Gameweek Five was the final round of fixtures before the international break, meaning the top 10 managers have an extra week to enjoy seeing their teams at the summit of the standings.
42 points separate league leaders OnaBattleAfterAnother from 10th-placed Rose to the Occasion, with every manager in the top 10 scoring at least 95 points, comfortably above the gameweek average of 72 across more than 38,000 players.
So, what selections and strategies have helped these managers rise to the top of the rankings? And how did they perform so well in Gameweek 5? Let's take a closer look.
Must-Have Players
For those managers who are considering an early wildcard to try and climb the rankings, there are five or six players who seem like “must-have” players because they provide consistent points with the potential for double-digit hauls.
Chelsea’s Ellie Carpenter was the only player to feature in all 10 of the top teams, which is unsurprising, given she is the game's top-scoring defender.
Lauren Hemp and Bunny Shaw featured nine times, but only ninth-placed Jan City maximised Hemp’s 19-point haul by captaining her.
London City’s Daniëlle Van De Donk was also selected by nine teams and at £4.5m, already looks like a essential signing for the season, given that she is averaging 7.8 points per game.
The same could be said for Newcastle United’s Kaitlyn Torpey, averaging 8.6 points per game and costing just £4m. She has been selected by eight out of the 10 league leaders.
Doubling up on top teams
Having two or three players from clubs who are hitting the heights in the BWSL and BWSL2 has also been a successful strategy.
Man City, Chelsea, London City and Newcastle all had successful common double ups and some managers have even tripled up on players from certain clubs.
Chelsea’s goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and Carpenter regularly featured together, while London City’s midfield combination of Van De Donk and Alexia Putellas earned five top 10 teams a combined total of 32 points in Gameweek 5.
With 14 goals scored and just one conceded so far this season, it is unsurprising to see Newcastle’s defenders and forwards featuring heavily in the majority of the top-performing sides.
Smart starting line-ups
One of the most frustrating aspects of fantasy football is selecting a starting XI that you feel will get lots of points and then seeing players who have been left on the bench, scoring highly instead.
This, it seems, has not been an issue for the top 10 managers, who judged their players' fixtures perfectly and left low-scoring players on the bench.
Fifth-placed, and likely Power Rangers fan, It's Borbin' Time judged their bench perfectly, leaving an expensive combination of Alex Greenwood (£6m), Elisabeth Terland (£7m) and Ona Batlle (£6m) out of the starting line-up, and the trio scored six points between them, despite their obvious quality.
For more good examples, check out fourth-placed Williams, Les Harbiers (sixth) joint-seventh-placed Rolling on a Riviere and Baum 4 da Reload, who also showed excellent judgement with their starting XI selections.
Targeting Fixtures for Less-Owned Players
The problem with template teams is that, are that if you have most of the same players as the majority of managers, it makes it hard to find ways to get ahead of those already above you in the table.
Brighton’s Kiko Seike had only had 12 points from the first four gameweeks, but she gave 9% of the game's 38,000 managers a huge boost, by scoring 15 points against Charlton, more than doubling her total for the season.
Seven of the top 10 managers had her in their line-ups and 290 managers transferred her in, at the start of gameweek 5, showing the benefits of targeting teams conceding a lot of goals.
For managers looking for high-flying teams with less template players, check out Squeaky Brum Time in second place.
Doubling up with Chelsea and Newcastle in defence earned the gaffer 26 points, and they were the only manager in the top 10 to select Birmingham City’s Océane Hurtré, who is the top scoring player in the game with 53 points.
Third place WinterWonTerland’s Manchester United defensive double up of Maya Le Tissier and Andrea Medina could be an excellent decision, with away games at low scoring Charlton and Everton on the horizon.
