Arsenal ruthlessness could be vital in the title race

Just the six goals for Vivianne Miedema – and four assists – in Arsenal’s 11-1 win over Bristol City. Every one of the first 10 goals was either scored or created by the Dutch international, who broke the record for the number of goals scored in a WSL season last year – in fact, she broke it by January – and with 10 to her name already in this campaign I wouldn’t bet against her beating that tally of 22. At the moment Arsenal and Manchester City are going toe to toe at the top of the table, with Chelsea just behind, and it may well be that goal difference is vital – it’s all that separates the Gunners from City at the moment. It is absolutely key, then, to be ruthless, but all the same Arsenal’s mentality, scoring five goals in the first half against Bristol City and then bettering that total after the break, is impressive. After a quarter of an hour they were two goals up and they scented blood. Joe Montemurro will have drilled into them the fact that the league might be decided on the finest of margins, and when you get that chance you’ve got to be relentless.

Liverpool will go down if issues are not addressed

There is no disgrace in losing 1-0 to Manchester City, but Liverpool have now lost five of their eight WSL games by the same scoreline, and it’s starting to get really worrying. How many times does that have to happen before you decide you need a different approach? At the other end in those eight games, Liverpool have only scored one goal. At what point do they open up and start playing more attacking football? They’ve got players like Jess Clarke, who has been struggling with injuries but is an attacker with real pace and quality. Clearly they desperately need a No 9 and an attacking midfielder who can run with the ball at her feet. It’s clear that their manager, Vicky Jepson, needs to change things up either in terms of tactics or personnel – if not, they’re going down.

Sam Kerr coup has left rival leagues scrambling to keep up with WSL | Suzanne Wrack Read more

Manchester United are architects of their own downfall

Until Sunday, Manchester United had never conceded more than one goal in a WSL game, so the 3-2 defeat at West Ham was a real blip. Having taken the lead through Lauren James with just 10 minutes to play they would have been confident of seeing the game out. It didn’t work out that way and what will hurt most of all is that they were architects of their own downfall. In the last minute Mary Earps rolled the ball out short, West Ham pressed high, won the ball back and United then conceded a free-kick from which Katharina Baunach scored the winner. As a former goalkeeper myself, I thought United’s decision to play out from the back was criminal. West Ham, though, emerge with great credit: they brought in a lot of new faces over the summer and gelling them as a team looked a really difficult prospect, but they are growing under Matt Beard, and their link-up play is getting better and better. In Baunach and Kenza Dali they have a couple of set-piece specialists, and that gives them another way of winning games.

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What a turnaround from @westhamwomen, what a goal 😍



Cheeky chip, Baunach pic.twitter.com/rXVib8AbN4

Reading’s concentration slips once again

You could also draw conclusions about Reading’s mentality from their performance at Brighton. Last week, after they came back from going two goals and a player down to beat West Ham, I suggested that they seem to need to go behind before they really kick into gear, and this was more evidence. They scored the first goal after 15 minutes, but conceded an equaliser within three minutes and were 2-1 down by half-time before coming back to equalise with the last kick of the game. It must be so frustrating for the manager, because their problem is nothing to do with technical or tactical ability, it’s just concentration. Reading have been a feared team in the WSL in the past, but I think their stock is slipping. The opposite is true of Brighton, who are consolidating and while they are not going to blow teams away, the south-coast club are also not going to get relegated.

City are not what they were and need a marquee signing

There are now just a few weeks until the mid-season transfer window opens, and with Chelsea making a huge statement of intent with the signing of Sam Kerr the question is how other teams are going to react. It’s a turning point for Chelsea and maybe for the WSL. Arsenal will feel their squad is good enough to win the title, and they might not add to it, but despite being second only on goal difference I think Manchester City need another landmark signing, either now or in the summer. Over the last couple of seasons they have lost key players without really replacing them, and with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United improving all the time City are moving backwards. And then there’s Liverpool, who should want for nothing in terms of facilities or finance. Why aren’t they keeping up with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and City?

This season BT Sport will air more women’s football than ever before, continuing with coverage of Chelsea vs Manchester City on Sunday 8 December from 11.45am