Fantasy WSL Player Analysis Rounds 1-6

To get a sense of how fantasy’s been going in the first six weeks, I analyzed ShePlays data and did a quadrant analysis for all WSL players.

In order to highlight the standouts, I chose to set the minimum points at 40, and the maximum price at 550k (most premium players have a price tag of 600k+). This helps us see who’s giving good value. Players on the right? Those are the ones you want to target – they’re scoring well. On the left? Not so much. Keep an eye out, especially for those in the top-left quadrant – expensive but not bringing in the fantasy points. So, maybe give them a pass.

These charts are handy for assessing your player’s performance so far, but it’s worth noting that six weeks is a relatively small sample size. This is especially important when you consider that some teams may have had easier schedules than others. In fantasy, fixture difficulty plays a crucial role, so by gauging upcoming fixture challenges, we can make predictions about which players might step up their game in the future.

Upcoming Fixtures

To gauge how well a team has performed this season, we can look at each team’s expected Goal Differential (xGD). A high expected goal differential suggests that a team is creating more and better-scoring opportunities than they are conceding. Using this as a benchmark, we can categorize teams into performance tiers for the season and use these tiers to assess how challenging their next four fixtures might be. That’s precisely what we’ve done here, with green indicating easier fixtures and orange signaling tougher ones.

Up to now, Tottenham’s having a stellar season, especially with their midfielders stepping up their game. However, a bit of a challenge is on the horizon – after the upcoming Leicester match, they’re set to tackle three tough fixtures in a row.

On the flip side, teams like Everton and Aston Villa are gearing up for some easier matchups. This could be the moment for some of their players, who haven’t been scoring as much, to shine. Additionally, Chelsea and Arsenal are looking at two relatively easier fixtures in their next matchups. It might be a smart move to bring in some of their players before they go head-to-head with each other. Let’s break down how each of these four teams has been performing so far this season. I used the average player price (308,333) and average points scored (21.2) as our markers. 

Teams to Target

Chelsea

Being the top team in the league so far, most Chelsea options do not come cheap, although that does not mean they’re not worth it. Chelsea’s group of defenders have been dominant, and would be a good idea to get one in your squad for their upcoming run. Mia Fishel and Agnes Beever-Jones also offer rare forward value plays, and could continue to earn more opportunities with Guro Reiten being out.

Arsenal

Careful with Arsenal players, as we have some big names in the High Cost/Low Points range. Arsenal has played a significant amount of forwards this season, and out of their 10 players scoring above average 5 of them are forwards. Although they both go for 600k of your budget, Katie McCabe and Caitlin Foord can be great options if they continue their scoring pace. 

Aston Villa

Aston Villa have underperformed so far, and premium Rachel Daly (800k) has not been great for her price point. However, their cluster of defenders including Rachel Corsie, Anna Patten and Danielle Turner as well as Lucy Staniforth may continue to be value plays for their upcoming fixtures, and if Villa are able to capitalize on the weaker schedule Daly may be in for some hauls as well.

Everton

Everton has not been great this year, and therefore all of their players are relatively cheap. While we can’t expect Everton to shoot to the top of the table, their next two fixtures are against bottom of the table Bristol City and struggling Aston Villa. Defenders Megan Finnigan and Katrine Veje have been solid value so far, and they may continue to be decent plays for the next several weeks.

Conclusions

To recap, the quadrant analysis helps us visualize which players have been keeping up or over performing expectations this season. Here are some of the players we may want to target in the upcoming weeks: