Despite dropping 12.5 rating points in yesterday’s draw (1:1) at home against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen's Germany international Per Mertesacker held on to the #1 spot in the FTBL ranking of German defenders with a tally of 91.49 points.

Mertesacker even has a perfect opportunity to consolidate his lead in the coming game: he will face a plank of just 1.74 rating points to beat in the road game against #12 in the standings SC Freiburg.

A close look at his next five games also shows that 3 of those will be at home, with a combined plank of 34.69 rating points to beat. We believe his overall FTBL score will move beyond the 105-point mark after the 5th game on December 12.