Welcome to Round 19 of Fantasy NWSL! As usual, we are here to answer all of your team selection questions through the magic of statistics. This week, seeing as the majority of NWSL teams are playing twice, we are taking a look at which players have the most fantasy success in two-game rounds so far this season. With only two rounds remaining in the FNWSL season, extra points earned in the ten games this week will go a long way to determining the final standings – make sure you take advantage of the extra games!
Round 19 Match Overview:
Eight of the twelve NWSL teams play two matches this week. There are four games Wednesday evening and six more over the weekend. The only teams NOT playing twice are Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, and San Diego. Of the teams that are playing twice, Gotham, North Carolina, and OL Reign have the quickest turnarounds between their two matches (Wednesday to Saturday).
Individual Stats:
Whenever a player’s NWSL team has two games in one round, your fantasy team has the ability to double up on fantasy points. In fact, over half of the top twenty individual round scores so far this year have all been from players playing two games in the round, topped by 41 point outbursts by Sofia Huerta in Round 5 and Sophia Smith in Round 7. Therefore, starting (and especially captaining) players with double rounds can give your team a huge boost. While it’s not necessarily always worth it to make extra transfers strictly for these players, there are enough teams playing twice this week that you should have plenty of great options without shelling out for more than one additional transfer.
One thing to keep in mind as you’re setting your team this week is that, even for NWSL superstars, two games in one week does not necessarily mean that a player will play every minute in both games – especially this late in the season. To maximize your fantasy points, you want to take into account which positions and players are likely to hit 180 minutes this week. Of the 55 individual double rounds this season that have netted at least 15 points, this is the positional breakdown:
GK: 3.64%
DF: 45.45%
MF: 29.09%
FW: 21.81%
As you can see, defenders make up almost half of them. Part of the reason for this is that midfielders and forwards tend to get a little more rest in double rounds, while defenders generally have a higher chance of maximizing their minutes (and by extension, fantasy points) across the two games. So, you may want to consider spending a little more of your budget on defenders this week to fully take advantage of the double rounds.
Also, while giving the captain’s armband to Sophia Smith, Rose Lavelle, or Megan Rapinoe may look like the obvious choice this week, consider captaining a defender or another differential option – especially if you’re playing catch-up in any of your leagues as the season winds down.
Defense:
As always, OL Reign’s Sofia Huerta is one of the premium options on the back line. She has both the highest and third-highest double round point total of all defenders this year, and she is likely to see a full 180 minutes again this week.
(The second-highest belongs to Tatumn Milazzo, who I am contractually obligated to mention every week and therefore will do so regardless of whether she’s playing in one game, two games, or even zero games).
Huerta’s teammate Alana Cook has 30 points in her two double rounds this season and also plays just about every minute. Washington center back Sam Staab logged totals of 20 and 22 fantasy points in her two double rounds this season. Portland’s Kelli Hubly logged 7 points in the Thorns’ Round 4 double and followed it up with 19 points in Round 7. Staab and Hubly have the two highest season MP fantasy totals of any players on a double round this week – both should be in many lineups this week.
For a couple of lower-cost options, check out Angel City’s Megan Reid (who is averaging nearly seven points per round, plays nearly every minute and only costs $75k) and North Carolina’s Kaleigh Kurtz (who is averaging eight points per round and, by my calculation, hasn’t missed a minute of a Courage regular season game since the Eisenhower administration).
Midfield/Forward::
If you’d prefer to spend some money on midfielders or forwards this week, you could always bring in Sophia Smith, Rose Lavelle, Megan Rapinoe, etc. However, in a double round, you may want to consider some of the differential options. Washington’s Anna Heilferty has been consistently getting 90 minutes over the last month and totaled 21 fantasy points across the Spirit’s two previous two-game rounds this season (and only costs $150k). Another interesting option is Gotham center mid McCall Zerboni, who totaled 30 points in Gotham’s last double round (Round 15), including 14 defensive points.
We may see the highest scoring round of the whole FNWSL season this week… are you ready?! Comment or tweet @MansersAnswers with your plans for Round 19!