Week 20 MLS Fantasy Player Picks

I've had a rough time in the past couple weeks, though it hasn't been due to a lack of good recommendations. Despite recommending David Villa and Bradley Wright-Phillips last week, and Robbie Keane the week before, and so on, I've failed at actually bringing the right players into my team and have fallen down the ranks.

Hopefully you've had more success of late than I have, but if not, let's hope we can all get back on track this week. With Columbus and Chicago in action twice, you should be at least giving some consideration to bringing their players into your squad, but things also look promising for players from LA Galaxy, Toronto FC and Sporting Kansas City, among others.

As a reminder, the Gold Cup is still ongoing, so you'll need to stay away from the players away on international duty. There have been some updates to the squads per the tournament rules, which includes Jozy Altidore being dropped from the USMNT in favor of Alan Gordon.

Goalkeepers

Brian Rowe - With Jaime Penedo involved with Panama in the Gold Cup, Rowe has been called into action for the Galaxy. A home match against San Jose will be looked at as a good opportunity for LA to pick up three points and a possible clean sheet.

Chris Konopka - Konopka was one of the stand-out performers in Toronto's insane match against New York City FC last weekend, and put up 7 points despite conceding four goals. A home match against Philadelphia Union should pose less of a threat to Konopka's goal, so I like his chances to put up another good score.

Defenders

Eric Gehrig - Chicago may find clean sheets hard to come by with two matches against a high-scoring Columbus outfit, but he has shown time and again that he can still put up respectable points with attacking and defending bonuses.

Kevin Ellis - The SKC man is in the upper echelon for fantasy points among defenders, and remains reasonably priced at just $6.5m. A set-piece threat with a chance at a clean sheet against poor travelers Montreal makes him an enticing option for the week ahead.

Tyrone Mears - The Seattle Sounders defender is one of the few picks I have gotten correct recently, and I think he'll continue rewarding my investment in him with a match against low-scoring Colorado at CenturyLink Field.

Midfielders

Ethan Finlay - Columbus were terrible on the road against Montreal last week, with hardly any standout players in a 3-0 loss. However, Finlay has been in wonderful form of late and should return to his best over the course of two matches against Chicago. There is a possibility that he gets rested for one of the matches, but given his importance to the team it's hard to imagine him being left out.

Harrison Shipp - On the other side of the double, Chicago's influential midfielder has all the potential to create a shock double victory for the Fire. With Shaun Maloney out, Shipp will be on set piece duty and I think he'll chip in with at least one goal or assist over the course of the two matches.

Sebastian Giovinco - What more can I say about Giovinco at this point. After somehow being snubbed from the fan-voted MLS All-Star Team, he'll be eager to further prove his worth. After a first-half hat-trick last week, though, it'll be hard for him to improve any more.

Benny Feilhaber - Benny continues to be inexplicably off of USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann's radar, but that's to our benefit as fantasy managers. After a quiet outing last week, I'm tipping him to return to his high-scoring ways this weekend.

Sebastian Lletget - With many of LA's players away on international duty, and with the announcement that Stefan Ishizaki has left the club to be with his family in Sweden, Lletget is a great bargain midfield option for this week's match against the Earthquakes. He's been in great form since breaking into the side, and I don't see any signs of that form dropping off this week.

Forwards

Kei Kamara / Federico Higuain - One obvious pick and one not-so-obvious. Kamara is the league's leading scorer and rightfully should be in your thoughts for the captain's armband this week, though Higuain is also in the top 10 scorers among forwards despite being much more under-the-radar. Both should be strong bets to get on the scoresheet.

Krisztian Nemeth - Dom Dwyer was the name on everyone's tongues at the beginning of the season, but former Liverpool youngster Nemeth has been the in-form striker for Kansas City. Despite scoring much higher than his strike partner, Nemeth comes in a full $2m cheaper. A good bargain striker for the long-term.

Robbie Keane - A bye is the only reason Keane wasn't in my recommendations last week. With Steven Gerrard finally in the side with him, I think he will have even more opportunities to score. An expensive pick considering the double gamers from Columbus, but his ability to put the ball in the back of the net speaks for itself.

Mike Magee - After a long injury layoff, Magee has been working his way back to fitness for Chicago. He's still yet to play a full 90 since coming back, but he could be ready to put in at least 120 minutes over the two games. If he can rediscover his pre-injury form, he'll be a bargain at $8m.

Are you planning on loading up on players from Chicago and/or Columbus, or will you be looking at single gamers instead? Who are you going to captain? Share your thoughts in the comments ahead of Wednesday night's 8:30 p.m. EDT deadline!