If you (like me) have had a rough start in FNWSL, you may be looking for some players that aren’t on many other FNWSL rosters that can get you big points and back up the leaderboard.
For some context, the top five most popular players in Round 7 were Sophia Smith (60.4 TSB%), Naomi Girma (45.7%), Alyssa Thompson (44.7%), Sam Coffey (35.7%), and Lynn Williams (34.7%). None of these should come as a surprise considering season stats other than potentially Alyssa Thompson, but it looks like many FNWSL managers are looking to take advantage of her tremendous upside and low cost.
Let’s take a look at the less commonly owned players that could give your team a boost over the next few rounds. For some arbitrary parameters, let’s consider players that are within the top 50 scorers through seven rounds of FNWSL and had a Round 7 TSB% of less than 5%. There are 14 players that qualify for this list. Of those seven cost at least $300k:
| Name | Team | Position | Price | TSB% | Points |
| Lauren Barnes | OL Reign | DF | 350000 | 3.3 | 69 |
| Jordyn Huitema | OL Reign | FW | 300000 | 3.3 | 58 |
| Morgan Weaver | Portland Thorns | FW | 300000 | 4.5 | 64 |
| María Sánchez | Houston Dash | FW | 400000 | 3.6 | 51 |
| Natalia Kuikka | Portland Thorns | DF | 350000 | 3.4 | 49 |
| Abby Erceg | Racing Louisville FC | DF | 300000 | 4.7 | 55 |
| Denise O’Sullivan | North Carolina Courage | MF | 300000 | 3.7 | 47 |
It’s not too surprising that the TSB% for Barnes, Huitema, Weaver, Kuikka, and Sanchez is low, considering in most of these cases you can get similar production on their teams for less money, especially at DF (think Alana Cook, Sam Hiatt, Becky Sauerbrunn, etc.). The lower-cost players may be where we can find the best differential options:
| Name | Team | Position | Price | TSB% | Points |
| Ryan Williams | North Carolina Courage | DF | 250000 | 1.2 | 51 |
| Kylie Strom | Orlando Pride | DF | 200000 | 2.9 | 75 |
| Adriana Leal da Silva | Orlando Pride | FW | 125000 | 3.6 | 69 |
| Claire Emslie | Angel City FC | FW | 200000 | 3.8 | 71 |
| Kaleigh Riehl | San Diego Wave FC | DF | 175000 | 2.7 | 48 |
| Gabrielle Carle | Washington Spirit | DF | 150000 | 3.8 | 58 |
| Yūki Nagasato | Chicago Red Stars | FW | 175000 | 4.4 | 47 |
Three names really jump out here: Gabrielle Carle, who is a very cost-effective way to get a slice of the very effective Washington Spirit defense; Claire Emslie, who has been by far the most effective fantasy asset on Angel City so far this year, and Adriana Leal da Silva.
A large chunk of da Silva’s fantasy points came in Round 5 when she logged both a goal and an assist against San Diego, but she has played almost every minute for Orlando in her first NWSL season. She’s leading the Pride in both shots on goal and chances created, and should see her fantasy points continue to rack up over the course of the season. She does have a tough matchup this week against the Spirit, but keep her in mind moving forward. If, like many FNWSL managers, you’re consistently starting two premium-price forwards and one that’s less expensive, da Silva could be a perfect differential option for that third spot (especially considering how many managers are starting Alyssa Thompson).