Welcome back to FNWSL! I hope everyone enjoyed the Olympics… the women’s soccer tournament was a banner event for the NWSL, with 27 NWSL players earning medals for the United States, Brazil, and Germany, and four NWSL players finishing in the top six goalscorers for the tournament (also, in this reporter’s purely subjective opinion, by far the top two goalkeepers to feature in the Olympics play in the league: Ann-Katrin Berger and Alyssa Naeher). Meanwhile, both the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and Women’s Cup(s) have been ongoing, giving dozens of NWSL players some additional playing time against international competition.
In addition, several new signings have joined NWSL sides over the last six weeks, and we’ve got you covered on all roster changes here. Round 16 will kick off Friday evening, with Orlando visiting Houston in the Space Rivalry and an expansion team showdown between Bay and Utah.
To get us back in the swing of things, let’s do a quick review of what was going on in FNWSL before the Olympics!
The biggest story in FNWSL was the performance of the elite forwards.
Between the members of Triple Espresso (Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, and Trinity Rodman) racking up the goals and NWSL newcomers Barbra Banda and Temwa Chawinga taking the league by storm, FNWSL managers were relying heavily on forwards. In fact, the top four scoring FNWSL players so far this season are all FWs, which is unprecedented in FWNSL history. Furthermore, if Bia Zaneratto hadn’t missed several games due to injury, she may have been in that list as well.
Context: What kind of stats are these forwards putting up to earn so many fantasy points?
Players earn 5 fantasy points for scoring a goal, and 3 fantasy points for each assist.
In 2023, Smith won the Golden Boot with 11 goals in 17 appearances. Already this season, with ten games left to go, Chawinga leads the Golden Boot race with 12 goals and 6 assists in 16 appearances, Banda follows with 12 goals and 5 assists in 12 appearances, and Smith has 10 goals and 6 assists in 14 appearances according to the NWSL.
The point is, it’s absolutely essential that you have at least two of these six players on your team, and I’d recommend three. You really can’t go wrong with any of them, but it may be worth keeping in mind that neither Chawinga nor Zaneratto went to the Olympics and may be safer bets to get normal minutes when league play resumes.
What’s a midfield without Croix Bethune?
Outside of Croix Bethune (who is the absolute definition of a must-have player at only $75k), midfield has been tricky for FNWSL managers this season. The good news is that Vanessa DiBernardo appears to be fully recovered from injury and scored in the Women’s Cup, so she is back to being an ideal FNWSL option in a very potent KC offense.
Also, if you have the cap space, consider Rose Lavelle – she was on a heater with four goals in six matches leading into the Olympics, and appears to be the most consistent fantasy scorer in a very crowded Gotham lineup (with all of the star power in New Jersey, Gotham has one of the least concentrated offenses in the league). If you can’t afford Lavelle (like me), that article has some other MF recommendations too!
Clean sheets are harder to come by.
Context: Why do we care about clean sheets in fantasy NWSL?
Every defender and goalkeeper on the field for at least 60 minutes will earn 5 fantasy points if the game finishes with zero goals against. Even if a player subs out, if the opponent scores by the end of the game, defenders and goalkeepers will earn 0 fantasy points in this metric.
Though Kansas City’s scoring ability has made the Current perhaps the most compelling team for FNWSL, don’t forget about the defenses of Orlando and North Carolina. Partially thanks to a big chunk of clean sheet points, both the Pride and the Courage have four defenders in the top 25 FNWSL DFs, and I’d suggest rostering at least one from both teams.
For your other DFs, take a look at the set-piece data and consider Izzy Rodriguez and/or Carson Pickett. Remember that Pickett just returned to Orlando from Louisville, so you may want to wait and see how the Pride back line will look with her in the mix.
Sam Staab, one of the most consistent defenders in FNWSL, unfortunately suffered a season-ending injury in the Summer Cup 🙁 best wishes for a speedy recovery, Sam!