The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - A six-goal thriller and the incredible Bunny Shaw – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Ameé Ruszkai and Tom Garry to review a dramatic final WSL weekend before the winter break. Plus, Zarah Al-Kudcy joins in part two to discuss Panini’s expansion into the women’s game

This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faker others and welcome to the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. The final Barclays WSL weekend before the bleak midwinter break did not disappoint with a goal fest for us to feast our ears on. A six-goal thriller at Lee Sports Village was a. proper ding-dong merrily on high. That is all I've got, by the way. It's as you were at the bottom of the table as West Ham and Liverpool play out a draw

and at the top as well with Manchester City hitting Villa for six and Hark. Is that Chelsea I hear? Back to winning ways. We'll dissect the weekend's action, talk stickers, plus we'll take your questions and that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Ceasy Rack, that was literally the most

pathetic attempt at shoehorning in some Christmas puns into the intro. How you doing? Yeah, I'm all right. Yeah, that was amusing. I'm blaming Amy Ruski because she was the one that dropped into the WhatsApp chat yesterday that she wanted to put in as many Christmas puns as possible and I thought, I take that challenge, but I kind of failed. How you doing? Good. Do you know what? I actually said I was going to think about them last night and I didn't. I had a nice slice of cake instead and a cup of tea. and watch TV. Really, I should have been thinking about questions. So I've thrown you under the bus a bit there, really.

You have. I think I'd rather have had a cup of tea and eating a piece of cake. That might have been better. I wonder whether any morsel of tea or cake has passed Tom Gary's lips over the last few months. He has been knee-deep in nappies. But look at the smile on his face. How are you doing? And how's the little man?

I'm very well. First of all, snow marks her effort for eight. me, absolutely fail. I'm very well, thank you. Our son is doing very well. Thank you for all your lovely wishes. How did I ever need more than an hour's sleep beforehand? That's why I want to know like what. The human body can function on remarkably little sleep. But no, he's doing very well, thank you. And all is good here. And thank you for joining me in the terrible pun world. It was much appreciated. I appreciate your support by making me feel better by topping me and making it even worse.

Right, listen, we were treated to a Barclays WSL special on Sunday afternoon. Manchester United, mounting an impressive comeback to earn a draw against Tottenham Hotspur. I mean, it was always going to be a bit spicy, this one maybe. Maybe spicy is not the word, I'm not sure, but Spurs manager Martin Ho, Mark Skinner's former assistant, those two up against each other. Then you've got Bethany England, Evelyn Summonen, and Martha Thomas. And they were on the score sheet. but goals from Ellatoon and Friedelina Rolfo ensured that United

salvaged a point in the end. 3-3 is how it finished. What a game it was, a wild conclusion, to an already fascinating encounter. Manchester United created a lot. They hit the woodwork four times as well. Spurs scored three from four shots on target. I mean, how do you begin to sum it up?

Cesar Rack. Can you try? Chaos. No, it was a thrilling game of football to watch. Yeah, a thrilling first half from Tottenham, like just so clinical. And I think that was the difference really, because Man United were dominant in that game other than that. And that fight back in the second half was remarkable from United, but I think it spoke to the strength of their kind of playing squad as a whole.

It spoke to the gap between those two teams in sort of quality over kind of 90 minutes. I think neither manager would be particularly satisfied, but also like, probably walk away from it, thinking they've got away with a point as well. Interesting then when you say that, because Mark Skinner was quite forthright in his assessment post-match, 9.9 times out of 10, we win that game. Obviously, Tottenham are investing, have a lot of respect for Martin as a coach, and basically there's a lot of our DNA in what they do. It's probably clever to do as you're growing and trying to grow a club, but what I'd say is the quality that we show shows we're ahead, and we need to make sure. We need to make

sure that we stay in those spaces. Tottenham will take a little bit more time and investment to get there, but we need to stay ahead when we can. What did you make of his comments there, Tom? I think there's a little bit of unspoken sort of needle behind this game, I think behind the scenes. I think publicly facing, it's all fairly polite to a degree. But I think these two teams are quite fierce rivals, actually, behind the scenes. Back from the championship days, or is this Martin versus Mark. What is it? I think it's a little bit of Martin versus Mark. I think it's a little bit of Tottenham having snapped up United Sanalyst.

