As is routine for every match, we have our regular Vancouver Whitecaps Guess the Starting XI and Final Score contest. Let’s see how good you are at getting into the manager’s head and predicting how the game will turn out. In addition, we will have monthly, fun, bonus prediction categories, such as yellow cards, substitutions, goal scorers, etc.

How Scoring is Determined

• Predictions will be ‘valid’ if posted HERE half-an-hour prior to the lineup being officially announced, which means 1.5 hours before kickoff.
• 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 typically 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 Review (Seattle Sounders) and Preview (San Jose Earthquakes)

Thanks a lot shitty ref! You cost me two points!!!! I had the perfect 3-0 score line until that dumb ref messed it up. Can we just give me (and others) a perfect score line too as it SHOULD have been 3-0?

Keeping the ‘incorrect’ score, AmandaC and IslandLife led the way this week. Looks like AmandaC stopped ‘losing steam’. They, along with CD Prior, were the only participants to get 10 starters correct. Most of us floundered at 8 and 9. There was not a lot of optimism in the Caps winning this one. Only two people had a victory predicted (another had a draw). No surprise that with an open play goal being the first goal of the match we had a lot of people who secured the bonus ‘3’ points. A few people will be disappointed as they correctly predicted the Caps first goal (PK) but not the game’s first goal. I guess they have a complaint like me with the score.

Sorry to chuckbiscuits, who’s score I missed last week. Was a good one too! Thanks to IslandLife’s top score in Match #12, they take a two-point lead over GreyHouseEffect and Isabelt. It could have been one-point behind for Isabelt if they didn’t switch in Bush last minute for Meredith! Westsider13 is right behind them while AshMan77 and AmandaC get back into the picture. AtlantisB is 10 points out, which isn’t bad, but needs to jump over six people to take over first. A big hill to climb for AtlantisB and anyone lower.

The Caps take on the team in my neck of the woods, San Jose Earthquakes. I think they are the only fan base that can complain as much or more than the Caps this season. They have been woeful. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they are finally winning, securing a victory in their last two matches. In addition, Cavallini and Bikel will be out for this one. That likely means that Montero starts up top with Milinkovic slotting in behind. Does Adnan come forward? Bikel’s absence means that Owusu likely gets back in. Does Rose slot in midfield again or does he go to the CBs? Maybe on the bench? We could see Baldisimo or Teibert in midfield.

If this was two weeks ago, I would have the Caps winning this one. Today...I am not too sure. I guess you need to make that call. Like the previous match, and all October matches, three bonus points to correctly predicting the first goal of the match (for either team): open play, free kick, corner kick, penalty kick, own goal, or no goal (0-0).

Good luck!