Guess the Starting XI & Final Score 2019 (MLS Match #15 - FC Dallas)

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 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).

RECAP (courtesy of Tres_Tristes_Tigres & AtlantisB)

Quick update today, as we have a short turnaround for the next match (tomorrow).

The bad news is that it wasn’t a good match prediction for everyone. Even Whitecaps twitter was making fun of those who tried to guess the lineup (specifically fantasy soccer players, but it applies equally to us). The best lineup score was 8/11, from rtomsheck and hbamaral. No one got a substitute correct; although not surprising given who came off and on.

The good news is that (almost) all of us predicted an ugly loss, so everyone was on equal footing when it comes to this one. Except for one person. Congrats to ColombianSouthsider77 who was the only ones to correctly predict a draw and thus the only person to acquire a double-digit score.

The Caps play again tomorrow against FC Dallas. The good news is that they are at home. The bad news is that the club is pretty banged up right now. While there are some key injuries it appears that several are just minor nicks (e.g., Felipe & Erice) and should be able to play. Lineup predictions could be all over the place, so we will see how it all unfolds on Saturday. I will have an update of all three standings on Sunday.

Good luck everyone. As usual, check out our prematch coverage for all the information on injuries and so forth

Know the Enemy

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