Club: Everton
Position: Forward
Price: £6.5m
When building a BWSL fantasy team, your budget is tighter than you realize. With only £100m to spend, you have to look for dark horses up and down the pitch to pick up points at a fraction of the cost. My sneaky choice for attacking power without breaking the bank is Everton’s Yuka Momiki.
Across her three seasons in the Barclays Women’s Super League, Yuka Momiki has quietly and consistently been one of the top goal contributors on her team. Momiki is entering her second season with Scott Phelan’s Everton, after spending two seasons with Leicester City. During her two seasons with Leicester City, she was involved in nearly half of the team’s total goals scored each season: five of eleven.
At 30, Momiki is a veteran presence on Everton’s young squad. With the departure of Kelly Gago to West Ham, Everton are left without an experienced forward, and Yuka is primed to take over that position. Last season, she appeared in all but one game and scored 3 goals while assisting 2 more. Compared to Bunny Shaw, these numbers may seem low. However, Everton only scored 25 goals whilst conceding 37, which forced the team into spending most games playing defensively and limiting their attacking opportunities. Momiki also played 700 fewer minutes across the season than the top scorers Shaw and Alessia Russo, showcasing her efficiency in front of goal.
When delving into the underlying metrics, it’s clear that Momiki is lethal with her left foot. All three of her goals were scored with the left, including the wonder-strike from 30 yards out against Chelsea. Additionally, her long-range passes and crosses are some of the most accurate in the league: better than 95% of other forwards. What Everton have been missing is someone with a nose for goal to finish off the opportunities that Momiki is creating. Luckily, during the summer window, Everton brought in young goalscorer Holly Macnamara– who scored 38 goals in 54 games with Melbourne City– so look for the two to pair up nicely in Everton’s attack.
Yuka Momiki is strong on both sides of the ball. She has a motor that never stops, and frequently contributes to Everton’s defensive shape, which helps her pick up points for blocks and defensive actions in a Fantasy team. While top centre backs in the BWSL averaged about 50 tackles across the season, Momiki managed to earn 20 from the right-wing position. When picking players for a fantasy team, the more versatile, the better, and Yuka fits that bill.
Last season, Momiki played all across the front line and in the midfield as the team underwent a midseason coaching change after Brian Sorenson was sacked. Under Scott Phelan, who was handed the permanent position in February, Momiki’s production increased: she scored two goals and had one assist in the home stretch of the season. This trend should only continue as he starts the season at the team’s helm with a proper offseason to implement his tactics.
Momiki and Everton open the season against newly promoted Crystal Palace on September 6th, with their second game against fellow newcomers Charlton Athletic. Look for Momiki to take advantage of these two teams' newness as they adjust to the speed of play, and pick up some early points for your fantasy team
