Liverpool Women close gap to Man Utd in latest show of clubs' trajectory
Perhaps no one should be shocked that Liverpool Women sit just two points behind Manchester United in the Women’s Super League table, two points off breaking down that stubborn and seemingly impenetrable gate to the league’s upper echelons.
Matt Beard’s Reds have cut themselves this season’s surprise package from the very beginning, shocking Arsenal at home in the season’s opening game.
And it was United boss Marc Skinner who, after watching his side spurn an early lead to succumb to a 2-1 loss at home to the Reds, claimed his side had a dearth of “desire” as he sifted through the wreckage of December's defeat. No one could argue that same defence in Liverpool's case, not then and certainly not now.
Liverpool ’s gritty 1-0 victory over Brighton on the weekend might’ve marked the team’s first victory of the new year and dragged them within two points of United in fourth, a points gap that is all the more striking in its smallness when placed alongside the fact that last season the gap was 33 points at the end of the season. More importantly, though, the victory underlined what has made this team’s success this season so unswerving: a steely conviction.
Sunday’s clash was by no means a classic, but it did encapsulate this. Despite Brighton touting most of the possession, Liverpool’s defence stymied their creation while edging the game’s shots on target.
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The Reds never truly carved open the Seagulls but when presented with the opportunity to exploit a weakness, they, as they have done all season, lapped up the chance. As Brighton keeper Sophie Baggaley misplaced a pass, Liverpool's Ceri Holland capitalised without hesitation.
That Holland would later be sent off in the game’s dying moments for a second yellow card speaks to the lessons the team are still in need of learning. Holland’s absence against Aston Villa will be felt, who are relishing their own uptick in form following a concerning start to the season. But these are the learning curves for a team adapting to the finer margins at the table's top end.
Liverpool's Ceri Holland being shown a red card (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)Even so, the prisms through which to consider Liverpool’s success (and their proximity to United in the table) are complex. On the one hand, a team which won promotion two seasons ago has impressively and steadily progressed through a potent amalgam of managerial acumen, increased investment and a commitment to steeliness. The result has brought them here, knocking on the door of the top-flight’s established top four.
On the other hand, United cannot be described as having a good season. A laggard and underwhelming campaign, compounded by losses to key players in Ona Batlle and Alessia Russo plus an extensive injury list, can almost make last season’s second-place league finish and trip to Wembley in the Women’s FA Cup feel like an illusion. That Liverpool have closed the gap to the team which are a facsimile of themselves is, in this light, understandable.
But how boring not to give credit where it’s due, nor would it be fair to downplay the achievement. Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Aston Villa have proven in the last two seasons that the top flight can be an unforgiving and slippery ecosystem.
Liverpool Women's manager Matt Beard (Photo by Jess Hornby - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)For Beards’ Reds to keep up their ascent is laudable, more so when you take into account that Liverpool are, with eight matches left to play this season, are just one point off matching their overall haul from last term. Where they finished last season a whopping 35 points behind league leaders Chelsea and 24 points off the pace in the race for Europe, that deficit currently stands at 12 and nine respectively.
Eight games is an eternity in football. In that time, Liverpool must face three of the four top sides, including United at Prenton Park. And if history is anything to go by, the top three will pull away from the rest of the league with the sort of end-of-season vengeance that is their wont.
Yet, where Liverpool currently stand, with no fear of being dragged into a potential relegation scrap as they almost were last season, is undeniably impressive. The odds of breaking through to the top four remain low, though a season's surprise package is never without its surprises. Liverpool’s next challenge will be maintaining their trajectory.
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