6 key takeaways from WSL Gameweek 11

The Women’s Super League (WSL) returned from the winter break at the weekend and the wait was worth it.

In Friday night’s football, Liverpool edged out Brighton with a 2-1 win before Meryside rivals Everton beat Aston Villa to a 1-1 draw at Walton Hall Park.

Super Sunday brought all the action as Chelsea increased their lead at the top of the table thanks to a 5-0 away win at West Ham United. London rivals Arsenal followed suit and beat Crystal Palace 5-0 at Meadow Park.

In an uneventful game in the English capital, Tottenham Hotspur secured a 1-0 win over Leicester City thanks to an unfortunate own goal from Janina Leitzig.

All eyes were on the Etihad Stadium as the Manchester giants clashed. In the end it was United who would secure City honors, with Ella Toone emerging as the hat-trick hero.

90min I looked at the six key takeaways from Gameweek 11 of the WSL…

It was a night to remember for Toone as United secured victory with a 4-2 win over city rivals Manchester. The midfielder’s 14th-minute opener set the tone for the evening as she scored her goal and silenced the fans at the Etihad.

Not only did the 25-year-old score her first goal against City despite taking part in 10 WSL derbies, she also wrote her name into history by scoring a hat-trick in just 46 minutes.

On this dramatic evening for United, the Cityzens hope to erase any memory of the game. Two terrible errors from Khiara Keating set up Toone for their second and third goals, and countless defensive problems left City with their jaws on the floor.

Marc Skinner will be delighted with the win, pushing City into third place in the WSL standings, now level on points with second-placed Arsenal. Even if the fans count them out, United still have a good chance of causing a stir at the top of the table.

Alessia Russo has once again entered Arsenal’s top scorer list. Perhaps it was just a ploy to stick the knife into a wounded Crystal Palace, but the goal marks the striker’s seventh goal in six consecutive league games. The 25-year-old is everything Arsenal fans hoped for when they signed her in the summer of 2023.

Despite not scoring in the first five gameweeks of the league season, Russo is now just two goals behind Khadija Shaw in the Golden Boot tally. With the City powerhouse sidelined through injury, Russo is not excluded from the chance of overtaking them in the goalscoring charts.

Arsenal must now turn their attention to crucial away games against Chelsea and City and it is there that we will see whether or not Russo can score for the Gunners on the biggest stage.

Aside from getting past National League side Ipswich Town in the fourth round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, Man City have gone three games in a row without picking up a point. A toothless performance against Everton before the Christmas break could have been excused with a lengthy injury list, but what we saw on Sunday night was far worse than the defeat on Merseyside.

Shaw has been filling the gaps in this City team for several seasons, but she wasn’t the only player the team sorely missed in their last meeting. Alex Greenwood’s absence was felt from a mile away and Lauren Hemp’s omission proved costly.

Injuries can’t really be an excuse when a team still has players like Vivianne Miedema, Jess Park, Jill Roord and Mary Fowler in their starting lineup. However, it is not the attack that is City’s problem.

Gareth Taylor remains far too reliant on superstars to repair his broken defense and United have exposed these problems in unsparing fashion. The Cityzens welcomed defender Rebecca Knaak as the transfer window opened, but their derby performance proved they have made little improvement on the likes of Alanna Kennedy.

City are rumored to be in talks with Brazilian winger Kerolin and should probably rethink their wage distribution and add some defensive strength. Kerstin Casparij was exposed and Leila Ouahabi was too easy to beat for speed reasons. If they want to get back into contention as title contenders, City must look to strengthen their defensive problems.

With a seven-point lead at the top of the WSL league, Sonia Bompastor’s Blues have a race of their own. A 5-0 win over West Ham United at the Chigwell Construction Stadium now means Chelsea are ten goals clear of second-placed Arsenal.

Catarina Macario opened the scoring with a brilliant volley that curled into the top left corner and set the tone for the rest of Chelsea’s afternoon. Goals from Erin Cuthbert, Aggie Beever-Jones and Sandy Baltimore were enough to keep the Irons hanging before an own goal from Amber Tysiak rubbed salt in the wound.

When Bompastor took over as successor to Emma Hayes, she stepped into a very successful shoes, but the French coach has yet to lose a game. Chelsea are now heading into the halfway point of the season unbeaten and have 31 points.

At this point, it may take a miracle if another team wants to eliminate them from contention for a sixth consecutive WSL title.

It’s a remarkable statistic considering United, Arsenal and Chelsea scored more goals in Gameweek 11 than Leicester City did in the entire season. After another narrow 0-1 defeat, the Foxes were eliminated in London after an unfortunate own goal from goalkeeper Leitzig.

Amandine Miquel’s side currently sit 11th in the league standings and are just two points ahead of Crystal Palace in the drop zone. With the Eagles awaiting the return of their 2023/24 top scorer Elise Hughes, now is the time for the Foxes to get going.

With multiple injuries affecting their performances, Leicester will need to be aggressive in the transfer window if they want to avoid relegation this season. Miquel’s side will be buoyed by the return of exciting striker Jutta Rantala, but if injury luck has told us anything, it’s that they can’t rely on one name to save them from collapse.

Defense hasn’t been a big problem so far, with both Chelsea and Arsenal scoring 1-1 and 1-0 respectively. The team lacks creativity up front and if they don’t find a solution in January it will hurt their campaign.

Olivia Smith signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2024 and has quickly proven why she is one of the most exciting talents in women’s football. The Canadian’s goal against Brighton & Hove Albion was sensational, putting the Seagulls on pace before she buried her shot into the net.

Despite finishing fourth in the 2023/24 season, the Reds got off to a bad start in the current season. Matt Beard implored one of his players to be inspired, and Smith certainly did.

If Beard’s Reds want to move into the top half of the WSL table any time soon, they will be relying on more magic from Smith.

READ THE LATEST WOMEN’S FOOTBALL NEWS, FEATURES AND ANALYSIS