You know I love callbacks to early aughts pop culture, and since FNWSL Round 9 brings us perhaps the most packed Friday schedule of the entire season, I think it’s time to recall the truly unforgettable 2011 YouTube hit: Friday by Rebecca Black.
For those who don’t remember that song, or have actively scrubbed it from their memory, it was an extremely auto-tuned debut single about a girl’s eager anticipation of the coming weekend. It described eating cereal, detailed the universal struggle of deciding whether to sit in the front seat or the back seat of your friend’s car, and reminded us of which days come before and after Friday. At one point, it became the most disliked YouTube video ever.
Personally, I thought it was great. And it really encapsulates how excited I am for this Friday’s four-match FNWSL schedule. Louisville hosts Seattle and Gotham hosts San Diego to begin the round at 7:30e/6:30c/5:30m/4:30p. Then, just 30 minutes later, two more matches kick off: Orlando hosts KC in a matchup of the top two teams in the NWSL, and Houston hosts Portland.
The especially good news is that this schedule means that we should know the starting XIs for over half of the league’s teams before the Round 9 deadline! This will be very helpful for FNWSL managers this week, especially considering the week-to-week variance of several lineups (ahem, Kansas City). Make sure you check all four matches before finalizing your team!
So, in honor of that video and this upcoming Friday, this week’s Answers will be inspired by my favorite iconic lyrics from the song, which are as follows:
It’s Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend!
So which NWSL teams are actually looking forward to the weekend? In other words, which teams have favorable matchups for FNWSL? Now, with the level of parity and competitiveness in the NWSL, I don’t usually put too much emphasis on weekly matchups, but it’s worth taking into consideration.
According to FBRef, Kansas City is leading the league in xGA by a significant margin.
xGA stands for expected goals allowed, which FBRef describes as a measurement that “can indicate a team’s ability to prevent scoring chances. A team that limits their opponent’s shots and more importantly, limits their ability to take high probability shots will have a lower xGA.” When we’re discussing xGA, lower numbers are better.
The Current’s season total xGA is 6.3, which is a full two goals lower than the second-place team, Gotham (though it should be noted that Gotham has played one more match and all teams will be back on even ground after Round 10). After KC, there is a cohort of teams in the second tier, all of whom have xGA totals between 8.3 and 8.7: Gotham, Houston, Orlando, Louisville, and Seattle. After that, there’s a third tier in the 10 xGA range: San Diego, Bay, and North Carolina. The fourth tier is Portland, Chicago, and Angel City, while Washington and Utah are both over 14.
One way to interpret and use this statistic is, for attacking players, prioritize matchups against the Spirit and Royals, with the Thorns, Stars, and Angel City as backup options, who have high xGA values, and try to avoid matchups with Kansas City, who have the lowest xGA value.
For defensive players, it’s no secret that you generally want to avoid matchups with the league’s top three teams: Kansas City, Washington, and Orlando. The team I’d add to this list is Portland, as the Thorns are actually leading the NWSL in xG with 17, over 2 goals above Kansas City in second place – though again, it’s worth noting that Portland has played an extra game. Utah, Bay, and Seattle are generally the most favorable matchups for defenders and keepers.
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today
In other words, who’s excited about getting the ball on set pieces?
We took a look after Round 2 at some set piece data from the first couple of matches. However, we have a lot more data now, especially regarding PKs, as ten of the 14 teams have attempted at least one PK so far. Here are a couple of thoughts on set piece data:
- Jayden Perry appears to have taken over as the designated penalty taker for Portland. She’s converted all three attempts, and remember that she’s a rookie DF and costs only $75k.
- Marta has converted both of Orlando’s PKs, and Lo’eau LaBonta has converted all three of KC’s.
- Esther, Ji So-yun, Maria Sanchez, Caroline Conti, Ally Sentnor, and Ary Borges have taken the only PK attempts for their teams.
- Popular FNWSL rookies Taylor Huff and Sarah Schupansky are both still dominating CK opportunities for their teams.
- The usual suspects are still near the top of the list for outfield free kicks: Emily Sonnett, Sam Staab, Abby Dahlkemper, etc. However, I would note that Jayden Perry, in addition to taking PKs for Portland, is also leading the team in free kicks, making her weekly FNWSL ceiling even higher!
My friend is by my right, ay
I got this, you got this
Now you know it
It’s always great to have a friend by your right, especially if you just happen to be right in front of the goal. Assists are the unsung heroines of both the NWSL and FNWSL, and I haven’t discussed assists all season, so let’s rectify that.
We discussed the wide variance in San Diego’s goal-scoring last week, which can make FNWSL decisions difficult. However, the Wave are also leading the NWSL in assists through eight rounds, and there’s a little bit more consistency in that particular statistic. Delphine Cascarino has three assists (to go along with two goals), while fellow French internationals Kenza Dali and Perle Morroni both have two. From both a cost and position perspective, I like Morroni here, but all three are good differential options and can give a little more certainty to your team than trying to predict San Diego’s weekly goalscorers.
Fellow SoCal side Angel City is second in assists, and Kennedy Fuller (only $75k) has three of them. Working with Alyssa Thompson and Riley Tiernan up front gives Fuller a big upside, and she’s classified as an MF which is ideal for roster flexibility. The only other player in the league with more than two assists is Ryan Gareis, who has locked down a starting spot in Houston over the last few weeks and costs only $100k. One of the players with two assists is the aforementioned Caroline Conti, who costs only $75k and has taken Bay’s only PK so far.
So in closing, here’s the vibe you want on your FNWSL team heading into Round 9:
Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)
Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)
Fun, fun, fun, fun
Lookin’ forward to the weekend
What’s your favorite Friday lyric? Comment or Bluesky @MansersAnswers!