Fantasy Focus: Brillant!

A score of 110 points led this round, and Cathedral SC set the pace. Captain Josh Saunders (NYC, $5.1) -- I know, I was shocked too -- threw up two clean sheets and 36 points to lead the team. Mauro Diaz (DAL, $11.3) tallied two assists and a whopping 6 attacking bonus points to score 16 points, and David Villa (NYC, $12.1) scored a goal and 13 points. Salisbury United is still at the top of the table with a 17 point lead.  The top of the league is running away from everyone else right now, but the second tier of teams is packed in pretty tightly. There are 96 points between 1st and 5th, and 100 points between 5th and 23rd.

Positional Leaders

Goalkeepers

Josh Saunders may have taken two games to get his 18 points, but he doubled the next closest player. Brian Rowe (LA, $4.9) posted a clean sheet for 9 points, while both Jake Gleeson (POR, $4.6) and the debuting Tim Howard (COL, $6.1) did the same for 8 points. Bill Hamid ($6.3) scored 5 points for D.C. United.

Defenders

A New York trio led the defenders this round. Frederic Brillant ($8.2), Andoni Iraola ($7.2), and Jefferson Mena ($7.2) each earned two clean sheets on their way to 19, 17, and 16 points respectively. Brillant's 19 led all scorers. For United, Kofi Opare ($5.6) led with 3 points, followed by Bobby Boswell ($8.2) and Sean Franklin ($8.3) with 2, and Taylor Kemp ($8.0) with 1.

Midfielders

Mauro Diaz's 16 points were equaled by Jack Harrison (NYC, $5.8), who tallied a goal and an assist to share the midfield lead. Harrison's teammates Frank Lampard ($10.4) and Andrea Pirlo ($10.4) each scored 15 points, with Lampard notching a goal and an assist, and Pirlo tallying two assists. D.C.'s midfield was led by Jared Jeffrey ($5.5) with 6 points, followed by 3 points each for Nick DeLeon ($6.4), Lamar Neagle ($8.0), and Marcelo Sarvas ($7.3), and 1 point for Julian Buescher ($5.5).

Forwards

Kei Kamara ($11.1) opened his New England account with two goals and 15 points over two games. His Columbus replacement, Ola Kamara ($8.5) did the same in one game for 14 points, and David Villa's 13 points were good for third. For DCU, Fabian Espindola ($10.0) led with 7 points, followed by Alvaro Saborio ($7.8) with 3, Luciano Acosta ($8.5) with 2, and Alhaji Kamara ($8.5) with 1.

Looking Ahead

Everyone plays once this week, and games start on Friday night. In goal this week, take Brian Rowe on the road against struggling Seattle, and take Drew Moor (TOR, $7.7) in defense at home against Chicago. With Diego Valeri's status up in the air, Mauro Diaz is a must in the midfield @ San Jose, and Ola Kamara has seven goals in the last five games, so keep using him @ New England. Take note that next week there are eight teams with a bye, and we get unlimited transfers to account for that.