This round’s pacesetter was Sin City FC, with 184 points. Is that good? Josef Martinez (ATL, $10.0) led the way with an armband-aided 74 points on hat tricks in successive games. Helping out were Fredy Montero (VAN, $9.4) with 18 points on a goal and two assists, and Anton Walkes (ATL, $4.2) with a goal, a clean sheet, and 16 points. !BL4CKnRED saw the overall lead reduced to 41 points.
Positional Leaders
Goalkeepers
A trio of players tied for the overall lead with a clean sheet and 12 points — Andre Blake (PHI, $6.3), David Ousted (VAN, $5.6), and Alex Bono (TOR, $5.9), who also had an assist. D.C.’s Bill Hamid ($5.7) scored 4 points.
Defenders
Anton Walkes’s 16 points led the position, followed by Drew Moor (TOR, $6.9), who paired a goal and a clean sheet for 13 points. Three players tied for third on 12 points, with each tallying a clean sheet — Michael Parkhurst (ATL, $5.8); Brandon Vincent (CHI, $5.8), who scored a goal; and Marcel de Jong (VAN, $4.9), who added an assist. The United defense featured Kofi Opare ($4.8) with 3 points, followed by both Steve Birnbaum ($5.3) and Chris Odoi-Atsem ($4.2) with 1 point each.
Midfielders
The Vancouver duo of Brek Shea ($6.7) and Yordy Reyna ($8.7) tied for the lead with 18 points, with Shea pairing a goal and an assist, and Reyna tallying two assists. Ibson da Silva (MIN, $7.0) contributed an assist on the way to 15 points, rounding out the top three. A bevy of DCU midfielders scored, led by Nick DeLeon ($5.6) with 4 points, followed by both Lloyd Sam ($8.0) and Russell Canouse ($6.6) with 3 points, the pair of Luciano Acosta ($8.3) and Paul Arriola ($8.7) with 2 points, and Ian Harkes ($5.7) with 1.
Forwards
Josef Martinez’s 37 points easily led the position and all players, while Fredy Montero’s 18 points were good for second. Dom Dwyer (ORL, $9.0) put up two goals and an assist on the way to 16 points, while Hector Villalba (ATL, $10.0) did the same on a goal and two assists for a third-place tie. For United, Deshorn Brown ($7.5) scored 2 points, and both Patrick Mullins ($8.0) and Bruno Miranda ($6.0) scored 1.
Looking Ahead
Atlanta, LA, Toronto, and Montreal all play twice, and everyone else plays once, with games starting on Wednesday. I’m betting big on Atlanta and Toronto especially. Alex Bono is a good idea at goalkeeper with games at home against Montreal, and away to New England, and in defense throw in Anton Walkes as a cheap option at home against LA and Montreal. Despite Josef Martinez’s 37-point outburst, I still like Miguel Almiron as your captain because I am concerned that the former might not play two full games this week after playing 180 minutes last week. Use them both with little hesitation.