Welcome to Round 12 of Fantasy NWSL! As usual, we are here to answer all of your team selection questions through the magic of statistics, but this week, we will cover seven low-cost “must-have” players for the second half of the season.
Round 12 Match Overview:
All 12 teams have single games this week. The international break is coming to a close, with the CONCACAF W Championship and WAFCON complete but with tournaments in Europe, South America, and Oceania still underway.
Team Stats:
Portland and Houston could light up the scoreboards in Louisville and New Jersey this weekend, while OL Reign is on track to rack up the defensive points in Los Angeles.
| Rank | TEAM | GF/GP | Rank | TEAM | GA/GP | |
| 1 | Portland | 2.42 | 1 | OL Reign | 0.75 | |
| 2 | Houston | 1.67 | 2 | Portland | 0.83 | |
| 3 | Chicago | 1.67 | 3 | San Diego | 0.85 | |
| 4 | North Carolina | 1.56 | 4 | Angel City FC | 1.00 | |
| 5 | San Diego | 1.46 | 5 | Washington | 1.15 | |
| 6 | Racing Louisville FC | 1.08 | 6 | Houston | 1.17 | |
| 7 | Kansas City | 1.00 | 7 | Kansas City | 1.17 | |
| 8 | Orlando | 1.00 | 8 | Chicago | 1.33 | |
| 9 | OL Reign | 0.92 | 9 | Racing Louisville FC | 1.50 | |
| 10 | Angel City FC | 0.91 | 10 | North Carolina | 1.78 | |
| 11 | Washington | 0.85 | 11 | NJ/NY | 1.80 | |
| 12 | NJ/NY | 0.70 | 12 | Orlando | 2.17 |
Individual Stats and Team of the Week:
This week, we are going to do something a little different. With the Week 12 availability of many CONCACAF and CAF players yet to be determined, we instead take a look at a small group of relatively inexpensive players that are worth strong consideration – not only for this week but for the entire second half of the season. These are the players who transcend matchups and are valuable enough to be considered in your lineup each and every week – none of whom cost more then $200k.
Goalkeeper: At 1.83 $/FP, Phallon Tullis-Joyce is by far the highest-value goalkeeper (over 77% higher value than her closest challenger, Portland’s Bella Bixby). She anchors the league’s stingiest defense, she’s played every match, and is as close to a set-and-forget option as there is in the NWSL.
Defense: Kansas City’s Alex Loera is the highest value defender (currently the only DF in the league with a $/FP below 1.0). The Current are in the middle of the road both offensively and defensively, and Loera is currently (get it?) scoring about half her fantasy points on each side of the ball.
The next three highest scoring defenders under $200k are all on the Wave (Kaleigh Riehl, Christen Westphal, and Naomi Girma). This makes it difficult to predict which one may score the most points in any given week, so save your San Diego slots for some offense and roster the 5th highest scoring low-price defender: Chicago’s Tatumn Milazzo. She’s a little less goal-dependent for fantasy points than the San Diego trio and is a weekly lock for 90 minutes.
Midfield: At 0.66 $/FP, Louisville’s Savannah DeMelo is still by far the highest value player in the league and should be rostered every week.
Not too far behind her is Portland’s Sam Coffey at 0.99 $/FP. With the Thorns boasting both the highest-scoring attack and a top three scoring defense, any Portland midfielder is a good investment. Coffey should maintain her minutes after the international break, especially with Olivia Moultrie getting called up to the U-20 national team for August.
The third must-have midfielder is San Diego’s Taylor Korniek, the junior partner in what has become by far the NWSL’s most prolific attacking duo. Even with both Korniek and Alex Morgan missing multiple games for the CONCACAF W Championship, this combination still has scored 20 more fantasy points (251) this season than any other goal scoring partnership in the league. Their closest rivals are Portland’s Sophia Smith and Hina Sugita, which are collectively $200k more expensive than Korniek and Morgan. In fact, the money you save with Korniek will allow you to roster Morgan and/or Smith as well, giving your team a powerful attacking punch.
Forwards: Angel City has struggled a little after the loss of team cornerstone Christen Press, but someone will need to score the goals in Los Angeles. Savannah McCaskill is an option, but save some money and take the consistent production of Jun Endo instead. Both could score goals, but Endo benefits more from Angel City’s strong defense and has scored 3x as many defensive points as McCaskill this season.
Summary: The total cost of these seven players is $875k, leaving you with $2.325M for your other eight, or an average cost of nearly $300k for each of those players. That means you can add two or three of the league’s premium players (Morgan, Smith, Rose Lavelle, Mallory Pugh, etc.) to an already stacked roster – that’s a recipe for success. Good luck in the second half!