2023 Round 8 DiffeRANCHals

Every week, I’m going to go over my suggestions from last week, and determine if they were a good or bad pick based on position and points. To describe in detail the ranking system here is the metric: bust = 4 or fewer points (or not starting/on the bench), average = 5-6 points, good = 7-8 points, great = 9+ points. Players not available for selection I am disregarding and not counting as a positive or negative in the article.

• Ruan – Bust (2 points)
• Jaylin Lindsey – Bust (2 points)
• Mateusz Klich – Bust (3 points)
• Nuno Santos – DNP
• Christian Benteke – Bust (2 points)
• Kerwin Vargas – Bust (2 points)

Week 7 Final Results: 5 Busts

2023 Full Season Results: 6 Great, 6 Good, 6 Average, 18 Bust

 

Hello and welcome to round eight of the 2023 diffeRANCHals: Birthday Edition. Yes, I understand that last week was a really rough week. Needless to say, more research could’ve been done to improve those picks. This week will not be a disappointment, as there are more chances at a good differential than the chalk that was last week. 

P.S. For my birthday I would like a Seattle Sounders victory over the Timbers. Build a bonfire, build a bonfire! 

Anyways, let’s get into it!

Kemar Lawrence, $6.5m (Minnesota Defender)

This is the week of picking wingbacks for home teams. To start, I am going to go with a wingback who used to be very reliable when he played for the New York Red Bulls, Kemar Lawrence. Lawrence (also known as Taxi) has been a consistently dangerous wingback when he is healthy. This bodes well for a Minnesota team who needs help offensively. Orlando is a team where Taxi can take advantage and whip in a few crosses to hopefully have another player connect up front. Side note, Minnesota has a good chance at finishing the game with a clean sheet!

Steven Moreira, $8.5m (Columbus Defender)

Moreira is potentially the best wingback this season. In fact, he already has 3 assists to his name, which is the top for all defenders on the season. Moreira has a tough matchup against two opposing wingbacks that also like to get forward, which means he will have to track back defensively quite often. However, the offensive threat of Moreira forces DeJuan Jones to also be defensively responsible. If Moreira can get past Jones just once, there is a very real chance that Columbus will score off of his cross.

Mark Anthony Kaye, $8.9m (Toronto Midfielder)

I am going to start with a simple midfield option. Mark Anthony Kaye (MAK) is a bonus point generator for an attack that has a favorable matchup. Toronto hosts an Atlanta team this week without their starting goalkeeper Brad Guzan. With Gutman also starting to return from injury, this could be a tricky match for Atlanta defensively. On top of this, apparently Thiago Almada is questionable for this weekend with an injury. To me, that says to find any and all Toronto players that make sense for this week. MAK is the most likely player to also get an assist while having a safe floor.

Erik Thommy, $7.8m (SKC Midfielder)

Thommy is a fun pick this week because of his shot count. Thommy actually leads MLS in the number of shots taken this season at 29, with 12 of those being on target (also leading MLS) On top of this, Thommy also has13 key passes this season, which puts him up there with elite playmakers like Mukhtar and Lodeiro. The difficult part of this matchup is that San Jose has only allowed 2 goals at home through 4 games and SKC has only scored 2 goals all season. Maybe this is the week that Thommy/SKC break out and start to score some goals!

Diego Rubio, $7.8m (Colorado Forward)

Let’s talk road forwards. Diego Rubio is potentially one of the only road forwards that I would bet my money on scoring a goal this week. Why? Well that’s simple – Rubio gets to play against Charlotte FC. Charlotte is the 2nd worst defensive team right after Montreal. Not only are Charlotte bad defensively, they haven’t even won a game at home! They have a 0-2-1 record at home this season with a total of 5 goals against and 1 goal scored. Rubio plays like a number 10 (playmaker) when he is on the field, so he is the vital part of Colorado offensively if they happen to score goals this weekend.

Kei Kamara, $6.3m (Chicago Forward)

The third most accomplished goal scorer in MLS comes in as my final pick this week. Kei Kamara has scored a total of 142 regular season MLS goals and only needs 3 more to tie with Landon Donovan for the 2nd most goals. Kei couldn’t ask for a better opportunity than to score goals against a Philadelphia Union side that is likely to rotate after playing 90 minutes Wednesday in Guadalajara, Mexico. I will put a warning on Kamara because he has had limited minutes and this is definitely a point chasing pick. However, I do think that he is the most likely scorer for Chicago if they happen to score against the Union.