Daily Fantasy Soccer 2015: DraftKings WFB Player Picks for July 18

Major League Soccer returns to the DraftKings forefront with an eight-match slate filling Saturday, making it one of the best opportunities to cash in on MLS daily fantasy this season. The Los Angeles Galaxy's top-caliber signings Steven Gerrard and Giovani dos Santos have the league buzzing. Although they won't be in action Saturday, there's plenty of star power to go around as we take a look at the best DK player picks for the MLS in Week 22.   F: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto FC ($11,600) and Patrick Mullins, NYCFC ($6,900) Any lineup featuring Sebastian Giovinco is one fit for DFS prominence. His 18.7 points-per-game average is tops in the league by a sizable margin, and he's coming off a hat-trick in just nine minutes against New York City FC. His Toronto side faces another hapless defense in the Philadelphia Union, who have given up 32 goals in 20 games so far this season. Save some salary on the back end without compromising value by taking Patrick Mullins from NYCFC. He's averaged double digits in his last four outings and figures to have a big impact with lead forward David Villa ($11,400) carrying a heavy workload of late. Saturday's opponent—New England—is the only team to have ...

Daily Fantasy Soccer 2015: DraftKings WFB Player Picks for July 11

International duty has done little to quell the action surrounding Major League Soccer, with a six-match slate getting ready to flood DraftKings lobbies with contests for Saturday. Some of the household names are absent from squads, but that can just open the door for another player to shine. Usual stat-dominating clubs like Toronto FC, the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Vancouver Whitecaps are missing from the schedule, but options are boundless for DraftKings glory. Take a look below at the best picks of the matchday.     F: Fanendo Adi, Portland Timbers ($8,500) and Anatole Abang, New York Red Bulls ($6,100)  Call it a coincidence or a recipe for fantasy explosion, but Fanendo Adi is recently removed from a two-goal, 29-point outburst and gets ready to visit the league's worst defense. The Philadelphia Union have conceded a league-worst 32 goals, and they look bound to take on a few more with Adi set to shine again.  New York Red Bulls striker Bradley Wright-Phillips isn't a heady buy as the most expensive option of the day, but Anatole Abang could produce some fantasy production from the Red Bulls attack. With a starting nod on July 4, Abang put up 16 DK points with his third goal of ...

Daily Fantasy Soccer 2015: DraftKings WFB Player Picks for July 4

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than to dabble in DraftKings action for America's premier world football league? The MLS is back with six matches on Saturday, and there's no shortage of suitable daily fantasy options. There are some noticeable absences from squads with international duty snatching up many of the marquee players, but that inevitably opens the door for lower-salary players to shine in their place. With that said, here are a few names to target for July 4.   F: Cyle Larin, Orlando City ($8,200) and Kekuta Manneh, Vancouver ($5,800) Kaka may still run the show, but someone has to finish his scoring chances, and Cyle Larin is more than willing to oblige. Two of his six goals on the year have come in the last three games. With Orlando City losing just one match in the last seven weeks, they should cruise against Real Salt Lake—who owns the league's third-worst goal differential—and feed Larin a plethora of opportunities. The forward slot isn't typically the smartest place to save salary, but Kekuta Manneh offers much more than that. His last four DK point totals—6, 15, 17 and 12—have dazzled despite falling below $5,000 during that stretch. Western Conference-leading Vancouver should dismantle Colorado ...

Daily Fantasy Soccer 2015: DraftKings Top MLS Player Picks for June 27

A majority of Major League Soccer just recently wrapped up a midweek slate of games on Wednesday, but the schedule isn't slowing down with a six-match slate flooding DraftKings with Saturday MLS action. One local derby graces the schedule as the Los Angeles Galaxy host the nearby San Jose Earthquakes, but there are also two inter-conference matchups to up the intrigue even further. For DraftKings prominence, take a close look at these value picks.   F: Octavio Rivero, Vancouver ($9,100) and Krisztian Nemeth, Kansas City ($6,500) Octavio Rivero is worth every penny of the $9,100 salary that should constitute your most expensive pick of Saturday's slate. His Vancouver side faces a New England Revolution squad that has conceded 14 goals in their last eight games—with just one win in that span. Rivero and Vancouver didn't play in the midweek, keeping him fresh for Saturday. In his last 90-minute outing, Krisztian Nemeth dominated Dallas with a goal and an assist for 26 DK points. Having surpassed 14 points in five of his last 10 appearances and facing a Colorado squad with one win in its last eight matches, Nemeth should feast again.   M: Michael Bradley, Toronto ($6,300) and Diego Fagundez, New England ($5,500) Michael Bradley is taking his ...

Daily Fantasy Soccer 2015: DraftKings Top MLS Player Picks for June 24

Daily fantasy soccer players are in for a rare treat with a midweek Major League Soccer matchday for Wednesday, filling the DraftKings slate with contests beginning at 6 p.m. ET with the kickoff of the Philadelphia Union and Seattle Sounders. That's one of a whopping seven matches on tap for Wednesday, which makes it one of the best opportunities to cash in with 14 rosters to choose from. Take a look at the best picks for Week 18 below.   F: Chris Rolfe, D.C. United ($8,600) and Teal Bunbury, New England ($7,300) While fellow D.C. United attacker Fabian Espindola has no goals since May 2, Chris Rolfe has netted four times in that span. His club should be on the front foot most of the contest against a Chicago Fire unit that has given up 15 goals in their last eight games, and he'll be intent on building off his brace from the weekend. Begin stacking up your roster with New England talent by nabbing their best producer up top, Teal Bunbury. He's netted assists in each of his last two appearances, and has put up 20-point DK performances once in the months of April and May. You know what that could mean for Wednesday.   M: ...

