DiffeRANCHals: 2025 Round 21

 

 

 

 

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 20 Results:

Matt:

• Rodrigo Schlegel – Bust (2 points)
• Pablo Ruiz – Average (5 points)
• Joao Klauss – Bust (3 points)

Ranch:

• Sigur Rosted – Bust (1 point)
• David da Costa – Great! (10 points)
• Peter Musa – Bust (1 point)

Meg:

• Maya Yoshida – Bust (2 points)
• Marcel Hartel – Great! DREAM TEAM (17 points)
• Kevin Denkey – Bust (2 points)

Matt Results: 5 Great, 11 Good, 12 Average, 23 Bust (54%)

Ranch Results: 11 Great, 16 Good, 6 Average, 21 Bust (61%)

Meg Results: 3 Great, 4 Good, 3 Average, 13 Busts (43%)

2025 Full Season Results: 19 Great, 31 Good, 21 Average, 57 Busts (55%)

 

Welcome back to diffeRANCHals! What a wonderful previous week with Meg finding the dream team midfielder among quite a few DGW options! That is some amazing work by the team. Hopefully we can identify some more high potential targets as we approach yet another DGW with a lot of fun options. Let’s get into it!

Matt: Kalani Kossa-Rienzi/Reed Baker-Whiting, $7.3m/$4.2m (Defender – Seattle Sounders)

While Colorado and San Jose aren’t pushovers, Seattle having two home matches shouldn’t be understated. With Nouhou’s suspension, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi or Reed Baker-Whiting should be filling it at the left back spot. Not only can Seattle pull a clean sheet in either of these matchups, both KKR and RBW can get into the attack, collecting KPs and potentially a goal involvement. Whoever starts at LB is going to be a great late option this week and can provide some flexibility if early matchups you are targeting fail.

Ranch: Ryan Hollingshead, $6.3m (Defender – LAFC)

I want to start my defender pick this week with a throwback to “the best right back in the league.” – Blayne Riffle. Although this is a position that could be debated this season, I am going to hold strong to Hollingshead’s potential for this DGW. A couple of things that need to be noted: Hollingshead just started 2 games in a row on a DGW last week, and LAFC is now missing Aaron Long with a season-ending injury. Despite those things, I do still believe that the original HH is going to contribute again this week. Whether it be through clean sheets or a goal contribution (looking at El Traffico), I firmly believe that Hollingshead is passing double digits on the week. Take a look back at the article after this week is finished to prove me wrong!

Meg: Franco Escobar, $8.6m (Defender – Houston Dynamo)

Franco Escobar has a pretty solid floor of scoring a 4 or above without a cleansheet, soOooOo times that by two and that gives him a floor of 8. And if that doesn’t make you want to consider him…well he is also a double home defender playing against Vancouver and Philadelphia. Neither of these teams are scoring multiples or frequently when on the road. I like the upside of Escobar for the CS but I also cannot ignore the attacking potential he has too. He is in the second slate of games so if you would rather play him on the bench, that is still doable. If not, be bold and start him outright! =]

Ranch: Paul Rothrock, $7.4m (Midfielder – Seattle)

Alright it’s time to redeem myself after picking a Portland player last week. You know who is the 4th ranked active player in the last 3 game average of fantasy points? Paul Rothrock. Coming in only behind names like Biel, Zinckernagel, and Mukhtar, Rothrock has been on a tear for Seattle over the last 3 games. This is kind of ironic being that Seattle also has 5 red cards in their last 4 games, meaning that they aren’t playing full strength. Despite that, Paulinho still is figuring out how to contribute goals and assists for the Sounders. This week with two home games, look to see Rothrock notching more goal contributions.

Meg: Phillip Zinckernagel, $12.9m (Midfielder – Chicago Fire)

“Buttttt home team players always outscore away players.” Not if you play for the Chicago Fire….Crazy to point out but Zinc and crew tend to push better and play more cohesively when they are playing on the road. So, Zinc is on the road two times this week and to make it even better, they are up against Atlanta and Montreal. Neither of these teams have been holding solid defensive tactics and pairing that with Zinc’s ability to score or assist other attackers in scoring, sounds like a good week to bring him in!

Matt: Jack McGlynn, $12.1m (Midfield – Houston Dynamo)

So maybe I have a thing for players that have two home games. Now that his stint with the USMNT is over, McGlynn is back for Houston and ready to pull the strings again. What makes him less popular this week, though, is his ceiling is lower than a few of the chalk picks. But with his floor, McGlynn could give is a solid 10-14 point score this week which is bound to outperform one of the chalkier mids this week. The hard part will be choosing which mid to fade for McGlynn.

Meg: Eric Choupo-Moting, $10.4m (Forward – New York Redbulls)

ECM is a double home player this week. Game one is against the Revs, this isn’t a cake walk but also they can be scored upon but the second game is against Miami and they are not known for being a defensive play. Also worth noting that NYRB sometimes calls upon ECM for setpieces such as penalty kicks which also makes him a little more enticing to take a gamble on this week.

Matt: Gabriel Pec, $8.4m (Forward – LA Galaxy)

Pec has fallen far from his 2024 heights, but is still and ever present goal threat and I love his matchup this week. Hosting Austin should give him plenty of chances to find the back of the net, but the big game will be El Trafico on Saturday. The Galaxy have started to find some sort of form and while that usually goes out the window for this rivalry, LA having some attacking spark will only help Pec receive the ball in dangerous spaces. Not only will Saturday night be a really fun game, I think both these matchups lend themselves to a Pec masterclass with multiple goal involvements.

Ranch: Prince Owusu, $9.7m (Forward – Montreal)

I know that I have mentioned Prince Owusu more than once this season, but it is for a reason. Owusu really is the star among a Montreal team that can’t seem to figure things out. Even if the goals that Prince scores are random “gimmie goals”, he still is scoring. This week, Montreal travels to Philly then hosts Chicago. Although Philly has the best defensive record among all teams this season, they still allowed Montreal to score a goal when they last played. Chicago, on the other hand, is one of the worst teams defensively. This could make for an interesting DGW for Owusu!

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