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 (Montreal Impact) and Preview (Real Salt Lake)

Well, that was an interesting way to end our Canadian Championship. Vancouver spoils Montreal’s chance of claiming the title (or should I say Rudy Camacho ruins it for Montreal. In addition, changes to the Starting XI meant that no one scored higher than 9 and only four had 8 or higher. Finally, the person who runs this thing *looks in mirror* didn’t put in a prediction.

AshMan77 was the big winner this match with 17 points. Was also the only person to predict the first goal interval correct. Right behind them was IslandLife (16) and elcapitano2 (15). Impressive was that THREE people correctly predicted the final score while several others had the 3-1 scoreline but for Montreal instead.

At the end of the day though, the more things change, the more the standings stay the same. GreyHouseEffect and Isabelt had the same ‘7’ score meaning that our final standings for the Canadian Championship is the same as heading into the final match. Congrats to GreyHouseEffect who pulled out the two point victory!

With the end of the Canadian portion of the season comes the start of the weird US tour portion. The club will have the complete roster available apparently. Looks like Bikel is back, so that is a positive. Curious to see where that puts Owusu, Teibert, and Baldisimo. The midfield will be tough to predict. Namely because there is no one that truly stands out. The forwards might be difficult as well. Reyna is in the doghouse, Cavallini SHOULD be in the doghouse, and Montero scored two goals against Montreal in his first start in over a year. It seems the potential sure thing is Milinkovic...or maybe not?

We have a new bonus category. I am happy as I was getting tired of the first goal interval. I had a couple different ideas so I was thinking we will rotate it over the next few matches. Let me know in the comments though your preference for bonus categories for the next few matches. For this first match we will go with who gets the first yellow card for Vancouver. A little bit of skill and a lot of luck, so it seems like a suitable bonus category.

Good luck everyone and hopefully this weekend I will put in a prediction!