in a 3-5-2 formation, of course -- it's not surprising to see several names that actually appear in this weekend's starting MLS lineup, but there are a few striking differences.
Just for a change of pace, let's start at the back with our starting goalkeeper, the New England Revolution's Matt Reis. No surprise there. His 82 saves going into Wednesday's clash with the Los Angeles Galaxy have earned him a whopping 410 total fantasy points, and he's racked up 350 points from seven shutouts. In total, Reis has 1165 points, an average of 65 points per game.
The fantasy All-Star defensive trio gives us our first eye-popper thus far. It's not the Chicago Fire's Ivan Guerrero, who leads all defenders with 895 total points and 50 points-per-game and was named as an MLS All-Star injury replacement on Tuesday. The surprise comes in No. 2 defender Kelly Gray of the San Jose Earthquakes. Gray has 49 points per game, thanks to a pair of goals and a pair of assists and the Quakes' strong play recently. Eight San Jose wins have earned Gray 80 points, and four clean sheets have tacked on another 120, helping push Gray's point total to 680. Our third defender isn't on the roster for Saturday's All-Star Game, but given his team's success, it's no shock New England's Jay Heaps is on our list. Those same seven shutouts that boosted Reis have greatly benefited Heaps, as have 10 Revolution wins. Heaps has helped himself by appearing in all 18 New England matches this year. He has 715 total points, an average of nearly 40 per game.
The midfield features two departures from the real-life All-Star starters: Kansas City Wizards ace Chris Klein and D.C. United playmaker Christian Gomez. Klein, who has 1090 points for an average of 57 per game, isn't even an All-Star reserve, but he makes our team with five goals, seven assists and 21 shots on target. Gomez was named to the All-Star team by Commissioner Don Garber, and rightly so, as his eight goals have helped him amass 1040 points with a per-game average of 55.
The rest of the midfield is pretty obvious. New England's Clint Dempsey is on his way to Fantasy Challenge MVP honors, with an incredible average of 95 points per game and a total of 1230 points. That's what six goals, eight assists and a winning team will do for you. Amado Guevara's stats may pale in comparison to Dempsey (whose don't?), but the MetroStars captain's figures are still impressive: six goals, seven assists, 1160 total points and an average of 73 per game. FC Dallas playmaker Ronnie O'Brien has goal and assist numbers equal to Guevara's, but he comes out just on top of Guevara in total points with 1210 and just below Guevara with an average of 71 points per game.
You might be wondering where the Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan is, since he counts as a midfielder for Saturday's MLS All-Star Game. Well, in the Fantasy Challenge, he counts as a forward, so here he is: Donovan's numbers (945 total/86 per game) are good enough to get him the second forward spot on the fantasy All-Star team behind the Revolution's Taylor Twellman. Twellman has missed a few games due to injury, but he still leads all players, regardless of position, with 1240 points. His nine goals, four assists and 27 shots on goal have also earned him an average of 89 points per game. If he keeps that up, he could give teammate Dempsey a run for his money in the Fantasy Challenge MVP race, not to mention helping the Revs in the race toward MLS Cup 2005.
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. He will cover the fantasy leagues, along with Jonathan Nierman, every other week throughout the season. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
