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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).
Match 21 Standings
| Rank | User | Total | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | User | Total | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Goal |
| 1 | GreyHouseEffect | 15 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | tecate | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Westsider13 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | The Squirrel | 13 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | rtomsheck | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | edmondk | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | chuckbiscuits | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | AshMan77 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | AtlantisB | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | ZTJ9901 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Stick of butter | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Colombian_Southsider77 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | CascadiaCrunchFC | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | CDPrior | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Tres_Tristes_Tigres | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Isabelt | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | J Stebeck | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | hbamaral | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | CapsOnTheDrive | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Island Life | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Airos | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | AmandaC | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
June Standings
| Rank | User | Total | LAFC | Cavalry FC | SKC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | User | Total | LAFC | Cavalry FC | SKC |
| 1 | Westsider13 | 39 | 16 | 9 | 14 |
| 2 | AmandaC | 33 | 14 | 13 | 6 |
| 2 | GreyHouseEffect | 33 | 13 | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | chuckbiscuits | 32 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| 4 | edmondk | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 |
| 6 | CascadiaCrunchFC | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 |
| 6 | rtomsheck | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 8 | AtlantisB | 29 | 14 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | tecate | 28 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| 10 | hbamaral | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 |
| 10 | Isabelt | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 |
| 10 | J Stebeck | 27 | 11 | 9 | 7 |
| 10 | Trest_Tristes_Tigres | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 |
| 14 | ZTJ9901 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| 15 | Colombian_Southsider77 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 |
| 16 | Airos | 21 | 14 | 0 | 7 |
| 16 | AshMan77 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 16 | CDPrior | 21 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
| 16 | Island Life | 21 | 14 | 0 | 7 |
| 20 | CapsOnTheDrive | 20 | 13 | 0 | 7 |
| 21 | jvenn | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| 22 | Jitsuo | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | The Squirrel | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Match Review and Preview (Courtesy Tres_Tristes_Tigres)
It was yet another week in the growing trend of optimism getting the best of us, as only four people predicted the home loss to fellow bottom-dwellers Sporting Kansas City. Additionally, only three people predicted that there would be no first ‘Caps goal. Some extra clarity on the scoring of own goals in a discussion between AmandaC and AtlantisB foreshadowed the events of a tragic first half in which Ali Adnan deflected a Gerso shot / cross into his own net.
Congrats to GreyHouseEffect, who correctly predicted the Caps loss AND the ‘no goal’, to earn top billing this match. GreyHouseEffect hedged as they predicted a 2-1 scoreline but ‘no interval’ in the bonus category, trying to make sure there was a point somewhere in there. Right behind them with 14 points were tecate and Westsider13 who, along with The Squirrel (welcome back), were the four ‘loss’ predictors.
Unexpected squad rotation combined with a first MLS start for Theo Bair took a heavy toll on the lineup predictions this week. The highest lineup score was a paltry 8, and two thirds of us could only predict 7 starters.
Strong LAFC and SKC predictions from Westsider13 has them with a six-point lead, after three matches, in the June standings. A few people not making predictions for the Canadian Championship match means we have a wide-spread with scores this month. We still have plenty of matches left this month, as it is a jam-packed schedule, so there will still be plenty of movement in the standings...well, at least OUR standings. Not sure how much upward movement we will see from the Caps.
Heading into New England Fredy Montero will be back but Ali Adnan’s yellow card against Sporting Kansas City means that he will sit out the Revolution match. It is likely that Crepeau gets back into the lineup. The more interesting question is whether Cornelius comes back in, after Rose was selected in favor of Derek. Even more, whether it will be a straight exchange of Cornelius for Rose or whether Rose will slot in once again and Henry or Godoy will sit this one out. I feel (hope?) that it is straight swap but you never know.
As usual, make sure to check out our Know the Enemy and Pre-Match pieces to get the latest news on who traveled and who might start.