Fantasy Focus: Valentin’s Day

It’s the last round of the season, and it may be a stretch to call this a two horse race, but only two teams have a realistic chance of winning it. The trailing team of the two, Not Bennyball but Bengenpress, helped their cause some by leading this round with 107 points.

BL4CKnRED is still the overall leader, with 1187 points, and a 38-point lead on Bengenpress. It’s come down to those two to determine the winner. It’s a steep hill to climb though, as the largest lead that Bengenpress has had over BL4CKnRED in a single round was 25 points in round 3.

Positional Leaders

Goalkeepers

A quintet of players tied for the goalkeeping lead, as Jimmy Maurer (DAL, $9.3), Pedro Gallese (ORL, $9.0), and Steve Clark (POR, $9.2), Sean Johnson (NYC, $9.1), and Brad Guzan (ATL, $8.1) each posted a clean sheet on the way to 9 points. DCU’s Bill Hamid ($5.6) scored 7 points.

Defenders

Seattle’s Nouha Tolo ($7.4) led the defenders with 17 points on a clean sheet and an assist, followed by Aaron Long (NYR, $8.2), who paired a goal and a clean sheet on the way to 16 points. Jorge Villafaña (POR, $9.2) rounded out the top three with an assist, a clean sheet, and 13 points. The D.C. defense featured Donovan Pines ($8.1) with 8 points, followed by both Frederic Brillant ($6.1) and Oneil Fisher ($4.0) with 7 each, and Joseph Mora ($6.6) with 6.

Midfielders

Yimmi Chara (POR, $9.9) led the midfielders with four assists on the way to 15 points. Behind him were Cristian Casseres, Jr. (NYR, $7.4), with 13 points on a goal and an assist, and Nicolas Lodeiro (SEA, $14.3), who did the same for 12 points. Julian Gressel ($8.4) and Edison Flores ($6.6) both led the United midfield with 10 points; followed by Yamil Asad ($7.7) with 8 points; the trio of Russell Canouse ($5.9), Junior Moreno ($6.8), and Kevin Paredes ($5.0) with points; and both Moses Nyeman ($4.0) and Yordy Reyna ($4.0) with 4 points.

Forwards

NYC’s Valentin Castellanos ($5.5) scored a hat trick and added an assist on the way to 24 points, leading the forwards and all players. Trialing him were Jaroslaw Niezgoda (POR, $7.7) with two goals, an assist, and 16 points, and Cristian Pavon (LAG, $11.6) with two goals and 14 points. The D.C. forwards were Griffin Yow ($4.0) with 7 points, Gelmin Rivas ($4.1) with 6, and both Ola Kamara ($4.0) and Erik Sorga ($4.0) with 1.

Looking Ahead

For the final week, I’m looking at Sean Johnson in goal at Chicago, and in defense I like Antonio Carlos (ORL, $8.7) with home games against Columbus and Nashville. Lewis Morgan (MIA, $12.6) is your midfield man at home against Cincinnati, and Jordan Morris (SEA, $10.0) is a good bet at forward, at the Galaxy and home against San Jose.