Sorare Deke's Diamonds for MLS Week 11: SKC Finding Form

This article is part of our Sorare series.

Are you kidding me, Oscar Pareja? Pareja decided to rotate Martin Ojeda last weekend, and he could only muster 38.1 SO5 points in 30 minutes off the bench. I was right about Orlando City breaking out of a slump, but brutally wrong about who would be the contributor. 

Evander was in the perfect spot and decided to forget his shooting boots in a poor SO5 performance (albeit in a victory) against Sporting Kansas City. New England pulled a shocking upset of Charlotte at home to cap off a wild weekend of MLS play.

There's still time to qualify for the Hot Streaks Masters competition with three gameweeks remaining to get to the silver badge level (three hot streaks hit in a row). When it was announced, I prioritized running five in-season cards and was able to punch my ticket in the rare competition this past gameweek, hitting the 430-point target. 

It takes a lot of luck, as I qualified with my second priority lineup after my top lineup had a dud from Evander. Good luck to everyone trying to qualify for either the limited or rare competition, and hopefully, you can start that streak up this gameweek to give yourself a shot at a nice cash prize pool during MLS Rivalry Week.

Note: Player recommendations are not financial advice; I may or may not own these players in my Sorare gallery. I play under the username "SorareDeke" on Sorare.

Sorare GW 76 // MLS Week 11

Let's start this gameweek using the RotoWire Cheatsheets to see the best matchups with win odds and expected goals highlighted below. These teams have a greater than 50-percent chance of winning this weekend.

For access to the sheets, use promo code "ROTO15" for 15-percent off any RotoWire plan. 

1. Seattle Sounders 61.89% (1.92 xG) vs. St. Louis City SC
2. LAFC 60.74% (1.89 xG) vs. Houston Dynamo
3. Vancouver Whitecaps FC 58.14% (1.89 xG) vs. Real Salt Lake
4. Inter Miami 58.12% (1.95 xG) vs. New York Red Bulls
5. Columbus Crew 57.31% (1.95 xG) vs. Charlotte FC
6. San Diego FC 55.29% (1.86 xG) vs. FC Dallas

Note: Prices are for in-season limited cards as of Thursday, May 1. The scarcities are Limited (/1000), Rare (/100), Super Rare (/10), and Unique (1/1). 

Optimal Plays

GOALKEEPERS

Stefan Frei (SEA) $28.09 vs. St. Louis City

St. Louis City is coming off an outstanding result against LAFC, earning a point from a 2-2 draw at BMO Stadium (LAFC 3.79 - STL 1.41 on xG). In the previous five matches, St. Louis scored just one goal. On the Seattle side, Jackson Ragen is a significant loss on the back line, but Kim Kee-Hee provides a veteran presence to hold down the fort. 

Seattle sits in ninth place in the West but is unbeaten in its last three matches and trending in the right direction. The Sounders should continue that run as the biggest favorite on the board, with the highest implied clean sheet odds, sitting above 40 percent. Frei doesn't quite have 75-plus scoring upside in this matchup, but he'll likely only have a few shots standing in his way of a clean sheet.

Other Options: Yohei Takaoka (VAN) $39.18 vs. Real Salt Lake; Brad Stuver (ATX) $32.85 vs. Minnesota; Roman Celentano (CIN) $29.53 at NYCFC; Dayne St. Clair (MIN) $27.50 at Austin; Andre Blake (PHI) $25.84 at Montreal; Oscar Ustari (MIA) $22.15 vs. RBNY; Hugo Lloris (LAFC) $21.97 vs. Houston; Patrick Schulte (CLB) $20.85 vs. Charlotte; CJ Dos Santos (SD) $20.12 vs. Dallas; Sean Johnson (TOR) $19.38 vs. New England; Aljaz Ivacic (NE) $17.72 at Toronto; Joe Willis (NSH) $17.28 at Atlanta; Zack Steffen (COL) $15.09 at DC

DEFENDERS

Yeimar Gomez (SEA) $33.40 vs. St. Louis City

I like the idea of the Frei/Gomez defensive stack to get Seattle exposure without dealing with some of the selection headaches in the attack. Gomez has been inconsistent this season but has flashed his upside with three matches of 40-plus AA.

In Sorare's current format, you only want players who can put up peak scores. The days of shooting for a 60 from an outfield player are over, and you need the 75-plus scores to compete. Yeimar is that type of player, and in the right matchup (like this one), he has tournament-winning upside. Gomez's upside paired with Frei's safety could be the perfect combination if Seattle keeps a clean sheet.

