Guess the Starting XI - Season Roundup & Final Standings

Welcome back everyone for a final Guess the Starting XI update for the 2021 season.

Thank you to everyone who played along this season, and I hope you’ll all be back for 2022, it’s been a blast. On that note, if there’s anything you’d like to changed, modified or improved for next season be sure to let me know. If you note something in this thread I’ll make to have a look at it before assembling a full plan for 2022.

In terms of the match against SKC itself, I was with most of you in sharing a cautious sense of optimism. That being said, when the starting lineup came out and the Whitecaps were without Godoy, Ranko and Gutierrez, you could tell it was going to be a tough task for the visiting team. When you couple that with conceding an early goal, as well as allowing one right before the half, it becomes an almost impossible hill to climb.

Nonetheless, it was a terrific late season run for the Whitecaps, and they have many things to be positive about going into 2022, including the return of Vanni Sartini and the growth of Ryan Gauld as an MLS star.

Now, on to the business end of this article. You really can’t make this up, but the top three contestants in this contest ended up being separated by just three points.

At the end of the day, Isabelt took the contest wire to wire and is our 2021 Guess the Starting XI Champion with 395 points. In second place, CReimTime had a big second half of the season shooting up the charts and almost did enough to claim the title, but fell a single point short at 394. In third place, AmandaC was consistent the entire season, and almost closed down the gap in the final three matches after a big points haul at LAFC, she finished with 393 points.

A big congrats to the top three, and to Isabelt who was on fire with the predictions all year long! Ultimately maximizing the points haul against Seattle and Minnesota in October likely made the difference to secure the title.

Alright, here’s the charts:

Thanks again everyone, we’ll see you again in 2022 for the Guess the Starting XI contest, but obviously, stay tuned on the site for all of our off-season coverage!