If you missed Sam’s explainer on fantasy WSL, here’s everything you need to know about the game.
Team Selection
We’re going for a 3-5-2 formation, leaving two defenders and one forward on the bench. This team’s value is £99m, so there’s £1m of extra budget available.
As a general rule of thumb, if your players can score at least one point per £1m cost on average, then they’re probably a good value pick. Most of these players scored at least one point per £1m (some were double!) in MW1, and I believe all 15 players can feasibly hit that target in MW2.
It’s not just a case of getting the most expensive players this matchweek. In this team you’ll find a mix of premium picks, players with low selection %, substitutable players, and players about to go on easier runs of fixtures.
Starting XI
Anna Tamminen (Newcastle) £5.0m
Newcastle had a fantastic start to the season, and Tamminen was a key part of that. In MW1, she scored 10 points: six for a clean sheet, one each for 3 saves and 13 defensive actions, and two bonus points.
She faces Bristol City on Saturday, who only scored one goal in their loss to Sunderland last weekend, so are looking less clinical than they were last season.
Kaitlyn Torpey (Newcastle) £4.0m
Torpey is fantastic value at just £4m and in the starting XI for a team that is one of the title favourites. She got seven points in Newcastle’s 2-0 MW1 win thanks to a full 90, a clean sheet and 11 defensive actions; and her upcoming fixture is against a Bristol City side that lost 4-1 on the opening day.
As Newcastle are one of the four teams playing on Saturday, we can wait and see if Torpey scores well, and substitute one of our bench players on if she doesn’t, so it’s a very low-risk inclusion.
Alanna Kennedy (London City Lionesses) £4.5m
Despite no clean sheet for LCL on the opening day, Kennedy did enough to warrant inclusion for MW2. LCL only allowed 0.25 xG against Man Utd and it was Kennedy’s presence that caused Olme to score the own goal that opened the scoring.
The Australian is also great value at £4.5m, and as she’s playing on Saturday night, she’s another one who can be substituted if we don’t see her return a decent number of points.
Ellie Carpenter (Chelsea) £7.0m
It’s a fantasy player’s dream to see a defender being played higher up the pitch, and Chelsea’s 3-back formation allows Carpenter to do just that. Despite not getting a clean sheet, Carpenter still scored 7 points in MW1 thanks to an assist, 7 defensive actions, and a bonus point. Man Utd (A) is, in theory, a tough test. However, we saw a poor attacking display from the Red Devils on Friday, so a Chelsea clean sheet is a realistic possibility.
Beth Lumsden (Newcastle) £7.5m
A third Newcastle player; one of their best, and only selected in 1% of teams. Lumsden managed 10 fantasy points in MW1, despite being subbed with around half an hour to go. She scored a goal, made 10 attacking actions and secured maximum bonus points.
Newcastle travel to Bristol City next which, last week, would’ve sounded like a tight game. However, The Robins lost 4-1 in their opening game, so they might not be the title-challenging force many expected them to be.
Delphine Cascarino (London City Lionesses) £5.5m
Cascarino accumulated 1.23 xA (expected assists) on the opening weekend, the most of all WSL players. No WSL player costing under £7.5m got more than 0.50 xA. Underlying numbers like this suggest that she will continue to create and is the prime player to score assist points.
Daniëlle van de Donk (London City Lionesses) £4.5m
Midfielders get 5 points for a goal, compared to 4 points for a forward’s goal, so van de Donk being categorised as a midfielder and playing in LCL’s front line is a cheat code.
As well as a full 90, she scored a goal and two bonus points on the opening weekend, taking her total to nine points. While she’s in this form, I firmly believe van de Donk is the biggest bargain in the game.
Lauren James (Chelsea) £7.5m
For many people in MW1, James was captain fantastic. A goal, 12 attacking actions and maximum bonus points meant she finished her first match with 13 points. Next up is her former side, Man Utd, who failed to impress on the opening day. James is looking like she has even more confidence than usual this season, and at £7.5m she is fantastic value.
Kirsty Hanson (Tottenham Hotspur) £8.0m
In any fantasy game, I tend to avoid new signings for the first few weeks until they settle in. But judging by her two goals and player of the match award against West Ham on Sunday, Hanson has settled in North London just fine.
