By my very unofficial estimate, Round 20 is going to involve the most travel of any NWSL round this season: we have three coast-to-coast trips, three midwest-to-coast trips, and one Houston-to-Salt Lake trip. I believe all of that comes out to about 35 hours or so in total flight time for NWSL teams this week. So with that in mind, let’s talk about players you should take a flier on (get it?) if you’re looking for a differential captain in FNWSL.
Before we get into that, remember that we have a late deadline this week, as there is only one match Friday and it’s on the west coast: San Diego hosting Gotham at 10e/9c/8m/7p. There are no matches scheduled in the W Champions Cup this week, so all teams should be on full rest, but we likely will only have full availability reports for those two teams before the FNWSL deadline.
Who should you pick as a differential captain?
Last week, we talked about differential options for your fantasy team, which become especially important as the season starts to wind down. If you really want to go differential, though, you need to pick a differential captain. I swapped out Temwa Chawinga for Ludmila last week, and it worked out well: she scored a goal just seconds before the end of regular time to add to her earlier assist (side note, now that the Stars are officially moving to a new stadium that’s essentially right next to Lake Michigan, can we make #LakefrontLudmila a thing?).
Anyway, the good news is that it’s very easy to pick a differential captain in FNWSL this season – you really just have to pick anyone but Chawinga. Temwa is typically captained by between 35-40% of FNWSL managers each week, which is far and away the highest percentage of any player in the league.
Before her injury, Barbra Banda was second, at around 20-25% a week. After those two, there hasn’t been anyone else that is consistently captained by more than 5% or so of FNWSL managers. Alyssa Thompson, Esther, and Trinity Rodman have been between 4 and 5% lately, and with Thompson’s move to Chelsea, the list of popular FNWSL captains has gotten even smaller. So really, if you feel good about a player in any given week, give them a chance with the armband!
I, personally, may be sticking with Ludmila for the next few weeks, but if you are looking to go differential, Rodman is also an ideal option. She looks back to full fitness and scored a brace against Seattle in Round 19. I would expect both her TSB% and her captain % to steadily increase for the rest of the season, so now is the time to take advantage. I may transfer her in for Delphine Cascarino this week (if I don’t bring Taylor Flint back). Another option to consider is Manaka Matsukubo, who has a good matchup at home vs. Angel City this week. She hasn’t been quite as prolific as she was during her May/June hot streak, but she is still currently third in the league in my favorite FBRef stat, npxG+xAG, and was only captained by one FNWSL manager last week (shout out if that was you!).
What’s the current yellow card situation in FNWSL?
Speaking of Taylor Flint, if you were unpleasantly surprised by news of her one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation, you’re not alone. Macey Hodge and Kayla Fischer were also suspended, all of which caught me by surprise.
However, it did remind me of the importance of keeping your eye on yellow cards. Players must serve a one-match suspension upon accumulating five yellow cards during the season, and must serve additional one-match suspensions for every three yellow cards after that. Players can lower their official total by not receiving cards in consecutive matches, which can make it complicated to keep track. So to make sure everyone stays up to date, the NWSL is publishing a yellow card accumulation report before the beginning of each round.
Before Round 19, the following players were on the official Caution Accumulation Warning list: Racheal Kundananji, Manaka Matsukubo, Nuria Rabano, Bianca St-Georges, and Hal Hershfelt. By my count, Savannah DeMelo will join them leading into Round 20, but I don’t believe anyone will be suspended. This is all very unofficial, however, so be sure to take a look at the list before setting your Round 20 lineup!
What are your questions/comments/thoughts/hopes/dreams for Round 20? Comment or Bluesky @MansersAnswers!