Women’s Super League preview: The facts and figures ahead of the 2022-23 season
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WSL season preview 2022-23: Key trends
The Women’s Super League (WSL) returns this weekend on the back of England’s success at Euro 2022.
As it stands, 14 of the 18 players that featured for the Lionesses in their history-making run will be lining up for a WSL club when the season starts on Saturday, September 10.
Chelsea are the reigning champions, having pipped Arsenal to the title by a single point in 2021-22.
Manchester City and Manchester United will be hoping to close the gap on the top two, while Liverpool are back in the top flight for the first time in three seasons.
We have analysed the 2022-23 fixtures, as well as results from the previous five campaigns, in an effort to predict which teams are best placed to challenge for the league and those that could struggle to stay up.
Who has the toughest start?
There are 12 teams in the WSL and 22 rounds of matches. To get an idea of how each team might start, we have focused on the opening six gameweeks.
Man City welcome Arsenal in the show-stopping fixture of the opening weekend. Several of England’s stars from Euro 2022 will be on show, including Lauren Hemp and Keira Walsh for City, and Leah Williamson and Beth Mead for Arsenal.
City will feel hard done by the fixture computer, with Arsenal’s visit followed almost immediately by a trip to Chelsea in gameweek three.
Liverpool have the most reason to feel aggrieved, however. Returning to the WSL after a two-year absence, the Reds are the only side to face all of last season’s top three in their opening six matches.
Manchester United – with Mary Earps, Alessia Russo and Ella Toone in their ranks – are likely to start the season well.
After facing Spurs, who finished fifth in 2021-22, on the opening day, four of their next five fixtures are against teams that were in the bottom half last season.
Apart from United, Chelsea have the easiest schedule of any team on paper.
The Blues – champions in four of the past five seasons – will expect to start their title defence in style, with games against promoted Liverpool and three bottom-half sides in their opening six.
Who are the WSL’s dominant sides?
Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City are the best teams in England, having finished inside the top three in all of the last five WSL seasons.
In the past three campaigns, Man Utd have emerged as their nearest challengers, finishing fourth on each occasion.
The underlying statistics bear out their dominance. In 2021-22, only five teams finished the campaign with a positive goal difference – Chelsea, Arsenal, City, United and Tottenham.
Spurs had a goal difference of +1, while the top four outscored their opponents by a combined +167.
This is backed up by attacking data, which shows that the big four took a minimum of 16 shots per game while facing fewer than 10 attempts on goal.
The big four are separated by their results against each other. The top three have generally had an edge over United, and within that triumvirate Chelsea have maintained a hold over Arsenal and City.
While all four sides have an excellent record against the rest of the division, Chelsea are the only team with a winning record against their closest rivals.
Under the guidance of Emma Hayes, the Blues have won 13 of their 25 games against Arsenal, City and United since 2017-18, losing only twice.
The Gunners have won eight and lost eight, while City have nine victories and 11 defeats.
Man Utd have really struggled in games against the top three, managing just one win in 15 attempts.
Which games produce the most goals?
The dominance of the top teams in the WSL makes for some one-sided head-to-heads.
For example, Man City have scored 34 goals in seven league games against Brighton since 2017-18, which includes one 5-0, two 6-0s, a 7-1 and a 7-2.
After City versus Brighton, Arsenal’s matches against West Ham produce the most goals.
The Gunners have won all seven of their meetings with the Hammers in the past five seasons, including a memorable 9-1 thrashing back in September 2020.
Chelsea’s matches against Man Utd have also been high-scoring, with 19 goals in five encounters since United first entered the WSL in 2019-20.
Both teams have found the net in four of the five games, with the most recent meeting going down as an all-time classic.
The Blues welcomed United to Kingsmeadow on the final day of last season, knowing a win would secure a third straight WSL title.
United twice took the lead in the first half through Martha Thomas and Toone, but eventually succumbed to a second-half brace from the league’s top scorer Sam Kerr. The game ended 4-2 as Chelsea were crowned champions.
Away from the top clubs, Reading’s Madejski stadium is a good place to see goals as a WSL fan. The Royals have scored and conceded in more than 70% of their matches with Everton, Aston Villa and Brighton.
Who might be tired from Euro 2022?
The WSL’s chasing pack will be hoping that fatigue is a factor for the top sides early in the season, following England’s exertions at Euro 2022.
Apart from Lucy Bronze, Georgia Stanway and Rachel Daly, all of the Lionesses that featured in the tournament play their club football for either Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City or Man Utd.
In total, 37 players from the top four WSL teams accumulated minutes at Euro 2022, with Arsenal contributing the largest contingent (11). Those players were on the pitch for more than 10,500 minutes combined.
The remaining eight WSL sides saw 16 of their players take to the field, for a total of fewer than 3,500 minutes.
