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Welcome to another season of our Vancouver Whitecaps contest “Guess the Starting XI and Final Score”. As is tradition, thanks to former regular Spencer for starting this several years ago. It has grown into a great contest and I am appreciative of him for the original idea. Like last season, we will break the contest up into the three ‘seasons’: first half, second half, and non-MLS. We will continue to have fun monthly ‘bonus’ prediction categories, with some being based on whatever it topical at the time. Last season we had things like “Robbo post-match quotes”, “yellow cards”, “first goal scorer”, and several others. However, to start the season, we will keep March simple. With that out of the way, let’s remind you all how the scoring is done.
Contest Details
- Contest article will be posted 2-3 days prior to game day.
- We will keep track of first half, 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, each half of the season will be based on 17 matches, with your worst two match predictions being dropped. This will allow everyone a few misses or bad guesses throughout the season.
- Predictions will be ‘valid’ if posted HERE 1.5 hours prior to kickoff (or half an hour prior to the lineup being officially announced).
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!
After each match, I will tally the scores and update the standings, which will be posted with the following match’s prediction article. I will post three sets of standings. First, the results from the previous match. Second, the monthly standings. Third, the first/second half standings (with your worst two match predictions removed).
Non-MLS Match #3 (Toronto FC)
| Ranking | User | Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | User | Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Card |
| 1 | rtomsheck | 18 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Westsider13 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | AtlantisB | 15 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | BlackPanther99 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | CascadiaCrunchFC | 15 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | olikchivas | 15 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | GreyHouseEffect | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Island Life | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Arjon | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | chuckbiscuits | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | edmondk | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Isabelt | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | JStebeck | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | freewheeling | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | tecate | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | The Squirrel | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Voyageurs Cup Standings
| Ranking | User | Score | Match #1 | Match #2 | Match #3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | User | Score | Match #1 | Match #2 | Match #3 |
| 1 | rtomsheck | 42 | 8 | 16 | 18 |
| 2 | Westsider13 | 35 | 14 | 5 | 16 |
| 3 | Arjon | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 |
| 4 | JStebeck | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| 5 | GreyHouseEffect | 30 | 13 | 3 | 14 |
| 6 | edmondk | 29 | 13 | 4 | 12 |
| 6 | olikchivas | 29 | 12 | 2 | 15 |
| 6 | CascadiaCrunchFC | 29 | 9 | 5 | 15 |
| 6 | BlackPanther99 | 29 | 5 | 9 | 15 |
| 10 | The Squirrel | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 |
| 10 | AtlantisB | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 |
| 10 | chuckbiscuits | 28 | 8 | 8 | 12 |
| 13 | Isabelt | 25 | 9 | 4 | 12 |
| 14 | MarcoD77 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| 15 | Island Life | 16 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 16 | freewheeling | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 17 | tecate | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Match Review (Toronto FC) and Preview (Toronto FC)
Another Vancouver Whitecaps match, another confusing outcome. Didn’t end the best did it. Despite the outcome, we had some good scores, thanks to the predictable lineup. There were SIX perfect lineup predictions, and no one scored lower than 9/11. Only two people, Westsider13 and GreyHouseEffect predicted a draw, while more could have had eight points (five for ‘Winner’ and three for ‘Score’) had Henry not put the ball into his own net at the very end of the match #SameoldCaps.
Congrats to rtomsheck, who used a perfect lineup AND a Felipe card (yellow, red, it all counts) to take top spot this match. It extended rtomsheck’s lead in the Non-MLS Standings to 7 points over Westsider13. They are keeping it close. Looks like the lineup and score will predict who wins the title this year...for us and for the Whitecaps. Just to remind people, we are predicting the score at the END of 90 minutes. So, if we go into extra time or pk, they don’t count towards the score and match winner prediction. If it ends 2-2 after 90 minutes, THAT is the ‘correct’ winner/score.
The Whitecaps now head to Toronto needing a good result. They will have Juarez back, but Felipe will be out, thanks to his red card. Henry may or may not be available; although not having him may not be the worst thing. Aja could (and probably will be) out, while Davies is a game-time decision. You have to think if he is better than 85-90% he plays right? They kind of need him.
Unlike in Vancouver, Toronto is expected to have a full lineup (i.e., Giovinco and Vazquez will be playing). Also, their weekend match was not good on the suspension/card front and on the score sheet. As a result, some guys won’t be playing next weekend and will use this match as their ONLY match this week.
One ray of hope for the Whitecaps is that Toronto has struggled at home all season and are just 4-5-2 in MLS play. You can use the early-season hangover to explain away some of that, but they did lose this past weekend at home, so the Whitecaps have a chance.
Good luck with your prediction!