Liberty’s Ninja A-League Team of the Week: Striking Sensations Take Centre Stage

Stay updated with the Ninja A-League Team of the Week, powered by Opta.

The Ninja A-League delivered an action-packed finale in the last round of the 2025-26 season, featuring a host of thrilling goals and unexpected outcomes.

In Round 22, standout individual performances shone through, but it was Brisbane Roar’s goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln who topped the Opta points leaderboard.

This season, the Ninja A-League Team of the Week is brought to life through Opta Points—a detailed player metric assessing their overall influence on the match. Each Monday, the Ninja A-League Team of the Week will be represented in a 4-3-3 formation, showcasing the leading players.

*Editor’s Note: The Team of the Week includes matches played from Monday to Sunday, which means several teams may compete in multiple games during this period.

In defence, alongside Lincoln, we have Tori Tumeth from Sydney FC and Marisa van der Meer from Wellington Phoenix, both of whom secured clean sheets. Joining them are Claudio Cicco from Newcastle Jets and Danielle Turner from Melbourne City, who earned their spots with impressive performances.

In the midfield, Brisbane Roar’s talented Momo Haysahi makes another appearance, featuring alongside Tamar Levin from Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC’s promising young talent Claire Corbett.

Lastly, in attack, the goals flowed as Matildas icon and A-League stalwart Michelle Heyman was joined by Melbourne City’s Aideen Keane and Newcastle Jets’ Melina Ayres, all of whom found the back of the net over the weekend.

What is the Opta Points system?

Opta Points is a system designed to allocate points to players based on specific actions taken during a match. Players who complete the entirety of the game usually accumulate scores between 10 and 40 points. (You can view a detailed breakdown of Opta Points below).

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Explained: Opta’s Team of the Week based on Opta Points

The scoring framework differentiates solely between field players and goalkeepers, assigning identical points for similar actions across field players. A key aspect of this system is its exclusive focus on in-game performance, refraining from awarding points for post-game achievements like winning a match or granting bonuses for clean sheets.

Positive contributions (such as goals, passes, tackles, etc.) will enhance a player’s score, while negative actions (including cards, own goals, and goals conceded) will detract from it. In theory, a player’s scoring potential is limitless, and they might finish a match with negative points. However, those who play the full game generally score between 10 and 40 points.

Actions counted towards Opta Points include goals, shots on target, shots off target, blocked shots, own goals, assists, successful passes, crosses, tackles, interceptions, fouls won, fouls committed, offsides, yellow cards, red cards, goals conceded, penalties won, and saves, as well as penalties saved.