This article is part of our The Armband series.
If you didn't reach 100 fantasy points or your captain didn't hit at least double digits last week, I don't have much to tell you. For the massive week in which 14 teams had two matches, there were some huge totals from the 226 for the highest point getter to 84 for the average.
It was mostly smooth sailing in terms of picking a captain, as Sebastian Giovinco, Albert Rusnak and Nicolas Lodeiro were the most popular options and all performed. Rusnak was the best way to go, though, with a goal and three assists. I grossly overrated the Sounders' back line, but I'll chalk that up as Joevin Jones' fault after leaving the squad without authorization for international duty a day before the first match.
For the upcoming Round 26, it's almost the opposite situation with only eight teams in action and multiple players out due to national team duty. And given the teams in play, there aren't many ways to turn for captaincy. Chicago, Orlando and Colorado are all out of the question, whether due to form or playing on the road. The Galaxy are home in a favorable spot against Colorado, but they've lost their last four matches while scoring just once.
I'm not greatly confident in anyone from Dallas, either, with just two points in their last six matches. As a positive, Dallas is much better at home but hasn't scored in two of their last three there. The best options will be players from Montreal, New England and New York.
There's a clear option at the top in Ignacio Piatti even without teammate Blerim Dzemaili. He's been much better whenever Dzemaili is in the lineup, but it's hard to ignore seven goals and an assist in his last five matches. Home against the Fire, who have allowed at least two goals in their last five away matches, is as good as it gets this week. But with Laurent Ciman out of the lineup, I wouldn't bet on a clean sheet.
The Revs deserve a look for the first time in awhile, and Lee Nguyen (hamstring) returned to practice this week after missing the last two matches. After him, it's a mess of players who are hard to trust in Diego Fagundez, Kei Kamara and Juan Agudelo. If I had to pick, Kamara would be the choice after scoring three times in the last three home matches. Orlando is on terrible form with two points from the last six matches, so a gamble on Kamara isn't a terrible idea.
If you want to go after the Red Bulls, there are some pertinent numbers that need to be looked at: New York has lost its last two road matches and failed to score at Portland just over a week ago. For the season, New York has scored 14 goals in 12 road matches. Dallas is playing poorly but still has much better numbers at home with 17 goals allowed in 13 matches.
The best option to back remains Sacha Kljestan, who has reached at least eight fantasy points in five of his last six starts. Bradley Wright-Phillips has turned it up a notch with eight goals in his last nine starts, including one in each of his last four away games. If you're feeling lucky, Maximiliano Urruti could get the armband, but he has one goal in the last seven matches and is extremely goal dependent. And if Romain Alessandrini returns to the Galaxy lineup, he'd be worth a look, but he's started just once in the last four games.
