Today’s article will feature data relating to the defensive side of the ball. Before I get down to it, I want to explain my strategy on selecting defenders. Since the main source of points for a defender comes from clean sheets, that is the thing you should focus on when selecting your backline. Since each defender and keeper will receive clean sheet points, you are essentially buying the defensive unit as a whole. There’s no doubt in my mind that Omar Gonzalez is a better defender than James Riley. However, the statistics suggest that Seattle will keep 2 more cleansheets in the next 5 gameweeks than LA will. So, Riley would make my squad over Gonzalez.

After you decide which defensive units you want to pick, then you can start looking into some of the other factors: price, chance of scoring a goal or assist, and risk of rotation. I’ll stick with Seattle for an example since I know them best and they are expected to be one of the best defenses for the first half of this segment. In the last game, the defense was Riley, Parke, Hurtado, and Wahl. Wahl has been taking some corners and freekicks, which is a plus, but is a rotation risk during double gameweeks as Sigi might favor Gonzalez to let Wahl rest. Similarly, Parke and Hurtado get forward on corner kicks, but both have been rotated for Ianni at some point already this season. Riley likely won’t provide as many attacking points as the other three, but has virtually no risk of rotation. For this reason, Riley would make my squad over any of the others.

The 5-week predicted clean sheets below shows the number of games each team is predicted to concede less than one goal.

DC:

5-week allowed average: 3.2

5-week predicted clean sheets: 0

Season average: 1.8

DC are absolutely horrible on defense again this year. It looks like things are going to get worse before they get better with their next 5 weeks predicting an average of an astonishing 3.2 goals allowed. If you pick someone from DC, you need to evaluate if you are playing the game to win or simply for a laugh.

Kansas City:

5-week allowed average: 2.1

5-week predicted clean sheets: 2

Season average: 2.3

Kansas City is another defensive unit that has been struggling. A lot of that is due to them having a perpetual road trip this far. I used last season’s stats to calculate their home games for this segment, and I think this defensive unit is worse than last year’s. I wouldn’t pick anyone but maybe Neilson.

Chicago:

5-week allowed average: 1.8

5-week predicted clean sheets: 2

Season average: 1.7

Oh Chicago. You want to be so much, but the defense just keeps letting you down. Don’t pick anyone from this frustrating defensive unit.

Vancouver:

5-week allowed average: 1.7

5-week predicted clean sheets: 1

Season average: 1.5

Vancouver’s status as an expansion side has finally started to even out with their decent start in MLS. However, when your only predicted clean sheet is against an awful Philly offense, you know any fantasy returns would be a pleasant surprise from this defensive unit.

New England:

5-week allowed average: 1.6

5-week predicted clean sheets: 1

Season average: 1.3

I feel bad for New England fans. Their owner seems to not care that he owns an MLS team and doesn’t do a whole lot to improve the roster or the attendance. But I digress. There are enough teams to pick from with better chances at collecting clean sheets than New England. If I had to pick a player, I would go with Soares.

Portland:

5-week allowed average: 1.5

5-week predicted clean sheets: 1

Season average: 1.4

Still undefeated at home, poor on the road. Portland is one or two injuries away from a complete meltdown. Brunner is the pick on the defensive end as he gets forward for corners. Danso has been called up for international duty, so don’t expect much in the way of clean sheets from an already shaky Portland backline.

Toronto:

5-week allowed average: 1.5

5-week predicted clean sheets: 1

Season average: 1.4

Do I really have to write about Toronto? They’re poor all around the pitch and I wouldn’t pick anyone in their defensive unit.

San Jose:

5-week allowed average: 1.4

5-week predicted clean sheets: 1

Season average: 1.2

San Jose is a team that came into the season with a lot of people still riding their over-performance from last season. I don’t rate anyone highly on the defensive side and would steer clear.

Los Angeles:

5-week allowed average: 1.4

5-week predicted clean sheets: 2

Season average: 1.2

I was surprised to see LA so far down the list in terms of the predicted goals allowed over the next 5 weeks. That said, I would still feel comfortable picking several players from this Galaxy side with Franklin leading the pack.

Dallas:

5-week allowed average: 1.3

5-week predicted clean sheets: 3

Season average: 0.9

Dallas have (I believe) the longest current streak for minutes without conceding. Now that their entire backline seems to be back to health, I would definitely consider picking one of the hoops. I could see them keeping a clean sheet in Seattle along with their other 3 predicted shutouts. Decent picks all around.

Columbus:

5-week allowed average: 1.2

5-week predicted clean sheets: 4

Season average: 1.0

As I mentioned in the offensive section, I’m still not sold on this Crew team. I think they have been rather lucky to get as many points as they have. But, it’s difficult to argue with results.

Colorado:

5-week allowed average: 1.2

5-week predicted clean sheets: 2

Season average: 0.9

Colorado is another team that was highly overrated in my opinion coming into the season. The defense has remained solid at home, and will almost always put up a good shot at a clean sheet.

Houston:

5-week allowed average: 1.1

5-week predicted clean sheets: 1

Season average: 1.1

Houston have several good cheap options that I like for the second segment of the season. Hall is good value for money, as is Freeman.

Chivas:

5-week allowed average: 1.0

5-week predicted clean sheets: 2

Season average: 1.0

I am interested to see if the reports about Chivas switching to an all So-Cal team pan out. If they become more grounded in fact, I can see this team falling to pieces as their current squad becomes disgruntled with the prosepects of unemployment.

Philadelphia:

5-week allowed average: 1.0

5-week predicted clean sheets: 3

Season average: 0.7

Philly’s defense is the most improved in the league. They are the only reason the Union have half as many points as they do. I don’t know if it has been changes along the backline, or the experience of Mondragon that has stabilized this unit. Williams is a good buy as he gets up the wing fairly often.

Seattle:

5-week allowed average: 1.0

5-week predicted clean sheets: 4

Season average: 0.9

Seattle look to have finally settled on a defensive unit. They could be rotated due to fixture congestion, but I think Riley, Hurtado and Parke are likely locks for the next couple of weeks. I was amazed to discover that Keller has the second most points of any player in the game. It looks as though he will be likely to add to those totals and he will be my pick between the sticks.

New York:

5-week allowed average: 0.9

5-week predicted clean sheets: 3

Season average: 0.8

Bouna Coundoul has had the hearts of Red Bulls fans in their throat more than once in the past. Fortunately for them, New York has been dominating possession in many of their games this season and haven’t given a whole lot for Bouna to do. With so much of the attacking unit missing a few weeks soon, I expect the defense to suffer a bit too simply due to lack of possession.

Salt Lake:

5-week allowed average: 0.3

5-week predicted clean sheets: 7

Season average: 0.3

Salt Lake will not be nearly as good as the stats suggest. They will be missing so many players from their regular starting 11 that they should get punished while everyone is away on Gold Cup duty. Rimando will also be out, which will hurt them even more. If Real keep even 5 clean sheets, I will eat my hat. That said, they will have a good chance at collecting their first this weekend when they host Seattle. I’ll be there doing my part cheering for the boys in green and don’t want to have to run onto the field to just show us how to finish.