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.
September Standings (with Last Match)
| Previous Rank | Current Ranking | Change in Ranking | User | Overall Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Interval Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous Rank | Current Ranking | Change in Ranking | User | Overall Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Interval Score |
| - | 1 | - | DougCuth | 18 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| - | 2 | - | jacinto | 17 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| - | 3 | - | BlackPanther99 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| - | 3 | - | robbosg1 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| - | 5 | - | rtomsheck | 15 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| - | 5 | - | olikchivas | 15 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| - | 5 | - | AtlantisB | 15 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| - | 5 | - | dfree646 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| - | 9 | - | GreyHouseEffect | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| - | 9 | - | chuckbiscuits | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| - | 11 | - | MarcoD77 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| - | 11 | - | The Squirrel | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| - | 11 | - | Arjon | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| - | 14 | - | Jph003 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| - | 15 | - | Westsider13 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | 15 | - | forbrydelsen | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | 15 | - | Rob R. Scott | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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 | olikchivas | 103 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | chuckbiscuits | 102 |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | BlackPanther99 | 98 |
| 4 | 4 | 0 | jacinto | 96 |
| 5 | 5 | 0 | AtlantisB | 93 |
| 6 | 6 | 0 | dfree646 | 91 |
| 6 | 6 | 0 | Arjon | 91 |
| 8 | 6 | 2 | GreyHouseEffect | 91 |
| 8 | 9 | -1 | The Squirrel | 90 |
| 13 | 10 | 3 | robbosg1 | 88 |
| 16 | 11 | 5 | DougCuth | 87 |
| 12 | 12 | 0 | rtomsheck | 86 |
| 10 | 13 | -3 | edmondk | 83 |
| 10 | 14 | -4 | MarcusEarth | 82 |
| 17 | 14 | 3 | MarcoD77 | 82 |
| 13 | 16 | -3 | Westsider13 | 81 |
| 13 | 17 | -4 | forbrydelsen | 80 |
| 18 | 18 | 0 | Jph003 | 76 |
| 19 | 19 | 0 | Rob R. Scott | 70 |
| 20 | 20 | 0 | justcaps | 27 |
| 21 | 21 | 0 | tecate | 21 |
| 22 | 22 | 0 | Joel Prosser | 7 |
Match in Review (Real Salt Lake) and Preview (Minnesota United)
Of course, Carl Robinson would make me look foolish in my statement that Aly Ghazal was still a bit away from starting. Oh well. Maybe a surprise to some, but not at the same time, Waston was started over Maund. A bit more surprising was that Ibini filled in for the injured Bolanos instead of Shea. Seems the decisions were the correct ones as Waston scored a goal while Ibini set up a goal.
Apparently making late predictions proved fruitful as only Jph003 and robbosg1 had Ibini in the lineup. Shout out to robbosg1, who was the only one to predict a Waston start. Congrats. That gave robbosg1 the only lineup bonus points (for correctly predicting 10 starters). However, the big winner was DougCuth, who came back from holidays to take an early September lead. While they only scored 8 on their lineup, a correct winner, final score, and first goal prediction gave them a match total of 18, one ahead of jacinto and two ahead of third place BlackPanther99 and robbosg1.
In the second half standings there was not a lot of movement. The top 5 remained unchanged, but chuckbiscuits did close the gap to olikchivas to 1 at the top. Nipping at olikchivas heels are BlackPanther99 (5 back), jacinto (7 back), and AtlantisB (10 back).
The Vancouver Whitecaps have a quick turnaround and as we have seen in recent matches, Carl Robinson is not afraid to rotate his lineup. Do we see a lot of changes this match or will they come for the Saturday contest? Hard to split up a team that looked quite good against RSL, but there should be changes. Does Ousted, Nerwinski, and Harvey sit? Ghazal surely can’t go 90 in two straight right? What happens up front? Montero get a rest? Is Bolanos healthy enough to be in the lineup again (probably not)? Does Mezquida play or does Reyna stay in the middle. Will we see Davies start a match or does Shea come in?
Time to get your predictions in. Good luck!