DiffeRANCHals: 2025 Round 23

 

 

 

 

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 22 Results:  

Matt:

• Justin Glad – Bust (3 points)
• Myrto Uzuni- Good (7 points)
• Emmanuel Sabbi- Good (8 points)

Ranch:

• Ian Pilcher- Great! (9 point)
• Jack McGlynn- DNP
• Danny Musovski- Bust (2 point) 

Meg:

• Jon Gallagher – Bust (0 points)
• Gabriel Pirani- Good (8 points)
• Idan Toklomati – Great! (9 points)

Matt Results: 6 Great, 14 Good, 12 Average, 25 Bust (56%)

Ranch Results: 12 Great, 18 Good, 6 Average, 23 Bust (61%)

Meg Results: 6 Great, 5 Good, 3 Average, 15 Busts (46%)

2025 Full Season Results: 24 Great, 37 Good, 21 Average, 63 Busts (56%)

 

Welcome back to diffeRANCHals! With Leagues Cup group stage wrapping up, it’s time to start looking at fantasy again. This week, we are going to try to highlight the best options while also recognizing the teams who are still competing. Let’s get into it!

Matt: Brendan Hines-Ike, $9.1m (Defender – Austin)

Austin has not been great defensively for most of this season. But they are at home against a Houston side that has struggled to find the back of the net at times. After a long Leagues Cup disappointment, I’m expecting to see a Dynamo team that is tired and rotated, giving Austin a chance to keep a clean sheet at home. Hines-Ike specifically is always good for a few BPs from passing and has the potential to sneak a goal involvement in as well.

Ranch: Kyle Duncan, $7.1m (Defender – NYRB)

I would highly advise not straying away from chalky defense this week. It seems as though the matchups with the best clean sheet chances are there for a reason. With that being said, if you would like to gamble on a defender, why not pick one in a random matchup? My random matchup pick for this week is NYRB vs RSL. My reasoning is simple: Both teams have been playing in Leagues Cup and RSL has to travel across the country to play NYRB. This game feels like a snoozefest for me and I will be rooting for such.

Meg: Dante Sealy, $7.3m (Defender – Montreal)

Montreal is at home against a very questionable Atlanta team. I know Montreal and the words likely to hold a cleansheet do not belong in the same sentence….however.. There is a chance those things align this week. Regardless Sealy is still a good shout considering he has attacking upside a defense that isn’t super strong at defending.

Ranch: Alexey Miranchuk, $8.7m (Midfielder – Atlanta)

Although Meg decided to pick a defender from Montreal, I am choosing to pick against her and choose Miranchuk for Atlanta. Montreal’s defense hasn’t been all that great as of late. Although Atlanta has had some scoring blue, when they do score it usually is because of Miranchuk. On top of this, Montreal has been playing Leagues Cup games while Atlanta has not been. I firmly believe that this is a game that will not end as 0-0 due to everything listed above. Let’s hope for some Atlanta goals!

Meg: Quinn Sulivan, $8.9m (Midfielder – Philadelphia Union )

Sullivan started the season being quite the midfielder, seemed to be finding his footing once Gazdag was transferred to Columbus…and then he got quiet, injury etc… but now he seems to be on the upward slide. Philly plays Toronto and well Toronto is a hot mess so I think Sullivan is worth considering as a bench flyer this week. If you would rather have a forward over one of the Philly front this is a way to achieve that idea.

Matt: Emil Forsberg, $11.6m (Midfield –New York Red Bulls)

The Red Bulls and Forsberg have both had rough seasons. It seems like both the big money DP and the team as a whole have not been able to stay consistent. But I think this matchup is one that could be sneaky good for the Red Bulls, specifically for Forsberg. RSL has given up the most Goal Creation Action from dead ball situations, which means Forsberg will have plenty of chances to collect BPs and an assist or two from set pieces. RSL have also only kept a single road CS this season so we should expect some Red Bull goals.

Meg: Logan Farrington, $5.2m (Forward – FC Dallas)

Musa is the chalk choice, but If you are wondering if things are going to work out or not by choosing to run a bench play- why not take a chance on Farrington? He actually put up 12 the last round and seems to be working well with Musa not that Lucho is not in the mix. Not that anyone is concerned with budgeting but Farrington is pretty cheap and currently the ownership in FMLS is ridiculously low for him. He might just be a diamond this week and make his way onto the dream team! =]

Matt: Leo Campana. $7.9m (Forward – New England)

New England is in a really rough patch. But do you know who is even worse off right now? DC United. They are currently allowing teams to score for fun and, maybe more specifically, allow strikers to make any and all runs off the ball to create space. We saw a few weeks ago how lethal Campana can be when he’s allowed to run and I expect Gil to set Campana up with even more chances this week. This is the perfect early bench play if you are struggling to decide what to do with Messi’s absence and AMart’s rescheduled game.

 

Ranch: Dejan Joveljic, $13.0m (Forward – Sporting KC)

Although it has been a couple of games since Joveljic scored a goal, now is a perfect time to take a look at him. Sporting KC are hosting a San Diego team who recently got eliminated from Leagues Cup and Joveljic has something to prove. Clearly he hasn’t forgotten how to score since arriving in Kansas City from LAG, already bagging 13 goals on the season. It would be really nice if he makes it a nice number of 15 goals by the end of the day on Saturday.

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