You could look at her next game, Liverpool (A), and think her selection is an odd decision given the opposition’s clean sheet on the opening day. But as Liverpool only faced 0.08 xG, I think we need to wait until they’ve had a real test before we judge them, which is exactly what Hanson will deliver.
Bunny Shaw (Manchester City) £12.5m - Captain
Do I really need to justify this one?
Last season’s top scorer, two goals in the opening game, will score against any opponent, and will score at home and away. She’s the most expensive player in the game and somehow still represents decent value, especially when made captain. Okuma played well for Villa on debut, but I still think Bunny Shaw is the best captaincy choice for MW2.
Alessia Russo (Arsenal) £11.5m
Although the armband is elsewhere, there’s enough budget to include more premium options so Russo gets in.
Her next opponent, Crystal Palace, kept a clean sheet last time out, but did so with a lot of last-ditch defending and goal-line clearances. It’s unsustainable to keep clean sheets doing that so don’t be surprised to see Russo with a goal involvement or two.
The Bench
Katie Keane (Leicester) £4.0m
Leicester keepers offer a good budget option at just £4.0m. Before the season started, it was a toss-up whether we’d see Keane or Clark start. After Keane got the nod on Sunday and kept a clean sheet, it’s a safe bet that she will keep the spot for MW2’s game at home to Durham. As Tamminen is playing on Saturday and Keane is playing on Sunday, we can wait to see how Tamminen scores before deciding whether to sub Keane on for Sunday’s game.
Vivien Endemann (Liverpool) £6.0m
Endemann was a real coup for Liverpool this summer, and with a goal and assist on debut she’s already producing. As well as performing for her club, she’s performing in fantasy too – the goal and assist I previously mentioned, plus 10 attacking actions and the maximum bonus points meant she finished on 14 points, well worth her £6.0m price.
She was substituted off at 67 minutes, but as the scoreline was 3-0 at the time, we can assume this was to keep her fit for this week.
Alex Greenwood (Manchester City) £6.0m
One of three Ballon d’Or nominees in this team, Greenwood is a nailed-on starter at one of the title-favourites and one of their set-piece takers. Although Man City didn’t keep a clean sheet in MW1, Greenwood played at least 60 minutes and was substituted before the goal they conceded, so she still got the points.
Add on 12 defensive actions and that took her to seven points for MW1, a total that looks repeatable in her next three matches against Villa, Liverpool and Charlton.
Leah Williamson (Arsenal) £5.5m
The Gunners captain is back and firing at the start of this season. A clean sheet and 10 defensive actions contributed to six points in Arsenal’s first match of the season. Williamson also has a history of passing numbers, so with attacking action points available, we may see her rack these up over the season.
Williamson is my final substitute as I think the other defenders I’ve selected are more likely to keep a clean sheet, but if three of the players on Saturday don’t return, then Williamson will be substituted on. Her MW3 fixture is Man Utd (H) so there’s an element of future planning too; the Red Devils looked very blunt on Friday, so don’t be surprised to see an Arsenal clean sheet in that home.
Differentials
I’m sure you didn’t see it as a surprise that players like Bunny Shaw, Alessia Russo and Lauren James are included in my MW2 team. They’re some of the best players in the world and are unsurprisingly selected by a significant number of fantasy teams.
This is where differentials come in. When you include a few players in your team that score points while having a low selection %, it can give you an edge against other fantasy teams, and will often see you jump a few people in your mini-leagues that haven’t paid as much attention to finding hidden gems, like you have by reading this article!
For MW2, my top differential pick per position is:
GK 2% - Anna Tamminen (Newcastle)
Defender 3% - Kaitlyn Torpey (Newcastle)
Midfielder 3% - Delphine Cascarino (London City Lionesses)
Forward 5% - Vivien Endemann (Liverpool)
All four players have 5% selection at most, so they may well be key players in giving you the upper hand amongst your friends.
Don’t forget to sub (your team)
The substitution rule in this fantasy game is key to success. Six of the 15 players play on Saturday and are in the starting XI. This is on purpose as, chances are, we’re not going to see a good return from each one of the six, but they can be substituted before the games kick off on Sunday if necessary.
Don’t forget to sub (to us)
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For more fantasy tips, check out Decoding Fantasy WSL, the fantasy-focused show from The Cutback Podcast Network, with new episodes every Thursday. Search ‘Decoding Fantasy WSL’ wherever you get your podcasts.
