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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 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).
MLS Match #20 (LAFC) Standings
| Rank | User | Total | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | User | Total | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Interval |
| 1 | Westsider13 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | chuckbiscuits | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Isabelt | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | AtlantisB | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | AmandaC | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | hbamaral | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Island Life | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Airos | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Jitsuo | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | GreyHouseEffect | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | edmondk | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Trest_Tristes_Tigres | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | CapsOnTheDrive | 13 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | CascadiaCrunchFC | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | J Stebeck | 11 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | rtomsheck | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Colombian_Southsider77 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | ZTJ9901 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | jvenn | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | tecate | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | CDPrior | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | AshMan77 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 |
Match Review and Preview
It was a rough night down in Los Angeles. Two-thirds of us predicted the loss, but none of us really saw it being THAT bad as no one predicted more than four goals. Potentially surprising was that one-third of us saw the Caps coming away from LA with points. I guess the previous LAFC match gave some of us hope? However, after the drubbing they gave SKC on Wednesday, and that the match was in LA, I am sure hindsight makes some of you regret not predicting a loss.
Congrats to Westsider13 on earning the only lineup bonus, and the highest overall score this match with a total of 16. The most common lineup score was 8. Most people didn’t seem so be aware of Adnan’s transfer certificate issues, and those who were aware just went with the crowd. I (AtlantisB) was aware, but copied and pasted another lineup and didn’t make the switch. Tried to make it last minute, prior to the lineup being announced, but Tres_Tristes_Tigres (rightfully) didn’t give me credit for it. Oh well. Additionally, most people put Montero up top to pair with Reyna. Many people also missed on Rose either because they went with a 4-3-3 (or 4-2-3 in the case of Jitsuo), or replaced Rose with Cornelius in a 5-3-2.
We have our new bonus category of goal interval. Congrats to intermittent predictor JStebeck, who was the only one to correctly predict the interval.
We had Calgary last night and now it is time for Sporting Kansas City. With the Canadian Championship match we could see some rotation for Saturday, but don’t forget that some of the youngsters play in the Canadian Championship, so we might not see too much need for rotation. One player we know will NOT be in the match is Montero, who picked up a red card at the end of the LAFC match. Now the question is who starts in his place? Do we see Reyna alone? Does Bair come in? Does Venuto pair with Reyna again? Adnan will be available once again, so expect him to be slotted in on the left.
Remember, three points if you correctly predict the 15-minute interval that the Caps score their first goal of the match. If you believe they won’t score, you need to put that. Simply having a score of 3-0 SKC, for example, will not suffice. Your options are, of course, 0-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90. Goals in stoppage time go towards the 31-45 or 76-90 intervals.
That is all from me for now. Make sure to check out our Know the Enemy and Pre-Match articles before making your predictions.
P.S. July Standings update to come after this weekend.