Welcome to WSL Fantasy first time players and returning players!

Here are ten tips for the upcoming WSL Fantasy Football season from the team and I to help you with the upcoming season. Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for how the following advice is used.

I am a stats nerd ShePlaysWSL and ShePlaysDub, and I also reviewed all the player prices for this season of ShePlaysWSL. Please don’t fight me if you don’t like the prices!

1. Starters and Known Assets

Possibly an easy one here… selecting players who will play the lion’s share of minutes is an easy win for points. Check out our predicted starters in the Season Preview. Also, known WSL assets are good picks for the start of the season. New players to the league or clubs tend to take time to get accustomed. If you are unsure who to pick, check out the points from the last three seasons in the Player Database. If you want to download the 2021/22 points data, check out the spreadsheet here.

2. Kerr and/or Miedema

Vivianne Miedema and Sam Kerr have been the best players in ShePlaysWSL the last two seasons. Kerr has a slightly better points per match at just over 15, compared to Miedema who averaged 14.4 points per match. While it’s unlikely that having one over the other will make or break your season, you’re probably going to want at least one of them as a starter. However, if you have them both you will need to make sacrifices elsewhere but it may be worth it. My personal rule for the last few seasons has been when in doubt captain Miedema.

3. 4-3-3 Formation

I created the optimisation programme that selects the team of the round and season for all the ShePlays competitions. From this, I have learnt that the most optimal formation is a 4-3-3. In previous seasons, this has been because midfielders tend to have lower point totals. This season however, there have been a few star players who have moved into the midfield including Erin Cuthbert, Ella Toone, Leah Galton, Hayley Raso, and Justine Vanhaevermaet

4. Free Choice Players and Bench

It is my opinion that your two free choice players should not include a forward. You can have max three forwards as starters, therefore a fourth forward doesn’t provide any additional flexibility to your squad.

Personally because I tend to play a 4-3-3, I like to use my two free positions for two defenders. My bench consists of two defenders, one midfielder and my back up keeper, all who will play in most instances. My midfielder is usually my most expensive bench player and I will rotate them in if the fixture is favourable. Note: others have been successful by running a cheap bench of 150k players so they can maximise their starters. This works provided the starters all play.

Remember: if one of your starters doesn’t play, your bench players will be replaced in order they are listed, provided the formation is valid.

5. Attack and Defence Points

Clean sheets and goals come and go, but attack and defence points are more consistent throughout the season. II like to call them the “grind” points because they measure a player’s impact on a match despite result. Attack points include passes, crosses, shots, shots on target and chances created. Defence points include tackles, intercepts, clearances, and aerial challenges. See the Rules and Scoring page for the breakdown of how attack and defence points are calculated.

On average, the top 50 players last season account 47% of their points to “grind” points. Half of the TOTS players had “grind” points as over 50% of their total haul, lead by Ashleigh Neville with a whopping 62% (165 points).

6. Price Points and Transfers

It can be tempting to blow your budget with the premium players who get lots of points. However, having a squad of with different price points allows greater flexibility with transfer strategy to avoid transfer deductions. Transfer deductions can be beneficial if you really need to due to injury or form, just consider if the players you need are worth more than the -5 points. 

We have certainly undervalued some players, so if you are quick to pick up them quick they can be extremely valuable. For your insight, we price players based on point potential, popularity, team price, and position price distribution.

7. The Big Four Clubs and Differentials

Players from the big four clubs (Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United) will likely be the top players from the season, but they come at a cost. I think the differential players are the cheaper less well-known players from non top four sides. Last season, these were players like Gemma Evans, Ashleigh Neville and Emma Koivisto. Picking up on who these differential and in form players are throughout the season will help to sky-rocket to the top of your league. These players will likely appear in the TOTR and will pick up lots of attack and/or defence points.

8. Play the Long Game

From experience, you can have a poor start to the season but still catch up if you play the long game. Stick with your gut the first few rounds unless you have underestimated a players role as a starter. If you keep updating your team throughout the season you will slowly rise the ladder. Keep an eye out for our TOTRs and blog articles as well to help you with your selections.

9. No Emotions

I play my best fantasy football when I don’t get too attached to players or play with my heart. If you want to win fantasy football, you will need to get rid of your personal favourites when they aren’t getting you points no matter how hard it is. I’ll caveat that I’m not the best at this rule sometimes.

10. Have Fun