This article is part of our The Armband series.
Not many big scores were expected last week with 10 matches and that's exactly what happened, with the average fantasy points per team coming in at 53. A big score could've been had if you backed the right teams, but even then that probably still didn't work out. New York and Toronto combined to score six goals, yet Sacha Kljestan and Sebastian Giovinco, my top captain options, combined for nine fantasy points. If you want to blame me for jinxing them, so be it.
Maybe the most surprising thing from the weekend was that only two forwards reached double digits in fantasy points, Alberth Elis and Vicente Sanchez, both of Houston. If you're wondering, their combined ownership is 0.5 percent. And, of course, after backing Montreal in its last couple home matches, the Impact broke through on the road, with Blerim Dzemaili and Ignacio Piatti leading the midfielders. The least surprising thing from the weekend was that Seattle, Dallas and Houston all secured clean sheets at home.
The upcoming Round 24 gets started Wednesday, so don't sleep on setting your lineups. Montreal and Chicago will lead most rosters with two matches, while Los Angeles and Atlanta are both without a game.
Coming off a dominant 3-0 road win, the Impact are home for both matches (CHI, RSL), making them the easiest to back. In addition to considering Dzemaili and Piatti for captain, both should be on most rosters, especially given Dzemaili's $9.2m price. As for the better captain, let's go through the numbers.
Since joining the club, Dzemaili has six goals and five assists in 11 matches. But when the two start together (six matches), Dzemaili has four goals and four assists, while Piatti has six goals and three assists. Needless to say, when both players start, the Impact score a ton of goals. Piatti may be slightly easier to captain, but Dzemaili could be the better differential as he was on almost 10 percent fewer lineups ahead of this week. If you really want to be different, Laurent Ciman is their best defender, but why would you want to captain him?
The Fire are close behind, but neither of their matches are that favorable (at MTL, v. TOR). Because of that, I'm passing on Nemanja Nikolic, who hasn't scored in the last five matches and doesn't accrue fantasy points when he doesn't score. David Accam is in a similar situation, while Bastian Schweinsteiger is easier to trust to score at least five fantasy points in both matches. He's failed to hit that mark just once in his last 12 matches that he's played 75 minutes. The same can be said for Dax McCarty, who may be slightly easier to back having hit five fantasy points in all but two games this season.
As for the rest, a lot of people will turn to New York City and Seattle. David Villa is at home against a team (New England) that has allowed at least two goals in its last eight away matches. Villa has eight goals in his last five home matches. For a differential, Maximiliano Moralez returns to the lineup from suspension.
Any player could be considered from the Sounders, whether that's Clint Dempsey up front, Nicolas Lodeiro and Cristian Roldan in the middle or Joevin Jones and Chad Marshall in the back. Not only have the Sounders held a clean sheet in their last four matches, but their opponent (Minnesota) has given up three goals in three of its last four road matches.
I can't support using another captain option than what is listed. Giovinco is on the road against the Fire and in another tough spot. Diego Valeri is at home, but the Red Bulls have been better much better defensively in recent games. The Rapids (v. DC) and Earthquakes (v. PHI) have good matchups, but no one on either team is worthy of the armband.
