This article is part of our The Armband series.
Major League Soccer had some time off, but that doesn't mean everyone is healthy and available for the upcoming week. In fact, a number of important players are still injured (Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ignacio Piatti) and plenty more are away on international duty in the Gold Cup.
Making Round 20 even more fun is that 14 teams have two matches, and with this being a captain article, there's no point in mentioning the squads with only one match. I'll focus mainly on the four sides that have two home matches with a nod to Romain Alessandrini (v. VAN, at NE) Sebastian Giovinco (at NYC, v. COL) and Diego Valeri (v. RSL, at VAN), who have one home and one away.
NYC FC (v. TOR, v. CHI) has the toughest schedule of the four teams with two home matches, but that shouldn't prevent anyone from captaining David Villa. And while Toronto and Chicago are 1-2 in the Eastern Conference standings, neither has a positive goal differential on the road. Villa has four goals in his last four matches and should be ready for 180 minutes after some rest.
Montreal (v. PHI, v. DAL) has a nice set of matches, but without Patrice Bernier and likely Piatti, it'll be hard to fully trust Blerim Dzemaili. That said, Dzemaili scored and assisted on both Impact goals the last time they were at home without Bernier and Piatti (2-0 win v. D.C.). The other worry is that Philly and Dallas have allowed the fewest number of away goals this season (eight).
Similarly, Seattle (v. DC, v. SJ) would be a more popular destination if Clint Dempsey wasn't recently called up for the Gold Cup. Will Bruin would be a great differential, but he is hard to trust, even with two goals and an assist in the last three matches. Still, Bruin should be involved in at least one goal this week with the Sounders expected to reach four or five as a team given their opponents. Nicolas Lodeiro provides consistency in terms of offensive and defensive bonus points, but he has reached the score sheet in just one of the last six matches.
Minnesota (v. HOU, v. NY) is last on this list mainly because the Loons are tied for the fewest points and have a negative goal differential at home (15 scored, 16 allowed). Kevin Molino is the logical place to turn, but he has zero goals and two assists in his last seven matches. The situation is the same for Christian Ramirez, who only accrues fantasy points via goals, and he has two in the last six games.
It'll be easier to captain one of the trio as Alessandrini, Giovinco and Valeri, as each has one great home matchup. Giovinco will earn plenty of armbands because he's always around the net for Toronto, including three goals and three assists in the last four matches. Alessandrini and Valeri can be just as good but haven't been as consistent. Alessandrini is also in danger of coming off the bench in at least one match, as he was already getting rested ahead of the recent break. I'd even consider Bradley Wright-Phillips (v. SJ, at MIN) ahead of Alessandrini, as his goal scoring has increased with five in the last six matches.
Defensively, Joevin Jones would be the place to turn given Seattle's favorable schedule, but we've seen him get rested before in a double gameweek. Even after the recent break, I wouldn't put all my eggs in his basket. More reliably, Alexander Callens has played every minute this season and Maxime Chanot has only missed one match for NYC FC. Using players who are guaranteed to play a full 90 in both matches is where you want to look, and Jones doesn't fit that bill.
