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 & Previous 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 |
| 5 | 1 | 4 | DougCuth | 47 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 2 | -1 | dfree646 | 44 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 3 | -1 | rtomsheck | 43 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | robbosg1 | 43 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 5 | -2 | jacinto | 41 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 6 | -1 | AtlantisB | 40 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 7 | 0 | The Squirrel | 39 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 8 | -1 | BlackPanther99 | 37 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 8 | -1 | olikchivas | 37 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | 10 | 1 | chuckbiscuits | 36 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 10 | 1 | Jph003 | 36 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | 10 | 3 | Arjon | 36 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | 10 | 4 | forbrydelsen | 36 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 10 | 4 | Rob R. Scott | 36 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | 15 | -5 | GreyHouseEffect | 35 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | 16 | 0 | MarcoD77 | 30 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | 17 | 0 | Westsider13 | 29 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| - | 18 | - | edmondk | 9 | 8 | 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 | 125 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | chuckbiscuits | 122 |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | jacinto | 120 |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | dfree646 | 120 |
| 3 | 5 | -2 | BlackPanther99 | 119 |
| 6 | 6 | 0 | AtlantisB | 118 |
| 7 | 7 | 0 | The Squirrel | 116 |
| 12 | 7 | 5 | DougCuth | 116 |
| 11 | 9 | 2 | robbosg1 | 115 |
| 9 | 10 | -1 | Arjon | 114 |
| 9 | 10 | -1 | rtomsheck | 114 |
| 8 | 12 | -4 | GreyHouseEffect | 112 |
| 13 | 13 | 0 | forbrydelsen | 108 |
| 15 | 14 | 1 | Westsider13 | 104 |
| 14 | 15 | -1 | edmondk | 100 |
| 17 | 16 | 1 | MarcoD77 | 99 |
| 15 | 17 | -2 | Jph003 | 98 |
| 18 | 17 | 1 | Rob R. Scott | 98 |
| 18 | 19 | -1 | MarcusEarth | 82 |
| 20 | 20 | 0 | justcaps | 27 |
| 20 | 20 | 0 | tecate | 27 |
| 22 | 22 | 0 | Joel Prosser | 7 |
Match in Review (Columbus Crew) and Preview (Colorado Rapids)
It seems that the Columbus Crew match saw a lot of Vancouver Whitecaps fans predict with their heart rather than their gut. Nearly HALF of the predictions were for a 2-1 Whitecaps victory. Unfortunately, that did not materialize. There were also some heart lineup predictions with rtomscheck even writing de Jong (please Robbo). Still, we had a few high scores and solid predictions. Forbrydelsen predicted a late equaliser from the Whitecaps. Four participants predicted a draw, but only Rob R. Scott saw the 2-2 scoreline (the rest saw 1-1 as the final outcome). Although DougCuth did not predict the 2-2 scoreline they did predict the draw and were one of two to correctly predict the lineup (Westsider13 the other). A match total of 19 points vaulted DougCuth into first place for the September standings, dropping dfree646 into second.
In the overall standings, olikchivas remains three points ahead of chuckbiscuits. Given the current positions of Arjon and AtlantisB, I suspect we will have a new champion this half. Excited to see who it is. Still plenty of time left, and like the West, it is a tight race. 13 points separate 1st and 12th, with 10 points separating 1st and 9th, AND 6 points separating 1st and 5th. Get a correct winner prediction without your opponents correctly predicting and you vault up the standings!
Saturday, the Caps face one of, if not the worst, road team in the Colorado Rapids. The match seems like a safe bet for a win, but you never know. With the important road Cascadia match on Wednesday, do we see some players who have not played much get a start? Does Nerwinski sit in favor of Williams? Does Marinovic get his first start at home over Ousted? Does Reyna sit in favor of Mezquida? What about Ibini? Teibert has been strong in his starts. Maybe Tchani sits after three matches in a week. What about Jacobson, who has not played in a while? Sit Ghazal for this match, to save him for Wednesday/Saturday this upcoming week? Winner prediction seems easier, but that lineup could be something else.
Two final notes. Kendall Waston is suspended due to yellow card accumulation while Chrisian Bolanos is questionable, still recouping from his Costa Rica injury.
Known Out (will be updated as information becomes available)
Injured: Brett Levis, David Edgar, Matias Laba
Questionable: Christian Bolanos
Suspension: Kendall Waston (yellow card accumulation)