Round 20 ended with a scary situation in Seattle. The good news is that, as of Monday morning, Savannah DeMelo is stable and alert. Our hearts are with you, Savannah! The remainder of the Louisville-Seattle match will be continued later this season.
This will work just like other postponed matches in the past, as far as fantasy points are concerned. Points will be attributed to Round 20 scores once the match has been played, whenever that may be, and your Round 20 lineup will be used for the calculations.
In far less important news, we have a very short week this week in FNWSL, as the first match of Round 21 is Thursday evening: Angel City hosting Washington at 10:30e/9:30c/8:30m/7:30p. In the meantime, both Orlando and Gotham are continuing their cup campaigns this week with visits to Panama City and Vancouver, respectively.
So I’ll just get right to it! Here are my thoughts on Round 20:
- San Diego has now not scored in four consecutive matches, and only has a total of three goals since the summer international window. While there was a period of the season when both Delphine Cascarino and Kenza Dali were great fantasy options, the Wave are just not scoring enough goals at this point. For now, the only San Diego player I’d start is Hanna Lundkvist.
- There were a lot of transactions in the NWSL over the weekend. Perhaps the most notable is the trade of Malia Berkely for Natalie Jacobs. From a FNWSL perspective, I especially like this move for Berkely, as she’s been one of the most valuable FNWSL DFs over the last couple of seasons but has seen inconsistent playing time for North Carolina this year. With more consistent minutes, we could see her back at the top of the list of best fantasy DFs very soon – especially if she gets as involved in set pieces for the Dash as she was last year for the Courage.
- Two players had especially notable performances for their new teams: Payton Linnehan and Jaedyn Shaw. Linnehan notched 20 touches and an assist in her first start for North Carolina, and Shaw scored a goal as a second half sub for Gotham. Shaw may be too pricy ($400k) to commit to just yet, but Linnehan (only $75k) could prove to be a great differential third or fourth FW for your squad.
- With Barbra Banda out for the year, Alyssa Thompson off to England, and Temwa Chawinga dealing with a knee injury, FNWSL managers are probably looking for another premium FW for their squads. For me, it comes down to a decision between Esther and Trinity Rodman, with Bia Zaneratto potentially in the mix as long as Chawinga is out. I personally would lean towards Esther, as she’s leading the Golden Boot race and has been playing almost every minute for Gotham. However, it does appear that Trinity Rodman is fully recovered from her injury and at full strength, and is probably the better choice if you want to go differential.
- On that note, if you really want to go differential, you could take the strategy of rostering both Esther and Rodman and dropping Chawinga (!). This would also free up a KC spot on your roster and allow you to start Lorena, Kayla Sharples, Izzy Rodriguez, and either Hailie Mace or another Current attacker. And don’t forget, fortune favors the bold.
What are your questions/comments/thoughts/hopes for Round 21? Comment or Bluesky @MansersAnswers!