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Guess the Starting XI and Final Score (MLS Match 16: Chicago Fire)

By AtlantisB
Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

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.

Bonus June Post-Match Scoring

Based on the suggestion last match, we are going to add a fun little contest to the rest of the June schedule. We are going to do ‘quotes from the post-match’. Credit must be given for these. I grabbed them from a conversation with AFTN Canada and others, which you can find here
https://twitter.com/aftncanada/status/869722711345332224
Pick the TWO that you think will be in the post-match interview with Carl Robinson. 1 point for one correct guess. 3 points! for two correct guesses.

Quotes to Choose

  • We knew it wasn't going to be easy. Minnesota is a good team
  • I learned a lot about some of my players tonight
  • I couldn't be more proud of that effort
  • Player X ran their socks off
  • I can't fault the lads. They put in a shift tonight.
  • Game of fine lines
  • Not easy stepping in
  • The boys responded to X and it's a credit to them
  • I have full confidence in the boys/lads
  • Player X is playing with a lot of confidence
  • It is a fair result
  • Hard to win (get points) on the road
  • "He’s still a few weeks away from full fitness" via justcaps
  • "He stepped up and did what he has done every day in training." via MarcusEarth

I am posting TWO different sets of standings. The first is the monthly standings (with previous match results). The second is the first half standings (with worst two match predictions removed).

JUNE STANDINGS

Previous Rank Current Ranking Change in User Overall Match 15 (Minnesota United)
Ranking Score Lineup Bonus Winner Score Quotes
3 1 2 edmondk 52 11 3 0 1 3
1 2 -1 jacinto 51 10 1 0 1 0
2 2 0 AtlantisB 51 11 3 0 1 0
3 4 -1 rtomsheck 49 11 3 0 1 0
5 4 1 olikchivas 49 10 1 5 0 0
5 6 -1 The Squirrel 48 11 3 0 1 0
7 7 0 BlackPanther99 47 11 3 0 1 0
7 8 -1 MarcoD77 44 10 1 0 1 0
9 9 0 justcaps 43 10 1 0 1 0
9 10 -1 Westsider13 42 10 1 0 0 0
12 11 1 Arjon 41 10 1 0 1 0
15 11 4 forbrydelsen 41 11 3 0 1
13 13 0 GreyHouseEffect 40 10 1 0 1 1
15 13 2 Jph003 40 11 3 0 0 0
13 15 -2 chuckbiscuits 39 10 1 0 1 0
17 16 1 DougCuth 38 10 1 0 1 1
9 17 -8 Soccer Mum 31
19 18 - MarcusEarth 26 11 3 0 0 0
18 19 -1 tecate 14

FIRST HALF STANDINGS (MATCHES 1 TO 17)

Previous Rank Current Ranking Change in User Overall
Ranking Score
1 1 0 Arjon 195
2 2 0 Jph003 191
3 3 0 rtomsheck 189
4 4 0 BlackPanther99 187
6 5 1 AtlantisB 185
7 5 2 olikchivas 185
5 7 -2 MarcoD77 183
8 7 1 edmondk 183
10 9 1 The Squirrel 180
9 10 -1 justcaps 179
11 11 0 chuckbiscuits 176
13 12 1 jacinto 168
16 12 4 forbrydelsen 168
15 14 1 DougCuth 166
12 15 -3 Soccer Mum 164
17 16 1 GreyHouseEffect 163
13 17 -4 WestCoastCule 156
18 18 0 Westsider13 155
19 19 0 MarcusEarth 139
20 20 0 mattock 98

Match in Review (Minnesota United) and Preview (Chicago Fire)

Congrats goes out to Olikchivas as they were the only one to predict a draw in the match. It moved them up a spot (to 4th) in the June standings and two spots to 5th in the First Half standings. Speaking of first half, we have only two matches left to decide the winner. Arjon has a four point lead over Jph003, with rtomsheck two points behind Jph003. It should be close. Can Arjon defend their First Half title from last season?

The Vancouver Whitecaps travel to Chicago to face the Fire on Saturday. While the match will technically be in July, I am going to include it in the June standings and then have no contest for July, given the Gold Cup. I have added a few new quotes, thanks to justcaps and MarcusEarth. Back to the Fire match, the Caps will be heading to a place where no one but the Fire have won this year. In fact, only one team (Montreal) has come away with even a draw in Chicago, and that was way back in Week 4. The good news is that Chicago suffered a heart-breaking loss in a shootout to Cincinnati on Wednesday in the US Open Cup. In that 120 minutes plus match, many of their starters went the distance. With Gold Cup coming, Chicago will be without some of their key players as well. If there was a time that a team could leave Chicago with points this season, it seems now might be that time.

Like Chicago, the Caps will be without some of their players too. Alphonso Davies, Russell Teibert, and Marcel de Jong will all be away for Canada, so there will be slim pickings for the Caps. This will be a tough match to call. Good luck.

KNOWN OUT (Will be updated as information becomes available)

Injury: Brett Levis, David Edgar, Yordy Reyna, Erik Hurtado, Christian Dean, Nico Mezquida, Christian Bolanos, Kendall Waston

Suspension: Sheanon Williams

International Duty: Alphonso Davies, Russell Teibert, Marcel de Jong, Sam Adekugbe

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