Anyway, on to Houston.
The Caps are heading to a state where they have never won. In fact, they have never even drawn against Dallas or Houston. With the Whitecaps on a two-match road winning streak, and playing well of late, does the team get its first point(s) in the Lone Star state? If they do, will it be a draw or a win?
It is tough for Carl Robinson to modify the lineup given the success of late. However, Tchani has not looked comfortable. Does Robbo risk destroying his confidence by taking him out of the lineup or does he hope that Tony can work through it by playing? Does anyone else end up out? Several players were quite sick in Colorado and have not fully recovered (Kendall Waston being the most notable). Will some players be absent thanks to illness?
Time to get your predictions in for the match! It looks like a simple prediction, but I think it will be trickier than most expect!
KNOWN OUT (Will be updated as information becomes available)
Injury: David Edgar, Brett Levis, Yordy Reyna, Erik Hurtado
Suspension:
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