FAWSL season review: Bristol, Chelsea and Everton

LEAGUE TABLE

The Women’s Super League has been full of excitement and entertainment with plenty of surprise results. The league has two new teams, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham who are adjusting to full-time football in the top tier.

There is currently an international break with no WSL teams in action until Saturday 17th November which offers time to reflect on the season so far. Here is Part 2 of an alphabetical review of how each team has fared up to this point.

Bristol City Women

The Vixens have had a decent start to the season and currently sit seventh in the table with eight points.

Tanya Oxtoby took over as Bristol City manager in July and the team are doing well under her leadership. Two of their most impressive results this season have been draws against top quality opposition.

Manchester City scored twice in the last seven minutes when they faced Bristol City to spare their blushes and come away with a point and Chelsea were held to a goalless draw despite dominating possession.

Bristol City have to work on their consistency to build confidence instead of winning one week and losing the next.

Chelsea Women

Karen Carney looks downbeat after her penalty was saved in a goalless draw with Birmingham City (Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty)

The defending champions have endured a difficult start to the season. They have played eight games and kept seven clean sheets but four of those have come in goalless draws.

The Blues have created umpteen chances in the majority of their matches but the issue has been converting them. Ramona Bachmann has scored the most goals for Chelsea this season and both of those came in the 2-0 win over West Ham just before the international break.

Their only defeat of the season was a 5-0 thrashing by Arsenal at home where they were completely outclassed in every department. Arsenal had seven shots on target and scored five of them while Chelsea had five shots on target but failed to make any of them count.

Chelsea have recorded back-to-back league wins recently but they are already eight points behind leaders Arsenal which could be an insurmountable gap if they are to successfully defend their title.

Everton Ladies

Everton keeper Kirstie Levell controls the ball during the goalless draw against Chelsea (Photo: Everton website)

The Toffees are languishing at the bottom of the table after a dismal start to the campaign. They are the only team yet to win a match in the WSL this season.

Losing last season’s top scorer Courtney Sweetman-Kirk to Merseyside rivals Liverpool was a big blow for Everton and they are struggling for goals as a result.

Everton have scored just four goals during this campaign with three of those coming in the draw against Brighton when they had been 3-1 up. Their latest defeat was against Yeovil who went above them in the table as a result of their victory.

Andy Spence’s has vacated his role as Head Coach which is unsurprising given Everton’s league position. The Toffees will now spend the international break searching for a permanent appointment as well as preparing for their match at home to league leaders Arsenal when the season gets back underway.

[columns]
[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”34″ heading=”Womens Football” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]
[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”117″ heading=”England” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]
[/columns]