In less than a month the Women’s Super League season will be done and dusted, but the title race and relegation battle remain impossible to predict as we enter another weekend of action.
Can Manchester United pull away at the top of table? Who can hold their nerve at the bottom? And what do the teams in the middle stand to gain?
Here are the main talking points…
Fight or flight in the relegation battle?
Four teams face the daunting task of fighting for WSL survival, with just three points separating ninth-placed Tottenham and Reading in 12th, with Leicester and Brighton sandwiched in between.
For Spurs, there is “no fear” of relegation, according to manager Vicky Jepson.
“We can’t rely on other fixtures or the teams to do our jobs for us,” she said.
“Pressure is a privilege. We’ve got to embrace the pressure and embrace the challenge.”
Brighton boss Melissa Phillips, however, is taking a different approach and attempting to take the pressure off her players as they prepare to face West Ham.
“We’ve played our best when we’re not under pressure, so if we make more of the situation than it is then we start focusing on things outside of our control,” Phillips said.
At the opposite end of the table, four points separate leaders Manchester United and third-placed Chelsea, who have two games in hand over United and City in second.
“All of the clubs going for the title will be thinking the same thing. They have to win their games,” City manager Gareth Taylor said.
Matt Beard’s Liverpool, who play City on Sunday, came close to ruining Chelsea’s hopes of retaining their WSL title, holding the Blues to a 1-1 draw until Sam Kerr scored an 86th-minute winner.
“You saw Emma [Hayes’] reaction the other night when Sam Kerr scored. They are the ones under pressure not us.”
However, Marc Skinner says his United side are used to dealing with the pressure as they prepare to welcome Tottenham on Sunday.
“It’s a game where there’s pressure for different reasons but we’re used to dealing with it,” he said.
“I expect the team to turn that into a privilege to perform. Pressure will come and go. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
Who is best of the rest?
With both the title race and relegation scrap being contested by so many teams, there’s only a handful of clubs left who find themselves stuck in the middle.
Aston Villa and Everton have proved themselves as the best of the rest, but where do you find motivation if you aren’t playing for a trophy or fighting for survival?
“The group want to finish strongly, they’ve had a great season and they’re actually really hungry to nail down that fifth spot,” Villa boss Carla Ward said before facing bottom-place Reading on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Everton have a tough run of fixtures coming up against title contenders Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal, and they also have to play relegation candidates Brighton.
“We have not nothing to lose, they’re favourites, they need to win,” Everton boss Brian Sorensen said before his side travel to Chelsea on Sunday.
“We can only gain because I don’t think a lot is expecting us to go and take points from Chelsea in an away game but we’ll try.”
As the season winds down, noise around the upcoming Women’s World Cup is starting to grow, but some managers have criticised the scheduling of the tournament and it’s impact on player welfare.
Ward warned players needed a break between the end of the season and joining their national sides: “There’s too much talk about them being commodities and players rather than people.
“At some point we have to realise that these footballers are human beings and that above everything has to come first.”
Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall said there wasn’t enough time between the World Cup final and the first round of the Women’s Champions League, scheduled for 6-9 September – less than three weeks after the World Cup ends.
“It really highlights the issues of the calendar where really important stakeholders, in this case Uefa and Fifa, that they can’t schedule tournaments better to allow players to have time off,” Eidevall added.
“It’s very evident for everyone that can see this summer that this World Cup should have been played earlier.”
While there’s a whole host of contenders for the WSL trophy, there’s only two players in contention for this season’s golden boot award.
The race is currently being won by Manchester City’s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, who has 18 goals to her name – one more than nearest competitor Rachel Daly.
Unlike City, Aston Villa aren’t pushing for the league title and may have more freedom to help Daly in her individual quest for the prize.
“She’s so hungry to get that golden boot,” Ward said. “We’ll give her every possibility and every chance to get there.”
Source – BBC Sport
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