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Red Stars goalkeeper Jillian Loyden will try to build upon last week's shutout when Chicago hosts the Atlanta Beat on Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel (6pm ET/3pm PT).

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This week’s outlook:
The departure of the Athletica leaves just six teams in action this week. In Saturday’s 10pm ET showdown, Abby Wambach leads the surging second-place Freedom into the Bay Area to take on the first-place Gold Pride, looking for their first goal since May 14. On Sunday at 6pm ET, Sky Blue FC and league fantasy points leader Karen Bardsley visit Philly and Lori Lindsey, trying to regain her early-season scoring rate. And in this week’s TV game (Sunday, 6pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel), the Red Stars and ‘keeper Jillian Loyden try to build on last week’s upset of the Gold Pride by keeping visiting Atlanta winless.

This week’s deadlines:
The deadline to add or remove a player from your fantasy team is an hour before that player's first game of the week kicks off:

ATL: Sunday, June 6 at 5pm ET
BAY: Saturday, June 5 at 9pm ET
BOS: On Bye
CHI: Sunday, June 6 at 5pm ET
NJ: Sunday, June 6 at 5pm ET
PHI: Sunday, June 6 at 5pm ET
WSH: Saturday, June 5 at 9pm ET

This week’s picks (format: 3-5-2):
G: **Karen Bardsley, Sky Blue FC, $747K: Saves leader looks to keep rolling at Philly.
D: Carrie Dew, FC Gold Pride, $450K: Will have to hold strong against the fast-rising Freedom.
D: *Daphne Koster, Sky Blue FC, $691K: Steady hand will try to keep Philly (four goals in last four games) at bay.
D: Allison Falk, Philadelphia Independence, $450K: Matchup pick against a team that’s scored 2 goals just once this season.
M: Joanna Lohman, Philadelphia Independence, $776K: A good trend in last two games: 180 minutes played, two shots on goal, one goal.
M: Lori Lindsey, Philadelphia Independence, $515K: Needs to regain her April form: 270 minutes, 0 shots on goal in her last three matches.
M: Sonia Bompastor, Washington Freedom, $1.063M: Good bet for assists with Freedom’s big front line hitting stride.
M: *Karen Carney, Chicago Red Stars, $748K: 3 shots on goal in her last two games to pace an improving Red Stars offense.
M: *Angie Kerr, Atlanta Beat, $670K: Getting more aggressive – 3 shots on goal in her last two games – as Beat offense seeks its rhythm.
F: *Abby Wambach, Washington Freedom, $1.181M: League assists leader catching fire with two goals in her last two games.
F: Marta, FC Gold Pride, $1.378M: Stifled by Chicago last week but may have more room against the aggressive Freedom.
Total cost: $8.669M
* - Roster change from last week
** - Captain

Last week’s Dream Team for 4-3-3 – 194 points:
G: ** Bardsley, Sky Blue FC (captain: 35 points x 2 = 70 points), $695K: Fantasy leader kept rolling with a 5-save, 1-clean shutout last week.
D: Marian Dalmy, Chicago Red Stars (25 points), $699K: Helped keep Gold Pride off the board and assisted on the game’s only goal in an upset win.
D: Kasey Moore, Boston Breakers (10 points), $586K: Strong play helped preserve a scoreless tie with Sky Blue.
D: Stephanie Cox, Boston Breakers (10 points), $622K: Like Moore, part of the strong Boston backline that pitched a shutout against Sky Blue FC.
D: Brittany Taylor, Sky Blue FC (10 points), $593K: Part of a Sky Blue FC defense that allowed no goals in last week’s whitewash.
M: Rebecca Moros, Washington Freedom (19 points), $701K: Plenty of shots on goal this season; one finally struck gold against Gold Pride.
M: Carney, Chicago Red Stars (4 points), $727K: Fired a pair of shots on goal in the Red Stars’ aggressive outing last week.
M: Kristine Lilly, Boston Breakers (2 points), $500K: Notched 1 shot on goal in a scoreless draw with Sky Blue FC.
F: Wambach, Washington Freedom (17 points), $1.136M: Second goal in two games and first game-winner of the season.
F: Kosovare Asllani, Chicago Red Stars (16 points), $675K: Talented youngster notched her first goal of the season to topple Gold Pride.
F: Lianne Sanderson, Philadelphia Independence (11 points), $631K: Came off the bench to tally her second goal of the season.
Total cost: $7.656M

The Watch List:
G: Erin McLeod, Washington Freedom, $870K: With just three goals allowed in her last five games, a big reason for the Freedom’s push up the standings.
D: Taylor, Sky Blue FC, $631K: Impressive four clean sheets on the year to supplement fantasy points leader Bardsley.
M: Mami Yamaguchi, Atlanta Beat, $675K: No goals to date, but 3 shots on goal in her last game might be a good sign.
F: Casey Nogueira, Chicago Red Stars, $615K: Young sniper has scoring touch, but her minutes have vacillated over the last month.

Roster notes:
The Roster Report will be updated on Friday to list players’ availability for this weekend’s games.

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Hillary Read is a freelance writer and can be reached at hbread@gmail.com. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Women’s Professional Soccer or womensprosoccer.com.