Other Options: Kai Wagner (PHI) $73.08 at Montreal; George Campbell (MTL) $19.06 vs. Philadelphia; Rodrigues* (SJ) $17.98 vs. Portland; Alex Freeman (ORL) $16.84 at Chicago; Franco Escobar (HOU) $14.62 at LAFC; Aaron Long (LAFC) $13.17 vs. Houston; Guilherme Biro (ATX) $12.43 vs. Minnesota; Paddy McNair (SD) $12.21 vs. Dallas; Edier Ocampo (VAN) $10.18 vs. Real Salt Lake; Christopher McVey (SD) $8.88 vs. Dallas; Sergi Palencia (LAFC) $8.59 vs. Houston; Nouhou Tolo (SEA) $8.14 vs. St. Louis; Raoul Petretta (TOR) $6.82 vs. New England; Osaze Urhoghide (DAL) $5.55 at San Diego; Sam Adekugbe (VAN) $3.90 vs. Real Salt Lake; Aaron Herrera (DC) $3.32 vs. Colorado

*Risk of starting

MIDFIELDERS

Manu Garcia (SKC) $9.22 vs. LA Galaxy

Let's go bargain hunting. The Sporting Kansas City offense has looked lively over the last four matches, scoring 10 goals all under interim manager Kerry Zavagnin. Garcia has been a significant part of the buildup, delivering progressive passes to the attackers.

Garcia has elite progressive passing statistics over the last year and reminds me of a "Riqui Puig lite" in the midfield. He's settling in at Sporting Kansas City with 10-plus AA in six straight matches and 31.7 AA in his last match at Cincinnati. This is a soft matchup against a Los Angeles Galaxy team that has conceded in every MLS match this season. Garcia has a safe floor with upside if he can bag a decisive.

Other Options: Carles Gil (NE) $74.40 at Toronto; Djordje Mihailovic (COL) $38.25 at DC; Sebastian Berhalter (VAN) $30.44 vs. Real Salt Lake; Jeppe Tverskov (SD) $29.24 vs. Dallas; Hany Mukhtar (NSH) $27.96 at Atlanta; Jack McGlynn (HOU) $21.93 at LAFC; Albert Rusnak* (SEA) $21.33 vs. St. Louis; Cristian Espinoza (SJ) $20.73 vs. Portland; David Ayala (POR) $17.91 at San Jose; Marco Delgado (LAFC) $17.21 vs. Houston; Cristian Roldan (SEA) $14.15 vs. St. Louis; Obed Vargas (SEA) $13.68 vs. St. Louis; Marco Pasalic (ORL) $10.96 at Chicago; Owen Wolff (ATX) $9.11 vs. Minnesota; Beau Leroux (SJ) $8.14 vs. Portland

*Risk of starting

FORWARDS

Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov (SKC) $8.34 vs. LA Galaxy

It feels borderline insane to recommend two Sporting Kansas City players, but here we are. Like the Seattle defensive stack, I like an offensive mini-stack from Sporting Kansas City. You could also go with Dejan Joveljic as your forward, but I prefer the mixture of all-around scoring and possible decisives with Suleymanov.

Suleymanov has 10-plus AA in 70 percent of his starts since joining SKC. When Memo Rodriguez is off the field (not projected to start), Suleymanov is the primary set-piece taker, giving him extra chances at a decisive action. In a good matchup against the Galaxy, I like Sporting Kansas City's attack way more than I probably should.

Other Options: Lionel Messi (MIA) $116 vs. RBNY; Denis Bouanga (LAFC) $42.14 vs. Houston; Gabriel Pec (LAG) $27.06 at Sporting KC; Diego Rossi (CLB) $24.87 vs. Charlotte; Martin Ojeda (ORL) $24.58 at Chicago; Anders Dreyer (SD) $19.37 vs. Dallas; Santiago Moreno (POR) $17.26 at San Jose; Antony (POR) $16.87 at San Jose; Emmanuel Latte Lath (ATL) $15.02 vs. Nashville; Luis Suarez (MIA) $14.27 vs. RBNY; Max Arfsten (CLB) $13.90 vs. Charlotte; Kevin Denkey (CIN) $13.35 at NYCFC; Hirving Lozano (SD) $12.79 vs. Dallas; Sam Surridge (NSH) $12.79 at Atlanta; Hugo Cuypers (CHI) $11.49 vs. Orlando; Joseph Paintsil (LAG) $10.20 at Sporting KC; Rafael Navarro (COL) $10.20 at DC; Cristian Arango (SJ) $10.01 vs. Portland; Dejan Joveljic (SKC) $9.64 vs. LA Galaxy; Philip Zinckernagel (CHI) $5.38 vs. Orlando; Daniel Rios (VAN) $5.01 vs. Real Salt Lake; Daniel Salloi (SKC) $3.52 vs. LA Galaxy

FUN MATCHUP-BASED LINEUP OF THE WEEK