How’s It Gonna End? — Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship

Starting later on and post-World Cup, women’s football in England is looking real shiny. Now let’s see if I can better my scores on predicting their tables.

Simple enough, you know what it is, I ain’t gonna explain it, it’s essentially here for record keeping. First time predicting the second division though.

This is how I’ve done with the top division previously:-

2019/20 — -28
2020/21 — -14
2021/22 — -18
2022/23 — -24

The scoring is done by deducting the difference between my prediction and where they actually ended up, so I’m trying to get as close to 0 as possible, duh.

Here we go.

And yeah, I’ve cheated.
The seasons started at different times, and since these articles are now essentially just for my book-keeping, I wasn’t gonna release two — so the second division is a few weeks and game-days older than the first division, and I’ve got games to go on that have heavily altered my final positioning.

That aside, once again — here we go.

WOMEN’S SUPER LEAGUE

1. Chelsea
2. Manchester United
3. Manchester City
4. Aston Villa
5. Arsenal
6. Liverpool
7. Brighton & Hove Albion
8. Tottenham Hotspur
9. Everton
10. Leicester City
11. West Ham United
12. Bristol City

Okay, a couple of things that were up in the air, but the basics first:

• Bristol City are going straight back down.
• Chelsea will reclaim the title.
• Both Manchester clubs will be in the chasing pack with the red side staying one step ahead of the blue. But only one.

Simple.
Next, the contentious pieces.

• Arsenal’s ongoing injury crisis will hurt them in the first half. They’ve a strong squad, but a driven side like Villa could (and in my opinion, will) take advantage of their rotation in recovery.
• West Ham will flounder. They will flop around too much and any solidity will crumble as the season goes on, allowing a side like Leicester to take points from them and ultimately finish above them.

Those aside, now for the rest. Liverpool will push on and continue to build on their solid foundations, YEAH. Brighton’s smart management and explosive play will pull them further clear than last season, YEAH. Spurs will have more of a say, but will be happy just to stand on firmer ground, YEAH. Everton won’t have a bad season by most measures, but will rue errors that will lead to a disappointing finishing position, YEAH.

Happy with that. Single digits here we come.

WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Southampton
2. Birmingham City
3. Charlton Athletic
4. Crystal Palace
5. Durham
6. Reading
7. Blackburn Rovers
8. London City Lionesses
9. Sunderland
10. Sheffield United
11. Watford
12. Lewes

I’ve been swayed by the few weeks of action no doubt. Southampton just look too good, I reckon Birmingham will bounce back from a bad beginning belatedly, Charlton and Palace just seem tight, Durham look deadly in parts, Reading will level out, but even for a relegated side, before season’s start I wouldn’t have had them much higher. Blackburn have come on leaps and bounds under new boss Simon Parker, LCL have had such a massive turn-around to deal with and continue to deal with through the season, and as for the bottom third, I just reckon The Black Cats’ll drop off while staying above the drop-pack of a Blades team doing enough, a Watford team that just don’t have enough to avoid one of the two relegation places, and a Lewes side unable to adapt to the changing game.

For shits and gigs, here’s what my table looked like before the season’s start:-

1. Birmingham City
2. Southampton
3. Charlton Athletic
4. Crystal Palace
5. Reading
6. London City Lionesses
7. Durham
8. Lewes
9. Sheffield United
10. Sunderland
11. Blackburn Rovers
12. Watford

Not massive change at the top, but differing throughout. We’ll see now if cheaters prosper — come the end of the season, we’ll see if the pre-season predictions were closest, or the coupla games in version. Always fun the first time. Lot of blood though.

Keep it streets ahead,

C.L.R.