The FA Women’s Super League is widely regarded as the most competitive league in women’s football. The WSL has been fully professional for a number of years now and is continuously attracting some of the biggest names in the women’s game.
Sam Kerrs 2020 arrival has been widely considered something of a pivotal moment for both Chelsea and the league, one of the world’s most reputable stars making a move to the WSL. Thanks to significant investment from The FA and various television broadcast deals, the league has remained on an upward trajectory and that looks set to continue.
Since the success of Euro 2022, many more eyes have been on women’s football in England, and it has to be said, they are being treated to a four-team title race something the WSL has never seen before. This analysis, which will take the form of a data analysis, will look to answer one hypothesis:
Can we use data to predict who will be crowned 2022/23 WSL champions?
By looking at the statistics and analysing the data, we should be able to predict who will be walking away with the trophy at the end of the season.
Previous WSL winners
Before we begin this data analysis, we need to ensure that we have a complete understanding of the previous winners of the FA Women’s Super League. This is important because there are other variables that we do need to factor into this data analysis, such as which teams know how to win. A team with a previous history of winning is more likely to know what it takes to get across the line.
The history of the FA WSL is one of growth, development, and progress. The league has come a long way since its inception in 2011, and it is now one of the most competitive and exciting womens football leagues in the world.
Arsenal were the first team to ever be crowned WSL champions after winning the title in the inaugural campaign. The Gunners went on to win the league again in the second season before Liverpool claimed the title in the WSL’s third season. The Reds retained their title in 2014, while the following year saw Emma Hayes’ Chelsea team become champions of England for the first time.
Manchester City won their first title in 2016 after an impressive unbeaten season which saw them finish five points above Chelsea. The Blues came back fighting and won the 2017/18 title. This is the season where the WSL became a fully professional league, a huge step forward in the development of women’s football in England.
The following year saw The Gunners absolutely charge to the title, finishing seven points ahead of second-place Manchester City and scoring an incredible 70 goals in the process. Since 2019/20, in an incredible show of domestic dominance, it has to be said, Emma Hayes and Chelsea have won the title on three consecutive occasions.
The current campaign
The 2022/23 WSL season has been nothing short of spectacular, it has been the most competitive season to date. A statement that is endorsed by the fact that we have a four-horse title race in progress. Theoretically, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester City could be crowned champions.
Manchester United are currently top of the table with 41 points, Chelsea are hot on their heels though, just a single point behind and having played a game less. Meanwhile, Arsenal and Manchester City occupy third and fourth places but are both on 38 points, just three behind Marc Skinner’s side.
Manchester United
No one really expected Manchester United to be leading this title race. Many pundits and fans predicted a top-three finish so we can safely say they are performing above all expectations currently. The above pizza chart shows us Manchester United’s percentile ranks compared to their fellow WSL teams.
We can see that their percentile ranking for both goals per 90 and xG per 90 is exactly the same. From this, we can infer that The Red Devils are at least meeting their expected goals tally or bettering it. We can also see that they rank highly in terms of the number of crosses per 90 and of course, the percentile rankings for the high press and possession metrics are standouts. From this pizza chart, we can ascertain that Manchester United play a high-pressing, possession-based tactic that sees them create plenty of goalscoring opportunities from wide areas via the medium of crosses into the box.
