ShePlays WSL is a fantasy football game based on the Women&#8217;s Super League &#8211; and we&#8217;ve partnered with them ahead of the start of the Women&#8217;s Super League on Sunday (October 1).
The game is entering its fifth season, and in this article, the ShePlays team have provided some top tips ahead of Round 1. Check out our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/she-plays-wsl-how-to-play">how to play guide</a> to help you get started.
The ShePlays WSL overall winner will receive a year&#8217;s Hub Ultra membership, with the rest of the top 10 winning a year&#8217;s Pro membership. Starter memberships are on offer for the weekly winners.
And you can join our own Fantasy Football Hub mini-league with the code <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/my-leagues">FFH</a> &#8211; the winner will receive a year&#8217;s Pro membership.
The Round 1 deadline is 11:30am on Sunday.

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<h2>ShePlays WSL Round 1 tips</h2>
This week we have provided some tips for picking your squad for Round 1, which includes the following fixtures &#8211; last season&#8217;s finishing positions are in brackets:
<ul>
<li>Aston Villa (5) v Manchester United (2)</li>
<li>Everton (6) v Brighton (11)</li>
<li>Bristol City (promoted) v Leicester (10)</li>
<li>Arsenal (3) v Liverpool (7)</li>
<li>West Ham (8) v Manchester City (4)</li>
<li>Chelsea (1) v Tottenham (9)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Starters and known assets</h3>
Selecting players who will play the lion’s share of minutes is an easy way to score points. 
As our scoring is less reliant on goal actions or clean sheets, a consistent starter is often a better pick than an occasional goalscoring substitute. 
Also, known WSL fantasy assets are good picks for the start of the season. 
New players to the league or clubs can sometimes take time to get accustomed to the league &#8211; even ShePlays star <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/sam-kerr">Sam Kerr</a> had a slow start to her WSL career. 
To help you with your picks, check out the historic points from the <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/all-players">All Seasons Database</a> and for more details on how the players got their points from last season, check out the <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/22/stats">2022/23 Stats Centre</a>.
<div id="attachment_58367" style="width: 2058px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-58367" class="size-full wp-image-58367" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sam-Kerr.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1536" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sam-Kerr.jpg 2048w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sam-Kerr-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sam-Kerr-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sam-Kerr-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sam-Kerr-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sam-Kerr-610x458.jpg 610w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sam-Kerr-1080x810.jpg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" />Sam Kerr. Picture by Sophie Scriven via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/197286844@N05/52918538397/in/album-72177720308504229/">Flickr</a> </div>
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<h3>4-3-3 formation</h3>
We have created an optimisation program which selects the team of the round and season for all the ShePlays competitions. 
From this, we have learned the most optimal formation is almost consistently 4-3-3. 
In previous seasons, this has been because midfielders generally have lower points totals, however, they can be extremely valuable as we tend to price them a little lower as well. 
From experience, the midfield and how much value you place in the three (or more) in the middle can be a major differential when all the points are tallied up.
Please note that the top midfielder from the last two seasons <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/guro-reiten">Guro Reiten</a> has been reclassified as a forward this season.
<h3>Free choice players and bench</h3>
In our opinion, your two free choice players should not include a forward. You can have maximum of three forwards as starters, therefore a fourth forward doesn’t provide any additional flexibility to your squad and is unlikely to be used as a sub. 
When setting up in a 4-3-3, the two free positions can be most handy as defenders. Setting up your bench with two defenders, one midfielder and a backup keeper is a good strategy.
If your midfielder is your most expensive bench player, you can rotate them in if a fixture is favourable.
Some have been successful by running a cheap bench of £150,000 priced players in order to maximise the budget of their starting 11. This can work very well if the starting 11 all play.
Remember, if one of your starters doesn’t play, your bench players will be replaced in order they are listed, provided the formation is valid.
<div id="attachment_58302" style="width: 726px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-58302" class="size-full wp-image-58302" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sheplays-game.jpg" alt="" width="716" height="284" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sheplays-game.jpg 716w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sheplays-game-300x119.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Sheplays-game-610x242.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 716px) 100vw, 716px" />Sheplays&#8217; team screen</div>
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<h3>Attack and defence points</h3>
Clean sheets and goals come and go but attack and defence points are more consistent throughout the season. 
We like to call them the &#8216;grind&#8217; points because they measure a player’s impact on the match, despite the result. 
Attack points include passes, crosses, shots, shots on target and chances created. Defence points include tackles, intercepts, clearances and aerial challenges. See the <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/how-to-play">rules and scoring</a> for the breakdown of how attack and defence points are calculated.
<h3>Price points and transfers</h3>
It can be tempting to blow your budget on the premium players who get lots of points.
But spreading your funds out a little more can pay dividends &#8211; for example having two £800,000 players instead of a &#8216;threemium&#8217; strategy which may hinder flexibility.
Having a squad of with different price points allows greater flexibility with transfer strategies to avoid transfer deductions. 
Transfer deductions can be beneficial if you really need to due to injury or form &#8211; just consider if the players you need are worth more than the -5 points. 
<h3>Who are the premium players?</h3>
Top scorer by 52 points last season <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/khadija-shaw">Khadija Shaw</a> of Manchester City, who earned 328 points last season. 
Teammate <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/chloe-kelly">Chloe Kelly</a> was just behind Shaw in the race for highest points per match in the second half of the season, with 13.7 points per match. 
<a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/alex-greenwood">Alex Greenwood</a> of Manchester City is a premium defender and if not for Manchester United’s impeccable clean sheet record last season, she would have been the leading defender. Greenwood was also the highest-scoring defender in combined attack and defence points.
<a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/sam-kerr">Sam Kerr</a> is the most tried-and-tested ShePlays WSL player of all time, scoring a massive 901 points over the last three seasons. Kerr was the fourth best player last season but holds the record points in a single season with 338. 
Kerr&#8217;s Chelsea teammate Reiten recorded the most assists last season, largely due to setting up Kerr. 
<a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/rachel-daly">Rachel Daly</a> is the reigning WSL golden boot winner and the Aston Villa star is currently the most selected player at 33%. Daly earned 272 points last season, which was the second highest. 
Villa have strengthened their squad over the summer, signing key players such as <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/jordan-nobbs">Jordan Nobbs</a>, <a href="https://sheplays.com.au/wsl/players/kirsty-hanson">Kirsty Hanson</a>, and Daphne van Domselaar. They will have ambitions of breaking into the top three and gaining a Champions League spot. 
For more help with player picks, check out our <a href="https://blog.sheplays.com.au/2023-24-sheplays-wsl-fantasy-cheat-sheet/">cheat sheet</a> which covers each position’s top five players from last season in terms of total points and points per pound. 
Also check out our <a href="https://blog.sheplays.com.au/2023-24-sheplays-wsl-fantasy-cheat-sheet/">preview of the top four teams</a> from last season &#8211; Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Manchester City.
<div id="attachment_58368" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-58368" class="size-full wp-image-58368" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chloe-Kelly.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="703" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chloe-Kelly.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chloe-Kelly-300x206.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chloe-Kelly-768x527.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chloe-Kelly-610x419.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Chloe Kelly. Picture by Getty Images</div>
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<ul>
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ShePlays WSL: Round 1 tips and best players

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