Until I was in 3rd or 4th grade (so about 8 or 9 years old for those not familiar with the US school setup), we got to have recess three times every day: morning, lunch, and afternoon. It was great! I usually played four square or kickball (because we weren’t allowed to bring bats to recess to play baseball). Sometimes, if I was feeling brave, I joined the massive chaotic game of 20 on 20 soccer, but that was usually more stressful than school was.
Then at some point, I guess got too old to need three breaks in the day, and therefore we didn’t get to have afternoon recess anymore. A couple of years after that, we even got too old to have morning recess. Then, we went to middle school and apparently we didn’t need recess at all, and I clearly still haven’t gotten over that.
So why am I talking about recess? Well, I consider this, the first international break of the NWSL season, as our “morning recess” in 2025 FNWSL. We have a 12 day period without any NWSL games, so we can take a beat, analyze the first three rounds of the season, and prepare for the upcoming rounds. The summer international window (i.e. lunch recess) will be much longer, but this is still a nice break that allows FNWSL managers to think through any changes they want to make for the next part of the season.
UEFA is the only confederation playing competitive matches in this international break. However, almost every nation with NWSL representation is playing friendlies during the window, and several will involve significant travel. Fortunately, most players should get an extra day of rest as there’s only one Friday match this week: Utah hosting Portland to kick-off Round 4 on the evening of April 11th.
Also, congrats to Huff n Puff, who didn’t play Taylor Huff but did score enough points to take the lead in the Manser’s Answers Mini-league!
So how should you prepare for Round 4?
- Keep an eye on minutes for any international players on your FNWSL team, and have a backup plan in place in the event that they see reduced minutes in Round 4.
- At this point, you also want to be looking ahead to Round 5, which is currently scheduled to be the only double round of the season. Gotham and Portland will be playing two matches in Round 5, and players will score the sum total of their fantasy points from the two matches. So if there’s a Gotham or Portland player you’ve had your eye on, now is the time!
- Unlike the last few seasons, we haven’t been seeing a huge fantasy output from either of these two teams – especially in goalscoring. The only two attackers I’d prioritize for the double round are Olivia Moultrie ($250k) and, for the price, Sarah Schupansky ($75k). Schupansky has a lot of long-term value as well, especially if you’re taking the top-heavy approach and committing $1.2M or $1.3M to your front line.
- However, there is a LOT of fantasy value to be found in the Gotham backline. Gotham’s xGA is lowest in the league by a wide margin, and while it looks like Tierna Davidson will be out for a while 🙁 there are several Gotham DFs I’m considering, especially as Gotham’s two matches in Round 5 are against Angel City and Portland, both of which should be favorable for defense. The two DFs with the highest upside are probably Bruninha ($150k) and Lilly Reale ($75k). Bruninha is second behind Schupansky in both crosses and corner kicks, while Reale is already leading the team in tackles and blocks despite only starting two of Gotham’s three matches. I’d start with bringing in Reale this week, which will free up some money for next week’s transfers.
- The defending champion Orlando Pride are off to a very hot start, with three consecutive wins and a GD of +9, so it’s no surprise that Orlando players are very popular in FNWSL through three rounds. It is worth considering though, that the 6-0 season opening match against Chicago really juiced the fantasy stats for the Pride. Orlando’s xG is 4.9 according to FBref, which is still third highest in the league but significantly below their actual GF of 10 (partially because two of those goals were on PKs). That’s not to say there’s not a lot of fantasy value in Orlando – I have Banda and Abello, and am considering McCutcheon, but I personally am a pretty cautious player and am not necessarily going to completely overhaul my team to transfer in more Pride players quite yet.
- The team that I do want to target with some aggressive moves, however, is the Kansas City Current. They’ve scored eight goals so far, and their xG is actually higher at 8.1. To put it in perspective, that’s about 60% higher than any other NWSL team! So I want to make sure I’m really taking advantage of the Current attackers. Speaking of…
Which Kansas City attackers should be on your team?
To be honest, maybe all of them! But that’s not within the rules of FNWSL, so you can only have four Currenters on your roster at one time. Lorena in goal and several of the KC DFs are also good fantasy options, but I’d say you want to have at least two KC FWs/MFs on your team as well.
Temwa Chawinga‘s goal scoring consistency makes her arguably the most valuable player in FNWSL, and there’s no sign of her slowing down anytime soon.
Choosing the other KC representatives on your roster is a little trickier though. All six of their starting MFs and FWs are in legitimate fantasy options, and don’t forget that Bia Zaneratto is back in the mix as well. The only problem is that we may be reaching critical mass in terms of how many fantasy opportunities one offense can support, so your choice should really depend on what type of strategy you want to pursue for the next month or so of the FNWSL season.
If you have enough money, Debinha ($350k) is the premium option. She’s the highest-scoring player in FNWSL through three rounds with 51 points – significantly ahead of many of the other premium-priced MFs. I still really like Jaedyn Shaw (who is still getting integrated with the Courage and had a PK saved this week), but I won’t blame anyone for reallocating their midfield budget to bring Debinha in.
The value option is MF Vanessa DiBernardo at only $225k. She is leading the team in corner kicks, tied with Debinha for the team lead in crosses, and second to Debinha in overall shot creating actions. Though she doesn’t get a lot of shots herself, she’s very involved in the attack and I expect her to rack up assists over the rest of the season. I’d go with DiBernardo if you’ve really invested a lot of money in your front line (e.g. Chawinga, Banda, and Hatch or some similar combo) and don’t have enough money for multiple premium-price MFs.
The “high ceiling” option is Michelle Cooper ($225k). She typically doesn’t get quite as many minutes as the other KC MFs/FWs, but, playing on the wing, she combines the passing upside of DiBernardo with the finishing upside of Chawinga, and has three goal contributions in three matches. Cooper is probably the ideal choice if you’re committing a lot of money to your midfield.
The differential option is Lo’eau LaBonta. At $300k, she’s more expensive than Cooper or DiBernardo (or Hutton), but is also currently on the fewest FNWSL teams (around 11%). She’s not quite as involved in the attack, but she earns by far the most defensive points of the six attackers and takes PKs for the Current.
What are your plans for Round 4 and beyond? Comment or Bluesky @MansersAnswers!