Guess the Starting XI & Final Score 2019 (MLS Match #7 - LAFC)

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.

P.S. I would love if someone would create a great little graphic that we could use for these articles!

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 half-an-hour 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!

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).

Match in Review (Chicago Fire) and Preview (Los Angeles FC)

There is a predicament I face. This is tons of fun, and I am happy when more and more people make predictions. The problem is, it takes a while to get this post together, as I do all the calculations by hand (FYI, if someone has suggestions to automate some of it, I would greatly appreciate it!). I used to give long match reviews and previews, but they are getting shorter and shorter these days. Let’s see where this one takes us.

First, let’s review the Chicago match predictions. The Sutter move was unexpected by some of us, but for a substantial portion of you the move was expected. We also had several correct scoreline predictions. No surprise that Montero was predicted a lot as the first goal scorer. He is the striker after all and the pk taker (sorry Adnan). AdamP17 even said “on a PK”. Sadly for them, Reyna was the opportunistic one in this match. AtlantisB (woo hoo!), TillmanD, and Jitsuo were the only participants to predict Reyna.

Speaking of predictions though, a shout out to tecate who correctly predicted the VAR decision. Sorry, no bonus points for that. However, we will add it into the predictions this week (for both matches). In addition to correctly predicting the first goal scorer for the Whitecaps (3 points), state whether a VAR decision will lead directly to a goal being awarded or disallowed (this includes awarding a PK or taking away a PK). Correctly saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to VAR will earn you one point for this month’s standings.

Don’t worry though, there is a consolation prize waiting for you....see below.

There were some participants who were great on predicting the scoreline but not the lineup (e.g., Tres_Tristes_Tigres), while others were great at predicting the lineup but not the scoreline. I was a little disappointed with our own Jitsuo, who selected the injured Rose for their lineup. Tisk tisk! Isabelt did the same thing but made the correction in time.

Congrats to Westsider13 and AlexGangue91 who both correctly predicted the lineup and received the bonus three points. Unfortunately for both, poor score decisions meant neither finished at the top of the standings. That honor went to CapsOnTheDrive and GreyHouseEffect who both correctly predicted all but Sutter and also predicted the scoreline.

Finally, once again AmandaC made a correct prediction in their writeup (Sutter for Nerwinski) but didn’t put it into their lineup prediction. Gotta trust yourself more AmanadaC!

Second, we have the April standings currently led by myself, followed by Westsider13, CapsOnTheDrive, and GreyHouseEffect.

Third, I have finally added in the 1st Half Standings. Remember that your worst two scores have been removed. tecate leads the pack with 61 points, followed by Westsider13 and edmondk. CascadiaCrunchFC and AtlantisB round out the top five. Westsider13 is probably in the best position of all of us as they have a ‘13’ score that has been removed. Therefore, they have the most leeway for a poor match prediction.

Fourth, we have the LAFC match on Wednesday. This is getting long so I will keep this short. The Caps play twice this week, with a Saturday afternoon match in Orlando. That means a very long trip. I suspect we will see a lot of rotation this week. While Orlando City is the ‘easier’ opponent, MDS needs a win now, so I expect a strong lineup on Wednesday night. Whether that translates to a victory against a strong LAFC squad we will see.

Of course, for more information about the upcoming match make sure to check out our Know the Enemy and Match Preview.

Good luck everyone!