FAWSL season review: Arsenal, Birmingham and Brighton

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 1 of an alphabetical review of how each team has fared up to this point.

Arsenal Women

During Joe Montemurro’s first full season in charge, Arsenal are flying. The Gunners are top of the league after a perfect start to the season. They have won all seven games, keeping five clean sheets in the process.

Vivianne Miedema has been in fine form for Arsenal and is the league’s top scorer with 11 goals. Jordan Nobbs has scored eight times from midfield while captaining the side in the absence of Kim Little who is out with a broken leg.

Arsenal are playing brilliant, attacking football which was on display when they thrashed London rivals Chelsea 5-0 at Kingsmeadow, the first defeat Chelsea had suffered at home since May 2016. It was sweet revenge for the Cup Final reverse if nothing else.

Their most difficult game of the season so far was against Birmingham City.

Marc Skinner’s side contained Arsenal for the first 45 minutes with their physical style of play but they were unable to maintain that in the second half as Arsenal went on to win 3-1. At this moment, Arsenal are looking unstoppable as they try to win the WSL title for the first time since 2012.

Birmingham City Women

Birmingham players and staff after their 1-0 win against Reading in September (Photo: Kunjan Malde for The FA)

Following on from their fifth-placed finish last season, Birmingham City have been impressive in the current campaign. They are solid in defence which explains why they have kept five clean sheets so far this season. One of those clean sheets came in a goalless draw at home to Chelsea where Ann-Katrin Berger saved Karen Carney’s penalty.

Birmingham have a great defence, but their attacking options are limited without Ellen White. Aoife Mannion and Meaghan Sargeant, both defenders, are currently the club’s top scorers with two goals apiece. In their seven matches so far, Birmingham have scored just seven goals.

Despite not having a potent attack, Birmingham sit third in the table, level on points with Chelsea which is a good position to be in at this stage of the season.

If Birmingham carry on playing as they have been so far, they could improve on last campaign’s commendable finish of fifth place. Once Ellen White returns from injury, Birmingham will be a force to be reckoned with.

Brighton & Hove Albion Women

Brighton celebrate their first win of the season (Photo: Brighton website)

Hope Powell’s Brighton are a new addition to the league after winning promotion last season. The Seagulls struggled to adapt to the top flight in their first month but results have improved of late.

Brighton were unlucky in some of their matches, such as the 1-0 defeat against Liverpool when they conceded in the 85th minute to a Rinsola Babajide strike which saw them miss out on a point.

Recent results have been more positive (aside from the 6-0 thrashing by Manchester City) as Brighton picked up four points in their October fixtures. A thrilling 3-3 draw with Everton saw Brighton come from 3-1 down to rescue a point. Then came the first win against Yeovil Town where Brighton recorded a 2-1 victory.

Brighton are starting to find their feet in the WSL which bodes well for the rest of the season.