MW7 was the hardest week on record, with the fantasy teams scoring just 47 points on average.
On the bright side, MW8 will hopefully be better, and you've come to the right place for coverage of the hottest topics in fantasy this week.
Learning from the best
If you take a look at the public leagues, you can see the top managers in the world, both overall and in each leg. I took a look at the top five teams in the overall standings to see how they matched up against each other. There was a little more variety than I expected, but there were six players that featured in all five teams for MW8: two defenders, two midfielders and two forwards.
The six players in all five teams are: Ellie Carpenter (Chelsea), Andrea Medina (Man Utd), Lauren Hemp (Man City), Océane Hurtré (Birmingham), Bunny Shaw (Man City) and Alessia Russo (Arsenal).
As well as the variety of positions, there's a variety of teams here. Five teams are represented, with Man City the only team with two players. There are also no players from London City, who are currently sitting comfortably in the top three in the BWSL table.
For comparison, I checked these against the top five teams in Leg 2, and all five have these six players in their teams. While we won't know what changes are made to these teams until after Saturday's deadline, it's clear that owning those six players means you're probably onto a winner.
Arsenal's potential revival
Going into the North London Derby, the Gunners were winless in five WSL matches; their longest-ever winless run in league football. However, the tide has turned thanks to their 2-1 win on Saturday, and they'll be looking like potentially good options for MW8 and beyond.
In MW8, they host Villa, a team that have also been turning round their form. Nevertheless, Arsenal will still be the favourites on paper. They'll also be expected to win in their MW9 fixture away at Liverpool, so their players may become good options for fantasy managers.
Alessia Russo is the second most expensive player in the game at £11.5m, a price tag she has largely not performed to. However, 10pts against Spurs and two upcoming 'easier' fixtures will be music to the ears of the 47% of managers who currently have her selected.
Océane Hurtré does it again!
Despite not registering a goal or assist this weekend, an outcome we've not come to expect from the French winger, Hurtré still managed to accumulate 7pts. She got 2pts for playing the full 90, 1pt for the clean sheet, and a whopping 4pts for 19 attacking actions (1 more attacking action would have made it 5pts).
Those 7pts take her up to 67pts for the season, which is more than any other player in the game.
Hurtré started the season as one of the best differentials in the game, but her phenomenal points hauls (especially with a £6.0m price tag) have caught the eye of many managers, and she's now at 18% ownership. A player who was once a hidden gem has become a player that fantasy managers cannot ignore.
Is it time to back London City?
There are three key areas to look at when picking your players: selection, form and fixtures.
Selection has been relatively consistent this season. Elene Lete is the only player to have played every minute, but Daniëlle van de Donk and Grace Geyoro have also started all seven matches. Alexia Putellas, Daniela Arques and Freya Godfrey have all featured in all seven. Including the players already named, there are eleven players that have featured in at least six league matches this season.
There's not doubt that London City Lionesses have been in great form, sitting in the top three after seven games. The teams has earned points in the league table, and some of their players have earned a lot of fantasy points too. Unless you've been living under a rock this week, you've probably heard that the 2026 Ballon d'Or went to Alexia Putellas. La Reina is also one of the top 20 players for fantasy points in the whole game. However, two of her teammates are doing even better: Daniëlle van de Donk (49) and Kadidiatou Diani (48) are in the top 10.
When looking at fixtures, this is where it gets sticky. There are four more matches in this leg, and two of those are against traditional 'big' teams; Man City (A) in MW8 and Arsenal (H) in MW10. Both of these fixtures are within 4 days of a Subway Players Cup fixture against another BWSL team, so expect to see some rotation from Eder Meastre.
Stick or twist on BWSL2?
MW8 is the latest blank for BWSL2, so all focus is on the BWSL options for points this week. However, it may still be worth keeping BWSL2 players in your squad.
A BWSL2 player will obviously receive 0pts in MW8 due to not having a match. However, as your benched players are guaranteed to get 0pts, if you only have 1-3 outfielders and/or 1 GK from BWSL2, you won't be missing out by leaving them on your bench in MW8. The only consideration is the lack of flexibility; if you have BWSL players in your XI that unexpectedly do not return points, you won't have the options on your bench to sub in.
Both MW9 and MW10 have BWSL2 matches, so if you're happy to hang onto any players this week, you won't need to worry about making lots of transfers to include them in your team once BWSL2 returns.
