Women’s Super League: talking points from the weekend’s action

Spurs must solve England puzzle

Feed Beth England and she will score. That much Tottenham will have known long before they signed her for a British record transfer fee last month. The big question is how they build a wider game around her: runners beyond, good-quality crosses, service from midfield. It is a puzzle they are still trying to solve, with the occasional promising opening against her former club Chelsea on Sunday interspersed with three offsides and plenty of pointless long balls. But her movement and finishing is a clear upgrade, and her goal was her third in four games. Plenty to work on, but an encouraging start. JL

No new striker, no goals for Arsenal

Jonas Eidevall rejected any suggestion his side had a problem converting chances after Arsenal drew 0-0 draw with West Ham on Sunday. The Gunners failed to score in the league for the first time since a 0-0 draw with Chelsea on 11 February 2022. “We scored nine against Leeds, we scored three against Villa, I can’t see a pattern,” he said. “If you want to draw conclusions from one game it’s too small a sample size – there is too much noise in a 90-minute game. If it was a trend I would be really worried but let’s be very honest, we played West Ham, Leeds, Villa, Chelsea and Zurich, I think we scored 22 goals in these five games with these forwards. So I am not going to stand here and say we have a problem scoring goals.” The lack of goals was accentuated by Arsenal failing to sign a top striker in January and they sit five points behind the league leaders, Chelsea, with a game in hand. SW

Referees in the spotlight

Carla Ward’s frustration at the standard of WSL referees was a focus after Aston Villa surrendered a one-goal lead to share the points with a resilient Brighton on Saturday. While accepting her side’s performance was not up to the level she would expect, Ward cut an exasperated figure on the touchline with challenges going unpunished and a series of mistaken offside calls. “It’s not just me; it’s every single manager and every single player and every fan wanting the [refereeing] standards to go up,” she said. “At what point do we realise that professional football careers as managers, their futures sometimes are in hands of those that aren’t professional and that’s not OK?” While Villa gave up ground in their fight for fifth, Brighton returned home with a vital point in their fight for survival. SD

Midfielders lead Liverpool towards safety

Liverpool took a big step towards their goal of retaining WSL status as an energetic performance saw off Reading on Sunday. Matt Beard’s two midfielders, Ceri Holland and Fuka Nagano, exploited the spaces left by an off-colour Reading who find themselves in big trouble second from bottom. Holland is in a rich vein of form and her industry and eye for goal caused endless problems. It was the Wales international’s 50th Liverpool appearance and she marked it in style, notching her third goal of the season. Beard’s eyes lit up as he spoke about the impact of the new signing Nagano. The Japanese player arrived just over a fortnight ago, but looked right at home in a display that highlighted her technical and creative ability. It promised much for the future. SD

Loan signings give Leicester hope

Leicester lost 2-0 against Manchester City, but their defensive reinforcements showed promise. Morale looks boosted by Janina Leitzig and Courtney Nevin joining on loan until the end of the season. Leitzig, who signed from Bayern Munich, was imposing in goal, producing a WSL record 15 saves in a phenomenal display on Saturday. It took special goals from Bunny Shaw and Chloe Kelly to beat her. Also impressive was Nevin, a 20-year-old Australian full-back who made life difficult for City attackers on her WSL debut. In 2023, Leicester have showcased a confident defence, which gives the team chances to counter and create more chances for Missy Goodwin and Hannah Cain. The club have conducted great business and bought quality young players who could shift the discourse from relegation to survival. RO

Wasteful United miss chance to stay top

Manchester United ended up being knocked off top spot after missing goalscoring opportunities against Everton. Lucía García struck the top of the bar from close range and Ella Toone pinged a brilliant shot from the edge of the box wide. Alessia Russo, after Arsenal made a record-breaking bid for her on the final day of the January window, was kept quiet on Sunday. Courtney Brosnan, Everton’s goalkeeper, deserves huge credit for some fantastic saves and was a crucial part of a formidable defence that shut the door on Mark Skinner’s side. “We had 25 opportunities,” Skinner said. “We didn’t get as many as we wanted on target, but we had good chances.” This goalless draw could be a defining moment in the title race. RO