3 under-the-radar candidates for MLS All-Star Game MVP

On Thursday night, the 2016 MLS All-Stars host Premier League giant Arsenal at Avaya Stadium in San Jose.

Sure, while there will be plenty of stars on display like Kaka, Sebastian Giovinco, David Villa, and Andrea Pirlo, the game itself could be decided by some of the less flashy names.

Related: 3 ways the 2016 MLS All-Star team could line up against Arsenal

Here are three under-the-radar players who could prove themselves most valuable in this mid-season exhibition:

Mauro Diaz - FC Dallas

There are few players in MLS as criminally underrated as FC Dallas attacking midfielder Mauro Diaz.

Signed from River Plate in 2013, the 25-year-old Argentine attacker is a consistent threat for FC Dallas, as both a goal scorer and as a creator of opportunities; he has three goals and nine assists in 17 matches in 2016, giving him a combined 17 goals and 24 assists over 68 league matches in the last four seasons.

Those numbers only tell part of the story, though; when Diaz isn't directly involved in the final pass or shot of a play, you can bet he at least got a touch of the ball in the build-up. He's ever-present, ever a threat, and could very well prove the difference against a reduced Arsenal side.

Ignacio Piatti - Montreal Impact

Speaking of Argentine attackers, Montreal Impact winger Ignacio Piatti could be quite the handful for either Mathieu Debuchy or Hector Bellerin out wide on the left - he has been a perennial threat to each and every back line in MLS, after all.

Piatti is enjoying the strongest spell of form in his MLS career at the moment, sitting second in the Golden Boot rankings behind Villa with 12 goals in 18 games, with five assists to his name this year as well. He has already surpassed the nine goals he scored in 2015 and is on pace to finish the season with 20-25 goals, if he keeps with his current rate of scoring.

There are few players as in-form as Piatti, and while he'll likely need to wait for his turn after Giovinco has his go out wide on the left in the first half, he could turn a match enough to earn the MVP accolade in the second 45 minutes.

Cyle Larin - Orlando City

Few strikers in MLS are as composed, calm, and clinical in their finishing as Orlando City's Canadian attacker Cyle Larin.

The sophomore striker broke the rookie record for goals last season with 17 goals in 27 games and is well on his way to beating that number with 10 goals in 19 games thus far this season. Combining with Kaka, Larin has proved himself a capable finisher, employing the deft touch of a seasoned forward well beyond his 21 years of age.

If the match proves a stalemate, Larin's sleepy style of play could catch the Gunners by surprise, and while central defenders like Calum Chambers and Rob Holding will be drilled with instructions on how to handle the star strikers, a quiet threat like Larin could prove the loudest shout on the night.