DiffeRANCHals: 2025 Round 17

 

 

 

 

Every week, we’ll go over our 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 did not play), average = 4-5 points, good = 6-8 points, great = 9+ points. Double gameweeks (DGWs) are scored as follows: bust = 6 or fewer points (or not starting/on the bench), average = 7-9 points, good = 10-12 points and great = 13+ points. Players not available for selection are disregarded and not counted as either a positive or a negative in the article.

Week 15 Results: 

Matt:

• Jordi Alba – Bust (0 points) 
• Diego Luna  – Good (11 points) 
• Sam Surridge – Great! (23 points) 

Ranch:

• Griffin Dorsey – Bust (4 points) 
• Lucho Acosta – Bust (5 points) 
• Eric Choupo-Moting – Great! (19 points) 

Meg:

• Daniel Lovitz – Bust (3 points) 
• Marco Reus – Bust (1 point)
• Thomas Chancalay – Bust (5 points) 

Matt Results: 5 Great, 9 Good, 8 Average, 20 Bust

Ranch Results: 7 Great, 14 Good, 5 Average, 17 Bust

Meg Results: 1 Great, 3 Good, 2 Average, 9 Busts

2025 Full Season Results: 13 Great, 26 Good, 15 Average, 46 Busts (54%)

 

Welcome back to diffeRANCHals! We took a week off because of the small number of games last week, but we are ready to go! Not only do we have our usual fun differential plays, but some players are still gone on international duty so we have some sneaky picks to take advantage of. That being said, let’s get into it!

Ranch: Derrick Williams, $5.5m (Defender – Atlanta)

Call it intuition, but I do really think that Atlanta can pull off a clean sheet this week. This would be just their second clean sheet of the season if they succeed. Why would I have this prediction? Well, NYCFC is going to be without their top scoring forward, Alonso Martinez. He has been a vital part of the NYCFC attack. In fact, NYCFC has only scored in 3 of their 9 games when Martinez does not score a goal, and did not score in the only game that Alonso missed this season. With that in mind, I would suggest an early game gamble on an Atlanta defender like Derrick Williams.

Matt: Dagur Thorhallsson, $5.8m (Defender – Orlando)

With Freeman still suited up for the USMNT, ol’ faithful Thor should be playing in his place. Last year, Thor was a constant attacking threat and was constantly getting on the scoresheet. Now with a start all but guaranteed against a struggling Colorado Rapids team, I think it is time to go back to the well. 

Meg: Logan Ndenbe, $4m (Defender – Sporting Kansas City)

Wanna CS hunt but don’t want to pay for all the premium defenders so that you can run all the premium mids/forwards? Here’s a guy to take a look at. Sure SKC hasn’t been a goal stopping defense but they did snag a CS in week 13…and week 11…. BUT they are at home without many missing players to international callups against Dallas who is missing Paes/ Show. Ndenbe is a defender who tends to push up the pitch and gets involved with the attack, he is a goal threat against a second string keeper. 

Ranch: Daniel Salloi, $9.1m (Midfielder – Kansas City)

Although Manu Garcia is the playmaker in SKC, I am going to lean towards Daniel Salloi this week. Salloi has been relatively quiet this season, yet still has notched 5 goals and 3 assists. Do I fully trust SKC this week? Of course not! Do I trust FCD defense? Also no. I think this is going to be the wildcard game of the week where anything goes. So if you want to take a gamble on somebody, pick a player in this matchup.

Meg: Ondreg Lingr, $7.5m (Midfielder – Houston Dynamo)

Houston has been scoring fairly well through McGlynn but McGlynn has been called up so they are going to be relying on Lingr to take his place. He has made an immediate positive impact on this team since joining earlier this season and I think this match poses a great opportunity for him to show off more of his skills. Houston is at home this week playing against a very leaky Montreal Defence. Here’s to envisioning lots of Dynamo goals off a bunch of Lingr shots!

Matt: Alexey Miranchuk, $7.6m (Midfielder – Atlanta)

All of Atlanta’s fantasy-relevant players who were gone on international duty should be back this weekend. But do you know who wasn’t on international duty? Our friend Miranchuk. Miranchuk should be well rested and ready to go against a Keaton Parks-less NYCFC team. Without Parks, Miranchuk should find a lot more space in midfield to work his passes and set up the players around him. Not only should he collect KPs here, but he could easily find himself with a goal involvement. Another great part about this game? It’s on Thursday night so Miranchuk can be a perfect bench play to start the week.

Meg: Daniel Rios, $5m (Forward – Vancouver)

Now last week I took Rios as a differential and he snagged a goal and a solid score of 7 points. This week I am suggesting him as a solid sneaky point producing forward. Vancouver is on the road playing the Crew but one big thing to note is Columbus will be starting their third string goal keeper due to injuries and international callups, which has also impacting their typical starting 11. Rios should be the sole starting forward for the Whitecaps since Nelson and White have both been called up. Hopefully this match ends with Rios scoring multiple goals. 

Ranch: Zavier Gozo, $4.4m (Forward – Real Salt Lake)

Ahh now I feel like I am going back to my roots. Zavier Gozo is a player who has under 1% ownership (0.77% currently) and is very cheap.  If anybody has been following DC United’s games recently, they just got their rear-ends handed to them by a Chicago team on the road. What’s to stop RSL from doing the same thing at home, with elevation? DC United has to travel across the country, be at elevation, and overcome a brutal football-esque scoreline last week? All of this indicates for me that we need to keep eyes on RSL players for the week. Yes, I am aware that Diego Luna will not be available this week due to international duty. However, that does not stop a player like Pablo Ruiz to feed Gozo goals as he sits up top against a weakened DC side. If Tom Barlow can do it, so can Zavier Gozo.

Matt: Felipe Mora/Kevin Kelsy, $7.8/6.8m (Forward – Portland)

Yes, the Portland forward situation has been hard to read between guessing who is actually starting and 65ish minute substitutions. But hosting San Jose is such a tasty matchup, I think we have to try again. Based on the recent pattern, it seems like Mora should start this one and since it is a Friday night game, this provides a great bench option to lead into Saturday.

---

Contributors: 
Tyler Norman, @Ranchinator on Discord
Matt Nelson, @Tinkerman on Discord
Megan Lee Turner, @Meg on Discord