Women’s Super League: Injury crisis at Arsenal, Tottenham’s tragic demise and Leicester’s disastrous start

With the Women’s Champions League wrapping up on weekdays by Christmas, all 12 WSL clubs are on winter break. Some will be happier with this than others.

Games won’t resume until the weekend of 14-15 January, when Chelsea continue their quest to win a fourth title in a row, Leicester are still looking to their first win of the season and Tottenham are looking to leave 2022 miserable. You.

Here Iverdict on each team’s season to date.

WSL table

• 1. Chelsea – 27 points
• 2. Arsenal – 24 points
• 3. Manchester United – 22 points
• 4. Manchester City – 19 points
• 5. West Ham – 15 points
• 6. Everton – 12 points
• 7. Aston Villa – 12 points
• 8. Tottenham – 9 points
• 9. Liverpool – 8 points
• 10. Reading – 7 points
• 11. Brighton – 7 points
• 12. Leicester – 0 points

Chelsea

The only real threat to another year of Hayes hegemony is European football. Despite this, Chelsea have easily reached the knockout stages of the Champions League, and domestically they are three points ahead of Arsenal (who have the score).

The Gunners are badly depleted from injuries, while it feels like it would take a catastrophic turn of events to derail the Blues – take Pernilla Harder’s injury for example. Even if Chelsea lose to Guro Riding, Sam Kerr or Fran Kirby, Lauren James and winger Jesse Fleming will back them up. Chelsea remain clear favorites for the title.

arsenal

Beth Meade’s injury during the title race is an accident; To see Vivianne Miedema suffer from the same thing would be almost unbelievable were it not for cruciate ligament issues in women’s football – out of 30 Ballon d’Or shortlisted players, a quarter have cruciate ligament injuries. Meanwhile, Jonas Eidevall has Stina Blackstenius and Caitlin Foord to rely on, and Arsenal finished with a 9-1 Champions League win, so goals might not be such a big deal.

Manchester United

There will always be a section of fans unhappy with Mark Skinner, but the reality is that United are two points behind the top two and their signings are pretty much well known. A 3-2 win over Arsenal and a draw against City at the Etihad left United an underdog capable of challenging the Gunners and Chelsea. However, the uncertain future of Ona Battle and Alessia Russo is an eternal cloud that needs to be resolved quickly.

man city

The summer brought a complete makeover, and the departures of Caroline Weir, Georgia Stanway, Lucy Bronze, Kira Walsh and Ellen White have always hurt City, who started the campaign poorly and surprised few.

The situation has worsened due to Lauren Hemp’s injury and some fans are still unhappy with the management of Gareth Taylor, but City have turned the tables and continue to fight for a place in the Champions League. Khadija Shaw is one of the top scorers in the WSL, Japanese midfielder Yui Hasegawa is a formidable force, and Alex Greenwood has signed a new contract that is far from hopeless.

western ham

In a recent interview, West Ham boss Paul Konchesky summed up the ambition with which West Ham are teetering on the edge of the top four: “The gap at the top may not be as big as people think.”

Dagny Brynjarsdóttir is unlikely to welcome a winter break given her recent form, which has been as important as Vivian Assei’s big summer signing. The Hammers are on track to improve last season’s results with a sixth-place finish.

everton

After last year’s chaos, Brian Sorensen took a free-kick this time around and couldn’t have wished for a better result than a sixth-place finish by the winter break. Everton got over the corner after three straight defeats to beat Spurs and looking ahead, it looks like they’ve found some real talent in Jess Park.

Goalkeeper Emily Ramsey has also made an impression since joining Manchester United, though Dutch striker Katja Snois, who has been tasked with filling the void left by the departure of the Toffees in attack, has so far only needed one league goal to achieve success to adjust.

AstonVilla

Villa struggled for consistency, but their young players, especially 19-year-old midfielders Laura Blindkild Brown and Freya Gregory, were liked by many. Villa’s three-front threat is embodied in Rachel Daly’s goals (8). Maz Pacheco has shone at left-back and it is hoped that Villa have the potential to improve even further as Simone Magill recovers from an ACL injury who has yet to play for the club. The only real sign against Villa is a few hard losses.

Tottenham

For neutrals, the departure of Tottenham is likely to be a real disappointment. Not too long ago, it looked like anyone who could do that would be in the best position to break the big three, but Rehan Skinner is now under a lot of pressure after losing his last four WSL games. The 3-0 loss to Everton, beaten by Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham, was a new low.

This ended with the removal of Ashley Neville, who was used more as a winger than a right-back (and has paid off at times, scoring three goals to date). If anything, Drew Spence was a solid signing, but the Spurs weren’t energized enough. They seemed content to stand still and pay the price. Chioma’s return to Ubogagu after the drug ban was positive.

Liverpool

There has been a lot of talk about a long zero streak for the newly minted Liverpool after the first day, but what else can you expect? They went into halftime unbeaten three times and where others around them failed, they performed well against Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham. A victory over Chelsea on the first weekend gave them confidence and Katie Stengel, who scored twice that day, now has six goals in nine games; only Shaw and Daly have more.

reading

Goals haven’t been a problem lately, but the pervasive feeling that reading was Only do enough and just not be afraid of relegation, because they are ruined by Lester. Their home form was particularly disappointing, with only two league wins and they continued to rely on veteran Danish player Sanne Trulsgaard.

Brighton

The sacking of Hope Powell, following an 8-0 defeat to the Spurs, has always defined or broken Brighton’s season. Interim boss Amy Merrick initially turned the tide but failed to stop the goal drain, allowing four goals against West Ham and three against Liverpool and Manchester City. Not even Maya Le Tissier’s loss to Manchester United can justify what happened to her defense.

Leicester

Before we get too deep into the disastrous form of Leicester losing all nine games with just two goals and scoring 25 goals, it’s important to say that this isn’t just a reflection of them; It’s a worrisome accusation against going pro considering they only got promoted in 2021 (although other signings aren’t that bad).

Relegation is imminent and they only scored 13 points last season. Your only salvation may be not to become the worst WSL team. With the WSL season reduced to 22 games, Birmingham (2021–22) hold the record for the fewest points with 11 and Bristol City (2020–21) have the fewest wins in a season with two.