With Gameweek Nine of Fantasy fast approaching, the race to finish top of Leg 2 is nearing its close, so who could be the best captaincy choice this week to give your team a much-needed boost?
Martha Thomas (Newcastle United)
vs Burnley (H) | £5m
It’s been a successful start to life for Martha Thomas since making the move in the summer to head back up north and join Newcastle United from Tottenham Hotspur.
Overall, she’s currently racked up 48 points and has already beaten her total from 2025/26 of 37. A lot of those points have come in recent weeks, with a goal in each of her last four Barclays Women’s Super League 2 matches, including a 15 point haul against Leicester City in gameweek four.
This weekend, Newcastle host Burnley, who are winless in six games in their first second in the second tier of English women’s football, having won the Women’s National League Northern Premier Division last season in their debut campaign.
Burnley have conceded 11 goals so far, while Newcastle have scored 16, therefore with Thomas in such scintillating form, and owned by just 8% of players, this weekend does not seem like a bad time to have her as captain.
Lauren Hemp (Manchester City)
vs West Ham United (H) | £8m
Consistency? Match-winner? Lauren Hemp is showing all of it at the moment, helping Manchester City to kickstart their Barclays Women’s Super League title defence with seven wins and one draw so far.
Hemp had seven goal contributions in the league last season, and 98 fantasy points. This season, she’s already on 10 (five goals and five assists) and 75 fantasy points.
Her domestic form has been very impressive with seven goal contributions in the last four games, including
the matchwinner and an assist in last Sunday’s 2-1 win away at London City Lionesses.
This weekend, the defending champions face a West Ham United side that have conceded 14 goals so far, while City have scored 22. Hemp has also created the most big chances in the
Barclays Women’s Super League with 10, and the second most with 23.
Although Hemp is 50% owned, the fourth highest in the game, she has played 90 minutes in all seven of her appearances this season, suggesting that she will be going for those goal contributions right until the final whistle.
Bunny Shaw (Manchester City)
vs West Ham United (H) | £12.5m
If goals are what you’re looking for, then look no further than last season’s Barclays Women’s Super League Golden Boot Winner, and this season’s leader Bunny Shaw.
She’s scored in every game that she has played so far this season, with braces against Birmingham City and Brighton and Hove Albion. Shaw is the most owned player in Fantasy so far at 68%, and has also returned 13 bonus points.
The Jamaican forward also scored the opener in the win over London City Lionesses last time out, and faces a favourable opponent this weekend in West Ham, whom she has scored five goals in her last five Barclays Women’s Super League appearances against.
She’s also way out in front for expected goals with 9.34, while West Ham have conceded 1.8 goals per match.
It’s an effective pick which could help to solidify those towards the top of the league, or even be a nice boost for players looking to push up the leaderboard.
Melvin Malard (Chelsea)
vs Everton (H) | £8m
After finishing third in the Barclays Women’s Super League in 2025/26, Chelsea have begun the latest campaign very brightly. Sonia Bompastor’s side currently sit top of the table, on the same points as Manchester City, but with a significantly higher goal difference of +23.
One of the reasons for their brilliant start has been the form of Melvine Malard, six goals in six league matches, the same amount she managed last season in 21 matches for Manchester United.
Remarkably, she’s only owned by 13% of players currently, though that might change after a 17-point haul in matchweek seven against Crystal Palace was backed up by a 12-point haul against Charlton Athletic last weekend.
It took just nine minutes for the French international to score a brace against the Addicks, as Bompastor’s side ran riot and won 6-0 at the Valley. This weekend's game is a lot tougher on paper, though, as they face an Everton side that have conceded just nine goals in the Barclays Women’s Super League so far.
However, this Chelsea team have scored two or more goals in six of their eight BWSL games so far this season, with the outliers being a 1-1 draw with Villa and a 1-0 win over Arsenal, which both came at Stamford Bridge.
With a low ownership tally, and a team in red-hot form for goals and results, could Malard be the missing piece to provide those big hauls?
Ellie Carpenter (Chelsea)
vs Everton (H) | £7m
It may seem outlandish to be suggesting that a defender should be in a captaincy choice for Fantasy; however, when you look at Ellie Carpenter’s numbers, that begins to change.
The Australian is the top points scorer in the game so far with 79, 66% of the way towards her total from last season of 119. The win over Charlton saw Carpenter rack up 13 points, having scored the third goal, which earned her six points.
The big upside to her as well is the fact that the Blues have conceded four goals so far and kept five clean sheets, which is 20 points alone for the full back, while another 24 points have come from her four goals.
Carpenter’s underlying numbers are also very impressive too: 19 chances created, seven big chances created, and an xG of 2.79, the highest in the Barclays Women’s Super League in regard to any full-back. In fact, of those stats, the only one she does not rank top for her position currently is chances created, where only her Chelsea teammate Katie McCabe has more with 23.
Carpenter has also played 90 minutes in seven of Chelsea’s eight games (came off in the 84th against Manchester United).
Captaining a defender over an attacker is always a big call, but with the numbers that Carpenter is putting up, does it really seem that big a risk?
My pick
For gameweek nine, I think Lauren Hemp is the best captaincy choice to go for.
Manchester City’s form is outstanding currently, and Hemp has been a key part of why that is.
They also face a West Ham side that have conceded double-digit goals, as mentioned, while Chelsea face a more robust Everton defence. However, on the form guide, both the Hammers and the Toffees are ranked at 82/100 in terms of fixture toughness.
Both of the top two kick off at the same time of 12:45 pm GMT on Saturday as well, meaning that there’s not going to be an opportunity to potentially switch to one of the other options.
Newcastle do face Burnley at 2:00 pm GMT on Sunday, allowing players to choose Thomas if they wanted to take a big risk.
