This article is part of our The Armband series.
Things almost went exactly as planned in Round 6 of the MLS season. Of the 11 matches, eight home teams walked away with three points and that made choosing players in fantasy a little easier than normal. Sebastian Giovinco finally scored, David Villa added another, Diego Valeri assisted and Romain Alessandrini started things with a goal Friday. Even the most popular defender, Jimmy Medranda, secured a clean sheet after getting subbed out before Sporting allowed a goal. The only major disappointments ended up being Cyle Larin and Maximiliano Urruti.
With Easter this Sunday, it'll be a shorter week for some teams with a few games Friday and then the rest Saturday. The team with the most travel will be Minnesota, who lost in Dallas last Saturday and have to go back down to Texas to play Houston this Saturday. Because of that, the Dynamo will be one of the more popular teams, already with nine goals and nine points in three home matches this season. Unfortunately, Romell Quioto is still out, making Alex the easiest person to trust for the armband, as he has four assists in those three home games.
The only other team with a great home matchup is the Red Bulls against D.C. United. Neither team has looked great in the early season and both sit with seven points in the table. New York has just one goal from two home matches, while D.C. has played on the road just once and lost 4-0 at NYC FC. Given the weakness of other matchups, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sacha Kljestan will be some of the captain favorites and maybe Felipe Martins for those stepping out of the box. Kljestan is probably easier to trust, but Wright-Phillips is the goalscorer and has the higher upside, though we haven't exactly seen it this year.
Portland is usually one of the easier teams to back at home, but the Sporting Kansas City defense has not allowed many good looks this season, already keeping D.C. and Toronto scoreless on the road. Dom Dwyer could be considered if the goals pour in as usual at Providence Park, but it's hard to go against Diego Valeri in home matches, already with five goals and three assists. The question is why the Timbers had trouble against New England last home match and if those struggles show up again, Valeri and Fanendo Adi could disappoint.
The next best favorites are Colorado hosting Real Salt Lake and Chicago against New England. Still, these aren't over-the-top matchups to focus on. RSL is coming off a solid win against Vancouver, while the Rapids have scored just four goals this season. Dominique Badji may be the easiest guy to trust, leading Colorado with two goals and nearly had a third against SKC on Sunday. The Fire are still an unknown, but at least they have five goals in three home matches and Bastian Schweinsteiger has given them a bit of a spark in the last two. However, the Revolution are playing well, dominating their last two home matches and as previously said, drawing at Portland two weeks ago. Nemanja Nikolic and David Accam could be useful options, but because of these matchups, it may be best to focus on the defensive end this week.
Backing the Red Bulls wouldn't be a terrible idea given that D.C. was held scoreless in its first three matches of the season. The Dynamo make sense with their dominance at home, but they still don't have a clean sheet this season. The Rapids are in that same boat, but RSL's attack looked worthy last week with Joao Plata and Yura Movsisyan at full strength. New York's Luis Robles and Aaron Long are probably the best route for defensive captains, but again, they aren't anything to get attached to.
For the big names, Villa has an edge over Giovinco. The Union have just two points and Villa could pounce on a team that just allowed three at home to Portland. Things aren't as easy for Giovinco, as Columbus is playing well on both ends of the field, which is why the Crew are first in the Eastern Conference. On the other side of Giovinco, Ola Kamara or Justin Meram may be slightly easier to trust, but only slightly.
The match that may go slightly under the radar is Montreal hosting Atlanta. The Impact haven't looked good, but they've been in some high-scoring games and the same can be said for Atlanta, which drew 2-2 at Toronto last weekend. With Ignacio Piatti out, Atlanta is the better side to look at, with Hector Villalba coming off a brace and Miguel Almiron having two goals and three assists in his last three starts. The captain options aren't close to what we had to choose from a week ago, but if we parse through the odds and matchups, there are some decent players to consider.
