WSL and WSL2 both threw up some surprising results in Matchweek Two. LCL, Arsenal and Bristol all failed to win, Chelsea humiliated Man United away from home, Birmingham City picked up their first point after promotion, and Everton won a match despite not having a shot on target.
The unpredictability of scores and stats makes it very difficult to pick the right fantasy team, but that’s what makes fantasy so fun.
Despite the rogue results, MW2 was a successful week for the Scout! Last week’s Scout team would’ve scored 92 points, comfortably ahead of the average of 61 points.
Seven of the XI got at least a goal, assist or clean sheet, and four players scored double-figure points. The Scout has accumulated 185pts so far this season, which would be enough for 131st in the world.
With that said, here are my picks for Matchweek Three!
Starting XI
Elene Lete (London City Lionesses) £4.5m
LCL are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, but this pick is more about their opponents this weekend.
Charlton are yet to score, let alone have a shot on target, and have accumulated only 0.60 xG from five shots over the first two matchweeks. Lete seems to be favoured as the number one over Earps, so at £4.5m this could represent cheap and easy points this weekend.
Jade Rose (Manchester City) £5.5m
Manchester City play Liverpool this weekend and although the Reds have had a good start to the season, City are strong at home. I’m expecting the Cityzens to keep a clean sheet on Friday night, so Jade Rose is a solid pick. She’s played the full 90 minutes in both matches so far this season, maximising her opportunity for defensive action points.
Alanna Kennedy (London City Lionesses) £4.5m
As with Lete, Kennedy makes the side because I’m expecting an LCL clean sheet on Saturday. It makes sense to include a defender who might benefit from six points.
Kennedy is my LCL defender of choice because she actually plays in midfield and has been a goal threat too, so there could be more points available than just a clean sheet and some minutes.
Ellie Carpenter (Chelsea) £7.0m
She’s the joint-highest-scoring defender so far thanks to a goal, an assist, a clean sheet, attacking actions and a bonus point. Next up for Carpenter is a newly promoted Birmingham City side who have performed well so far, but Chelsea’s defence will be their toughest test yet.
Lucy Bronze (Chelsea) £5.5m
Bronze got the ‘fantasy hat-trick’ in her last game: a goal, an assist and a clean sheet. That made for a 17-point haul against Manchester United, indicating good form for Bronze and making her unlikely to be dropped.
Amy Sims (Wolves) £5.0m
I’m not sure you’ll ever see a differential like Amy Sims. The midfielder is only in 28 teams (roughly 0.08% selection) and got 11 points in Wolves’ 3-1 win on Sunday after scoring a goal and securing all three bonus points.
Wolves’ fixtures for the rest of Leg 1 are against teams that haven’t won in the opening two matchweeks, so she may be a solid signing for a few games to come. We don’t need to look any further ahead as when Leg 2 starts in MW6, everyone gets unlimited transfers.
Lauren James (Chelsea) £7.5m
Now for the opposite of a differential – a player selected by almost a third of teams. James has scored double-digit points in both matches so far. The underlying numbers look good too: she’s taken the most shots in the league and is third for xG, so expect more goals and more fantasy points to come.
Daniëlle van de Donk (London City Lionesses) £4.5m
In last week’s Scout article, I called van de Donk “the biggest bargain in the game”. So yes, I was pretty happy when she scored another eight points. With no price changes coming to the game yet, the Dutch midfielder once again represents great value, especially as she’s facing a team that have conceded five in the first two games.
Lisa Baum (Arsenal) £6.5m
The summer recruit got off to a great start with a goal and 10 points on the opening weekend. Matchweek 2 was a bit tougher against the rock-solid Palace defence, but Baum was Arsenal’s brightest spark and should have had an assist. Her opponent this weekend, Manchester United, shipped five goals at home last weekend, so expect Arsenal to get on the scoresheet and Baum to be involved.
Bunny Shaw (Manchester City) £12.5m - Captain
Liverpool are probably going to offer City their toughest test yet, but Shaw is the top-scoring player in the league, both in terms of goals (three) and fantasy points (27). For that reason, she keeps the armband.
Mary Fowler (Manchester City) £6.0m
Fowler has been priced low due to the few points she would have scored last season (nine), having missed most of the campaign with an ACL injury. But this season she’s already surpassed that, with a goal and eight points in each of City’s first two games.
There’s a lot of attacking depth in this squad, but Fowler is performing well and I’d expect her to start again this weekend and perhaps add another eight points.