Daily Fantasy Soccer 2015: DraftKings Top MLS Player Picks for June 20

Week 18 of the MLS season continues forward into Saturday's six-match slate, which boasts a wealth of opportunities on DraftKings for daily fantasy aficionados to target. The 12 clubs taking to the pitch Saturday will hope to build some momentum over the weekend with a tricky midweek matchday looming for Wednesday of next week. Some key absences on certain squads have opened up opportunities for lesser-valued players to make an impact, which you can find some examples of below mixed in with some can't-miss selections.   F: Jozy Altidore, Toronto FC ($8,400) and Chad Barrett, Seattle Sounders ($6,000) Jozy Altidore looks set to make his triumphant return to the starting lineup as told by Toronto FC's provisional starting 11, and he should pick up right where he left off. With three goals in his last four DK appearances and two braces on the season, Altidore should wreak havoc against a New York City FC side that has conceded 13 in its last eight games. Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins have all but opened the door for Chad Barrett, as Dempsey was banned three games for a red card, and Martins is out at least three weeks. The Sounders' second-team striker dazzled in his last outing ...

Daily Fantasy Soccer 2015: DraftKings Top MLS Player Picks for June 6

The Under-20 World Cup and various international friendlies have stripped down many of MLS teams' rosters for Week 15, but DraftKings action for Saturday's slate is still ripe with options destined for big outings. While players absent on international duty will leave holes across many lineups and throw a wrench into the sometimes predictable nature of who's going to start, it can also allow others to have more of the ball and produce fantasy points. With seven matches on tap, let's break down a few lineup picks for each position.   F: Jack McInerney, Montreal Impact ($6,100) and Luke Moore, Toronto FC ($4,900) It feels weird to say, but the Montreal Impact have scored double-digit goals in three of their last four contests following Wednesday's win over Vancouver. Jack McInerney has netted goals in two of them. Expect him and Montreal to continue pressuring the target against Columbus Crew, who conceded three goals in a midweek loss to Philadelphia Union. Somebody has to aid Sebastian Giovinco in generating Toronto FC's offense with Michael Bradley and Jonathan Osorio, among others, absent. Luke Moore appears to have got the nod up top in the club's projected starting lineup and is coming off a goal-and-assist performance for 20 DK points last ...

2015 MLS Mock Draft: First-Round Predictions and Full Selection Order

The 2015 installment of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft comes as the MLS welcomes in two new franchises, both of whom have intriguing decisions to make for Round 1. Orlando City SC and New York City FC have both already made waves in the public eye, as each secured a household name signing in their first few weeks as a club. But Kaka and David Villa won't be able to do it alone for their new squads, as it will take some cunning work from front-office personnel to field a contending team off the bat. The MLS SuperDraft is an interesting proposition, only allowing football players hailing from the NCAA ranks to be eligible although there are clubs from Canada in the league. With that said, a number of top talents being courted by the European scene can sign Generation Adidas deals—geared toward keeping America's top talent in-house.  The 2015 draft is right around the corner, set to begin on Jan. 15 at 12 p.m. ET in Philadelphia. Although it will span four whole rounds, let's take a look at who each club should target in Round 1.   1. Orlando City SC: Cyle Larin, F, Connecticut With top Canadian forward Cyle Larin signing a GA ...

Landon Donovan’s Career Runs Parallel with Increasing Success of MLS

It was 2005, and just seven games into his second stint of European football, Landon Donovan wanted to come back home. Naturally, Major League Soccer clubs tripped over themselves jockeying for position to land the prized U.S. star—ultimately with the Los Angeles Galaxy obtaining his rights.  Few could have fathomed back then what impact Donovan's return to the MLS has had nearly a decade later.  Donovan announced his retirement at the end of the 2014 season on his Facebook page Thursday. The MLS has turned from a struggling project to a must-watch product for any American soccer fan in his time playing, and that's no coincidence. When the greatest American player to step on a pitch made his MLS debut, it was a high-flying three-year loan spell with the San Jose Earthquakes. Donovan racked up domestic player of the year awards each season. As he returned from his loan back to Bayer Leverkusen, he figured to be an impact player as a 23-year-old budding star. And for MLS fans, he was as good as gone. Owned by a German club, courted by English clubs and coming off being named the best young player at the 2002 World Cup, Donovan's skill simply surpassed the domestic league. But ...

Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake: Score and Recap from 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs

After dominating the first leg, Real Salt Lake clinched the Western Conference championship and a ticket to the MLS Cup with a 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers on Sunday. They won the playoff 5-2 on aggregate. ESPN FC summed up the victory for Salt Lake: Motivated by a raucous crowd as usual, you could tell that the Timbers came into the match needing to make up two goals in the 90-minute span, as they pushed the envelope early and often. Although they controlled the tempo early on, as well as possession, it wasn't Portland who struck first, despite the desperate attempts. In the 29th minute of the match, Robbie Findley of Salt Lake slipped free inside the box right in front of Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, and the left-footed strike was the match's only goal. Portland came awfully close to equalizing just three minutes later, but the would-be goal was nullified on an offside call. MLS provided a link to the controversial play: Even though plenty of time remained to mount a comeback, Salt Lake was able to take control of the pace of the match late in the first half and early into the second. Instead of giving into Portland's aggressive style of play, Salt ...