Welcome back, everyone.
After a well deserved break, the Vancouver Whitecaps are back in action this Wednesday in Colorado.
The first half of the season, while not perfect, was mostly successful for Vancouver as they won the Canadian Championship and sit in a strong spot in the Western Conference playoff race. Colorado, meanwhile, has been on the struggle-bus this season, sitting dead last in the West with just 2 wins and 13 points.
With some time off, we’ll see if Vanni Sartini makes any tactical tweaks in their return to action. Both Ali Ahmed and Alessandro Schopf are back at training, so should be available for selection if needed in this one. Javain Brown is currently with Jamaica in advance of the Gold Cup, while the same can be said of Julian Gressel for the United States. Pedro Vite is also away, having received his first call from Ecuador.
Ok, on to rules and standings.
As I mentioned last time, I have now deducted your bottom two scores (or missed predictions) from the first half, so I’ve included the full chart below. It’s a lot of data, so if you see anything funky about your score(s) feel free to let me know! You can click the image and it will open as an attachment.
- Predictions will be ‘valid’ if posted HERE (or more accurately, whichever is the correct match thread) before the lineup is officially announced, usually about an hour before kickoff.
- You receive 1 point for every player you correctly guess to be in the Starting XI. You receive 4 bonus points for correctly predicting all 11 starters.
- You get 5 points for correctly guessing Win/Lose/Draw, this doubles to 10 if you also predict the right score-line along with the result.
- All this means, if you correctly predict the Starting XI, Final Score, and Winner, you can earn 25 points!
- At the end of each half, the contestant’s lowest two scores of that period will be deducted from the cumulative standings
Caps 2-1
Takaoka
Laborda Ranko Blackmon Martins
Berhalter Cubas Ahmed
Gauld Cordova
White
Takaoka
Laborda Ranko Blackmon Martins
Vite Cubas Ahmed
Gauld Cordova
White
2-1 Caps win
Hoping Vite can go they say he is GTD, worry about our chances if Schopf in that spot.
White
Gauld Vite
Schöpf Cubas Ahmed
Martins Blackmon Ranko Laborda
Takaoka
VAN 2—0 COL
0-1 Caps
Takaoka
Laborda Veselinovic Blackmon Martins
Berhalter Cubas Ahmed
Gauld Cordova
White
Could this be the Caps’ first road win? Did I just jinx them by making such a suggestion??
Takaoka
Laborda, Blackmon, Ranko, Martins
Berhalter, Cubas, Ahmed
Gauld, White
Cordova
Whitecaps 2-1
2 0 road win
Takoaka
Martins, ranko, blackmon, laborda
Cubas, berhalter, ahmed
Gauld, cordova,
White
Cordova
Gauld White
Martins Cubas Berhalter Raposo
Blackmon Ranko Laborda
Takaoka
0-0 Draw
Takaoka
Laborda Veselinovic blackmon martins
Cubas Berhalter Schopf
Gauld white
Cordova
1-0 caps
Takaoka
Laborda Blackmon Veselinovic Martins
Berhalter Cubas Schopf
Gauld White
Cordova
1-0 Vancouver– really torn on this one this is a much weakened team without three starters.
White
Gauld-Cordova
Schopf-Cubas-Berhalter
Martins-Veselinovic-Blackmon-Laborda
Takaoka
Caps finally get a road win, 2-1
(Edit if allowed)
Ahmed in for Berhalter
Starting XI & Score Prediction
Takaoka
Laborda Blackmon Veselinovic Martins
Berhalter Cubas Schopf
Gauld White
Cordova
Score: Rapids 2 – ‘Caps
Takaoka
Brown Blackmon Ranko Martins
Gressel Cubas Raposo
Gauld Vite
White
‘Caps win 2-0
go ‘Caps
Takaoka
Laborda Ranko Blackmon Martins
Berhalter Cubas Schopf
Cordova Gauld
White
Caps win 2-1
Do we get two more lowest point matches taken away for the second half of the season or is it 2 for the whole season?
Yes, two more for the second half as well.
Takaoka
Laborda Ranko Blackmon Martins
Berhalter Cubas Ahmed
Cordova Gauld
White
Colorado 0-1 Vancouver
Takaoka
Brown Veselinovic Blackmon Martins
Gressel Piranha Schöpf
Vite Gauld
White
2-1 Caps road win
2-0 Caps win
Takaoka
Martins Ranko Blackmon Laborda
Ngando Cubas Berhalter
Gauld White
Cordova