The Bench
Anna Tamminen (Newcastle) £5.0m
Tamminen is probably a better bet for a clean sheet than Lete. But as LCL play on Saturday and Newcastle on Sunday, it makes sense to keep Tamminen on the bench and decide on Sunday morning whether to substitute her on.
Rachel McLauchlan (Newcastle) £5.0m
As with Tamminen, McLauchlan is a nailed-on starter for a Newcastle side that is very likely to keep a clean sheet on Sunday. She’s also earned points for both attacking and defensive actions in the opening two matches, as well as playing every minute.
Beth Lumsden (Newcastle) £7.5m
It seems like some of you listened to me last week, as Lumsden’s selection has doubled! Admittedly, that is only from 1% to 2%. Sixteen points from the opening two games and a relatively easy home fixture against a Sheffield United side with two defeats make her a fantastic option this week.
Viviane Asseyi (West Ham) £8.0m
After a blip last season, Asseyi is showing the same form that made her the top player for goal involvements in 2024-25. She has scored in each of her opening two games, played every minute, earned attacking action points and collected four bonus points in the process.
Oh baby, a triple!
Matchweek 3 is the first to feature games on three separate days, which means we can employ some tactics across the weekend.
If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you’re one of those people who is into fantasy enough to make the most of your team. As a general rule, it’s really important that you don’t have all your players playing on the same day so that you can make changes.
Always have your two goalkeepers playing on different days; have at least three outfield players playing on Sunday and at least three playing before then; and have a captaincy pick for each day. This matchweek, there are games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so your captaincy and bench picks are extra important.
All four substitutes in my team are playing on Sunday, with the full XI playing on Friday or Saturday. That provides the option on Sunday morning to substitute Sunday players in for any XI picks that have not performed.
On the topic of captaincy, we also have good options to change who gets the armband. With this team, I would recommend having a seven-point threshold for your captaincy. Start with Bunny as your captaincy pick and if she doesn’t get at least seven points in Friday’s game, put the armband on LJ on Saturday morning.
If LJ doesn’t reach seven points either, move it over to Tamminen or McLauchlan, who you will probably have substituted in on Sunday morning.
However, if you want to ‘set and forget’, put Asseyi and the three Newcastle players on the pitch. I’d put Lete, Bronze, Kennedy and Sims, in that order. Keep the armband on Shaw though; that’s always a safe bet.
Differentials
These are the players that can give you the edge – the ones that most people have not noticed. Here are my top picks per position, with a maximum 5% ownership:
GK: 4% - Anna Tamminen (Newcastle)
Defender: 2% - Rachel McLauchlan (Newcastle)
Midfielder: 0% - Amy Sims (Wolves)
Forward: 1% - Missy Goodwin (Leicester)
Three of these make my main team, including Amy Sims, who has less than 0.1% selection. However, all three of the forwards in my squad have over 5% selection, so my differential pick is Missy Goodwin from Leicester.
At £5.0m and averaging five points per matchweek, that’s £1m per point, so she’s a good-value pick. In MW3 she’ll be at home to an Ipswich side still looking for their first win, so don’t be surprised if she adds to the assist she got against Durham last week.
Avoid Arsenal, don’t wait on Wolves
Arsenal may seem like a good idea this week, but be careful. The Gunners may have some of the best players in the world, and they may be playing a United team that looks bereft of confidence, and they may yet to have conceded a goal… but things look less positive going forward.
After playing Brighton and Palace, the Gunners have scored only one goal. They have a surprisingly kind fixture this week, against a Manchester United side that have just lost 5-0 at home, but their MW4 and MW5 matches are Chelsea (A) and Manchester City (A), arguably the two hardest fixtures in the league for any team. MW6 is the start of Leg 2, giving all players unlimited transfers. If you remove Arsenal players now, you can get them back easily in MW6.
Wolves may be a newly promoted side that have already lost this season, but their next three fixtures are all against teams yet to win - Burnley (H), Ipswich (A) and Watford (H), a rare kind run in WSL2. They also play on Friday in MW3, so if you pick Wolves players that don’t perform, you can substitute them out for someone else playing on Saturday or Sunday. It’s a low-risk pick this week.
To be clear: I’m not saying to remove all Arsenal players and get three Wolves players before the Friday 7pm deadline! Just make sure that you’re paying attention to WSL Fantasy rules and the upcoming fixture list before finalising your decisions.
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