Sky Sports activities columnist Laura Hunter analyses the massive speaking factors from the most recent Girls’s Tremendous League matches, bringing you nearer to the important thing tales on the coronary heart of the ladies’s recreation.
Title race over? Suppose once more
“We know the title race is probably gone,” conceded Sonia Bompastor after Chelsea misplaced to Arsenal on Saturday. A frank admission from the Blues boss, however not one thing we have now not heard earlier than. Bompastor’s concession evokes an attention-grabbing sense of deja vu.
Again when Emma Hayes instructed us the WSL title was Manchester Metropolis’s in her farewell season in 2023/24, everybody believed her assertion to be true. She is a compelling character, apart from, it was Could and Chelsea had fallen six factors behind leaders Metropolis with two video games left to play.
Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor has mentioned ‘the title race is gone’
Plausibly, Metropolis had been victors in ready. However that is Chelsea, eight-time champions, and they’re effectively versed in easy methods to stage a comeback. Bompastor is aware of that simply in addition to Hayes did when she pipped Metropolis to that individual title on objective distinction.
Bompastor’s rhetoric is intelligent and deliberate. Contained in the partitions of Cobham there shall be no acceptance that the title is gone, solely the dedication to wrestle again management by any means. To permit outsiders to consider Chelsea have admitted defeat, although, is a helpful play forward of subsequent weekend’s pivotal assembly with the league leaders. The thoughts video games have began.
Keep in mind we’re solely in January and nothing is determined regardless of Andree Jeglertz’s aspect taking a commanding nine-point lead into Sunday’s showdown on the Etihad. It was solely 5 days in the past that Chelsea dumped Metropolis out of the League Cup. This saga has loads of legs but.
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Highlights from Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Chelsea
Because the begin of final season in video games between the normal high 4, Chelsea common 2.1 factors per recreation – Metropolis’s report for a similar interval is 0.9, they usually face Chelsea and Arsenal in consecutive weekends to begin February. A nine-point cushion may very well be decreased to simply three in a short time.
After all, for all this surmising, it’s value declaring that Chelsea have been method off their greatest all season. Their 34-game unbeaten league run was ended by Tenth-placed Everton final month, with struggles in entrance of objective a constant theme. In defeat to Arsenal they wasted 5 large possibilities, touchdown simply considered one of 18 efforts on track, and have underperformed towards their xG whole by an element of 4.89 – the worst ratio of any aspect within the league.
However don’t be deceived. Chelsea don’t assume their race is run and nor ought to frontrunners Manchester Metropolis. Sunday’s conflict shall be telling.
Hanson at coronary heart of Arroyo’s strategy
Aston Villa’s Kirsty Hanson is giving each WSL ahead a run for his or her cash this season. Her newest strike towards Manchester United may need been in useless however was a reminder of the expertise being honed by head coach Natalia Arroyo.
After going 33 consecutive appearances with out scoring between Could 2023 and March 2025, Hanson has since netted 10 occasions in 16 outings; solely Bunny Shaw (13) and Shekiera Martinez (11) have scored extra throughout that run.
Final week marked the one-year anniversary of Arroyo’s appointment at Villa Park and Hanson’s upturn neatly coincides. Her transformation has been vital, permitting Villa to press and counter within the systematic model of Arroyo’s design.
It’s no shock Hanson is considered one of solely two gamers within the league (alongside Everton’s Ornella Vignola) to attain greater than as soon as from a quick break this time period, neither is it accidentally that each her and team-mate Ebony Salmon rank high for whole variety of quick breaks (six every).
Such a tactical shift fits Hanson’s directness and talent to progress the ball rapidly, stretching defences in ways in which make Villa extra unpredictable. She had 10 touches within the opposition field towards Man Utd, the joint-most of any participant throughout the WSL weekend, and is making an affect within the last third extra persistently, scoring in three of Villa’s 4 wins up to now.
Fortunate No 13 for Liverpool
On the thirteenth time of asking, Liverpool have landed a primary win of the season. The outcome shall be a reduction for under-pressure boss Gareth Taylor, albeit two objectives after the 93rd minute is hardly a stress-free option to win a soccer match. Nonetheless, Taylor is in no place to grouse.
The attention-grabbing takeaway is how they did it, conceding extra possession to Tottenham however profitable the xG battle by a larger margin than they’ve all season. Not precisely an ideal advert for Taylor’s ball-centric blueprint.
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Highlights from Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Tottenham
Liverpool made 132 fewer passes than Spurs, however performed a higher-than-usual proportion of lengthy balls, yielding 35 touches within the opposition field to the guests’ 11 – no aspect managed extra all weekend, nor might any staff high their xG worth (2.03).
Meals for thought, then. Certainly much less possessional dominance in favour of higher top-end risk is the one option to transfer off the foot of the desk? Taylor may need to simply accept that, for now, substance is vastly extra helpful than his most well-liked model.
Learn the final WSL column
Final time’s column analysed the methods Taylor needed to adapt his model to select up factors for Liverpool and the brand new strategy making Manchester Metropolis tick.