I think it's a little bit of maybe Celine Bazay going the other way. There was a, was it a couple of years ago when two were sent off and then the red card was rescinded while Suman and was actually charged with a simulation instead, and it all got a little, I think it all got a bit bored up a little bit. I just starting to look to me as though there's a little bit of rivalry here. gut feeling is Mark Skinner would have hated to lose to Martin Ho because of the reaction that there would have been from supporters and on podcast like this where people would sort of infer that suddenly Martin Ho his old assistant was outperforming him in the WTO table at the halfway stage and being above them and I think there was a little bit of that going on as well

but what I do want to say about this game is that I sort of agree with Mark Skinner about the odds there. Like, I've seen a lot of reaction about this game. And for me, Manchester United would all over Tottenham. They hit the bar four times. And if they'd scored 10 goals in the game, I don't think it would have been ridiculous on the balance of the enemy attacks they had. So I sort of, I sort of agree with kind of what he's alluding to there on the kind

of statistical odds of how many times they would have won the game. When Tottenham were three-nill-up, when we were sort of thinking of on Amy's instructions, like it would be Martin Ho-ho-ho. happy Christmas but oh damn I could that's what I could have done in the intro what's wrong with me I'm stealing a living but the um the when it was three nil up it was ridiculous like it was it was it was the smashing grab and then there's like sort of survive five scares and suddenly score three goals at the other end like it was yeah so I kind of understand ways coming from with that idea of they'd won it or not any other day Amy Manchester United had conceded in each of their

last six WSL games, which is their longest ever run without a clean sheet, which is why, again, another reason I kind of found Mark Skinner's comments interesting. I get your point, Tom, and I get Mark Skinner's point, but at the same time, three nil down, you can't say 9.9 times out of 10 would have won that game. Where do you feel their defensive frailties kind of stem from at the moment? I think it's a mixture of injuries, which they've obviously had to Millie Turner, who had formed that partnership at the back with the Tissier so well, went out quite early in the season, only just getting Colise Joyce back, having had her out of the line up for a few weeks.

But I think also, if you look at the squad, I think defence is probably the one that you've got to prioritise in January because at the moment, the cover for that squad, that back line is so thin. And I think these players, you look at like Jade Riviera and Anansberg, have played so many minutes because there's just no sort of cover there. You've got Gabby George who's coming a little bit. Hannah Bundow is obviously coming back from having a child. So, you know, that cover is really thin.

And you've got Janssen there who normally plays in Holy Midfield. And just kind of disrupting the spine quite a lot recently, I think. And also fatigue playing into it. So I think it just highlights the need to act in January and how much the squad needs to be deeper. Yeah, and that is something that Mark Skinner has raised time and time again, isn't it? From a spurs perspective though, Susie, Martin Hoe must be incredibly frustrated with the way they capitulated in the last 15 minutes or so. Do you think they kind of tried to protect the lead a little bit too soon, ended up being backs against the wall? I mean, I think they were backs against the wall for pretty much the whole game anyway. It was a dominant man United performance. Tom kind of summed it up with the sort of number of shots and the fact that they could, you know, they could have easily scored 10 in that.

