1) Arsenal surfing a wave of confidence
Arsenal got their second-least convincing result of the Super League season against Bristol City: a 4-0 win. The same names keep cropping up on the scoresheet: Danielle van de Donk, Vivianne Miedema and Jordan Nobbs were on the mark again. The big difference between this season and the last is that Miedema is staying fit and Nobbs has added goals to what was already a fantastic game. It means that they have not missed Kim Little, who broke a leg against Chelsea a couple of weeks ago. Little is their captain, the most-capped Scotland player and extremely influential but this Arsenal machine has not missed a beat. They are blowing teams away, whether it was Chelsea (5-0), Reading (6-0) or Bristol City: the level of performance does not change. Some teams are up for certain games and perhaps slightly complacent for others but Arsenal just keep doing what they are doing with no regard for the opposition. They are riding the crest of a wave and there is simply no holding them back.
2) Jepson brings resilience to Liverpool
The 1-0 defeat at Chelsea meant Vicky Jepson’s first game since being confirmed as Liverpool’s full-time manager ended disappointingly but there was still encouragement there. Four of their five league games since being thrashed 5-0 by Arsenal on the opening day have finished 1-0, with two won and two lost, and the other they won 2-1. They seem to have tightened up defensively compared with the end of last season and that is to Jepson’s credit: they always had sound defenders, such as Sophie Bradley-Auckland and Leandra Little, but they just needed some direction. Jepson, and her assistant Chris Kirkland, seem to be providing it. They were second best at Chelsea but it was a resilient performance and an organised one. Rinsola Babajide, the tall, young English forward, offered excitement. She has got the speed and confidence to bring the ball off the wing and drive infield and offers something different, a threat that Liverpool did not have before she signed from Watford in January. It was her second start of the season and she somehow personifies her team: a bit raw, just starting out but looks like she is going to get a lot better.
3) Eriksson comes to Chelsea’s aid with glorious goal
Chelsea have been pinning their goalscoring hopes on Ji So-yun, Fran Kirby and Drew Spence, and not very successfully – they had scored only two goals, and in one game, before Sunday – so it would have been encouraging for them to see Magdalena Eriksson step up and carry some of that burden. The Swede’s smart overhead was her outstanding moment but Eriksson’s attacking contributions were a feature of the game, and had her crosses from the left been better converted Chelsea’s victory would have been more comfortable. Having struggled so badly in front of goal the team seemed to relax once they took the lead but could not take any of their other chances. The champions are making very hard work of retaining the title, a feat which even at this very early stage is looking very unlikely given Arsenal’s form. However they are fourth and have played the rest of the top five: they will not have to play any of those teams again until mid-January, by which time the table may look very different.
4) Have Manchester City been rumbled?
Manchester City were held at home by Reading on Friday and are three points behind Arsenal, who have a game in hand. They know they need to have their foot to the floor, iron out those mistakes and then get something from their visit to Arsenal in early December. Their results have not been terrible but their problem is they have played the same way since their inception: playing out from the back through Keira Walsh, getting the ball wide and then driving into the box or crossing. This season there are two key differences: other teams are getting better and they know exactly what City are going to do. Their tactics have been very effective but if they never change their style and their opponents continue to improve tactically and technically, it will pay off less and less. They have also lost key players in each of the last two summers: Lucy Bronze in 2017 and Izzy Christiansen this year, both to Lyon. They were two very attacking players and having created a team whose effectiveness came from speed and power those departures have made a big difference.
5) Everton’s energy goes missing again
Once again Everton, second-bottom last season, find themselves above only Yeovil in the table. In their second season of being professional they seem to have gone backwards. In the summer they lost their No 9, Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, to Liverpool and now they are finding out what a difference she made. She is a tireless worker, one of those who chases everything, and maybe Everton are missing that work rate. They did not always get the results but at times last season they would terrify their opponents, flying at them with a high press. I watched them at Chelsea, where they lost 1-0 but matched the champions-to-be in a lot of areas and were really dangerous on the counterattack. In the summer they signed relatively unknown players and maybe that gamble is not paying off – they certainly seem to have lost some of that youthfulness and energy. On Sunday they were 1-0 up and lost; a week earlier they were 3-1 up at home to Birmingham and drew – throwing away points is an unfortunate habit to get into.
BT Sport has coverage of FA Women’s Super League all season. Watch Bristol City v Liverpool on BT Sport 1 on Saturday, 17 November from 2.45pm. Watch via the App or TV.
