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Week 3 saw the return of the clean sheet, with six shutouts compared to just two the previous week, defenders and keepers saw a nice bump in points scored. Toronto Hammerheads are still sitting on top of the WTR League table however they did take a step back this week. If not for the decision to captain Defoe the Hammerheads lead would be down to single digits. The week 3 winner is.....Duncan Fletcher with 71 points. Nine of Duncan’s starting eleven scored at least 4 points and clean sheets from New England, Seattle and Toronto helped pad his defensive scores.
HE’S ON FIRE
After coming on as a substitute in Columbus, scoring to pull the Union to within one and then nearly tying the match up Leonardo Fernandes is the player most players are adding to their line-up this week. Fernandes is now owned by 16.2% of players and will only cost you $4.8m to add to your squad. Dylan Remick, Jermain Defoe and Sebastian Le Toux have all been added to over 600 plus teams this week. If you bought Defoe at $10.5m you've seen a nice bump in your bankroll. Defoe owners and buyers beware though TFC have 3 bye weeks left before the world cup break, tied for the most byes remaining with LA. If you own or buy Defoe you will have to figure out a plan for those weeks.
YOU’RE AS COLD AS ICE
With the news breaking yesterday that the butt end of all TFC short jokes, Joao Plata, was going to miss 2-3 weeks with a hamstring injury owners have rushed to drop the forward who started the year on great form. Subbed in the 35th minute this weekend because of said injury Plata still managed to put up a respectable 5 points. Look for him to be in the top adds section again in mid April. The player going neck and neck with Plata for most drops this week is Portland keeper Donovan Ricketts. Many left Ricketts in their lineup this week but are now shopping for a replacement. Since Portland doesn’t have a bye this season the strategy of many heading into the year was to pick up Ricketts as an every week starter and then pair him with a $3.0m keeper who would never see the light of day. 720 of those owners have changed their plan this week by dropping Ricketts.
VIEW FROM THE BUNKER
TFC head to Utah this week to play Real Salt Lake. The back end of RSL is solid starting with Nick Rimando and spreading right across the back four. This doesn’t favour TFC’s offensive players but if you have been riding Jermain Defoe you would be foolish to sit him regardless of the matchup. On the other end don’t shy away from starting TFC defenders. There will be plenty of opportunities for clearances, blocks and interceptions, just don’t expect a clean sheet this week.
Current Top 10 in the WTR League:
