2024 Round 14 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 = 3 or fewer points (or not starting/on the bench), average = 4-5 points, good = 6-8 points, great = 9+ points. Players not available for selection I am disregarding and not counting as a positive or negative in the article.

DGW Scoring: Bust = 6 or fewer, Average = 7-9, Good = 10-12, Great = 13+

Week 13 Final Results: 

Matt:

• Andrew Gutman – Bust (3 points)
• Diego Rubio – Bust (3 points)

Brandon:

• Carlos Andres Gomez – GREAT! (24 points)
• Tani Oluwaseyi – Bust (1 point)

Ranch:

• Mateusz Klich – Bust (6 points)
• Jon Gallagher – Average (7 points)

2024 Full Season Results: 11 Great, 9 Good, 15 Average, 47 Busts

Matt Results: 2 Great, 2 Good, 6 Average, 19 Bust

Brandon Results: 5 Great, 1 Good, 6 Average, 15 Bust

Ranch Results: 4 Great, 6 Good, 3 Average, 13 Bust

 

Welcome back to week 14 of the diffeRANCHals article! After a long DGW, Brandon managed to find the gem in the rough, Carlos Andres Gomez. Will our streak of finding great plays each week in the article continue? Find out for yourself as we get into our picks of the week. 

Matt: Tomas Totland, $8.2m (Defender – St. Louis)

St. Louis will be hosting a struggling Seattle Sounders team and while they haven’t been as solid this year defensively, St. Louis should have a decent clean sheet shout, especially with Lowen getting more time back in the starting eleven. In favorable matchups, Totalnd also likes to get involved in the attack and with Nouhou serving his red card suspension, Totland will most likely be targeting backup LB Cody Baker. While Baker is a solid backup, his defensive prowess isn’t close to Nouhou’s. Totland should have chances to get involved in the attack along with his CS chance.

Brandon: Dany Rosero, $7.0m (Defender – SKC)

The first of two picks from SKC this week, our second pick across the back is centreback Dany Rosero, fresh off the injury list this week after playing the first half of the club’s Tuesday night US Open Cup match against Tulsa, one that the club had rotated for and which was more or less wrapped up by the start of the second half after a red card reduced Tulsa to ten the rest of the way. Although SKC have shipped their fair share of goals recently, Rosero does have support in the way of passing BPs — and most importantly, will be an aerial threat on set-pieces, something that Portland have struggled with so far this season, conceding six off corners, second only to the Galaxy’s eight, both through 14 games.

Ranch: Erik Thommy, $10.1m (Midfielder – SKC)

If there is one thing that I love as a Seattle supporter, it is betting against Portland. With the struggles that Portland has had defensively this season, I will continue that trend with Erik Thommy. Portland allows approximately 2 goals per game. That is prime time real estate for a player of Thommy’s pedigree. I could see this game being a shootout with Thommy finishing on anywhere between 9-15 fantasy points.

Ranch: Cristian Olivera, $9.3m (Midfielder – LAFC)

Rinse and repeat feels like the name of the game for me this week. Cristian Olivera, as I mentioned 2 weeks ago, has been a gem of a player in this fantasy scoring system. It really makes me wonder if Brian Rodriguez would’ve been a better asset with this scoring system. Anyways, Olivera did play in the midweek USOC game for LAFC, but I do fully expect him to start Saturday as well. Should he start, LAFC will be going against an Atlanta team without their 2 best players on the field. That just screams field day for Bouanga, Olivera, and company. Why not grab both?

Matt: Gabriel Pec, $10.2m (Forward – LA Galaxy)

Joveljic, Puig, and Paintsil has been getting most of the love in LA Galaxy’s attacking and for good reason. But with Paintstil out injured and Joveljic cooling off a bit, Pec is a great differential. He has hit his shots BP 5 out of the past 7 matches and his KP BP 6 out of the past 7. Not only does he have a safe floor in for this reason, but he also has a great ceiling this week, especially if Escobar is out for Houston. Even with Escobar, the Dynamo have been consistently giving up goals on the road. Pair that up with LA Galaxy’s attack, especially at home, Pec should have plenty of chances to create and score.

Brandon: Rafael Navarro, $9.9m (Forward – Colorado)

Staying with the hot hand, it’s to the Rockies for the final pick of the week, namely, Rafael ‘four goals in four straight games’ Navarro. Aside from Navarro’s form in recent weeks, Colorado welcome a Minnesota side this weekend that will be without centreback Miguel Tapias, thanks to a 91st-minute red card in the Loons’ comeback win last weekend against Portland. Granted the existence of depth options behind Tapias who have been serviceable to this point, Navarro leads the Rapids in xG/90 (0.51), is fourth in SCA/90 (2.39) behind Mihailovic, Ronan and Bassett, and second in GCA/90 (0.48) behind Mihailovic, amongst qualifying players.