game. I mean, they had almost 60% possession across the game, 45 touches in the opposition box to Spurs is 10. Like, it was, I don't think Spurs had much of an opportunity to make the decision to go, we're going to sit back and relax a little bit on this one. I think that was just the momentum of the game. And when you're, when you're kind of battling that for 74 minutes of a match and soaking up that pressure and chasing the ball a little bit, that's very tiring and I think that's a difference. I don't think it was necessarily that they kind of sat back a little bit too soon. I think it was, they didn't really have much of a choice to, you know, United switched it on and if they do, the quality of the players in that starting 11, they should

be getting more from a game. Yeah, without a doubt, 34 shots versus 5, 11 shots on target versus four, 14 shots off target, four hit the woodwork. I mean, I get his point, absolutely I do, but you know, you've got to make them count, haven't you? Right, at the other end of the table, there was a quintessential six-pointer, 11th-placed West Ham hosting 12th-placed Liverpool in the battle to avoid the relegation playoff. And despite going down to 10 players early on, Liverpool came from behind twice to share the spoils and make sure that the gap between the two of them remained at just two points.

It finished West Ham to Liverpool two. Feels massively like a missed opportunity for West Ham this, Tom. Just how frustrated is Rian Skinner going to be at her side's inability to hang on to the lead, particularly when you think of that Beatta Olson late equaliser. Yeah, and shout out to Beata Olson, I believe that's a fifth WSEL goal in nine double seven games, so she's been a really good signing for them. but yeah, you're so right, West Ham and Rehanskinner will be really, really

disappointed that they didn't win this fixture playing for the last 70 minutes with an extra player. And I think that will feel like two points drop to them and in a game where it's a proverbial six-pointer so I think it will be proved to be Liverpool's best result of the season so far. I know they got the draw with Chelsea

but this being away from home and this being with a player sends off so early I think they deserve a bit of credit there there's still going to be a worry that Liverpool have gone now the first half of the season without a league win which is remarkably poor return but that's sort of a green shoot of recovery

perhaps is how they've dug deep in this one and thought back to to get Wardy's a pretty good point actually all things considered yeah and it was an uphill battle for them from the 19th minute in terms of Liverpool, Gemma Bonnesee red for denying a goal-scoring opportunity in the 19th minute.

What did you make of that decision, Amy? I mean, it's never a red card, is it? I think it's quite clear on, like, first viewing that Jenna Clark is, you know, kind of, like, further behind than Jabobona. She's kind of like the covering defender. I was so surprised and I saw that because I just thought, you know, you look at sort of where the lines, where the assistant is and, you know, the angle that they have of the player as well as a referee.

I was so shocked that that come to a red card. I mean, it's probably one of those that gets over the term. But, you know, in the context of the game, Liverpool would be frustrated because, you know, if they play that with 11 players, if you can get a point with 10, you know, can they get a win with 11? That would be such a frustrating thing because there's very little that you can do about it for Liverpool. I suppose he takes a lot of heart, really, Gareth Taylor, Susie,

from his side's reaction to what feels at the moment as constant adversity. Yeah, it's a really tough time, but, like, there are good signs. And what annoys me is that the, obviously, the board really haven't backed this women's team historically up to the present. And I don't know how you can watch this team and not want to back them. Like, they're really battling. When you look at their game, like, their games a season, score first against Everton go on to lose. Score first against City, go on to lose by one goal. School first against Tottenham, go on to lose by one goal.

Get the draw against Brighton, get the draw against Chelsea. their run before they then get beaten by Everton. Real fight against Arsenal in a 2-1 loss. Nasty 3-0 defeat to Villa, but then this really battling performance in a tour draw with West Ham, right? Like the signs are there. They've just not got the ingredients to be able to do much with. I think we spoke last week about the fact that Gareth Taylor said

after the Arsenal game, he was very much saying that, They needed lots of recruitment, pretty much every position is strengthening, that kind of vibe. And it's just like depressing because I think he's actually doing a pretty decent job there with what he's got at his disposal. And I'm just really glad that they go into this winter break league-wise with the gap still quite tight at the bottom, only two points separating them than West Ham. So that if they do get that opportunity to spend in January, they've got a chance of reversing things. I think the signs are good,

but Liverpool really need to be taken to task over their lack of support for this team. Yeah, I feel quite sorry for Gareth Taylor, actually. I never thought I'd hear you say that, by the way. I was waiting. I was just waiting for him to prove himself of this kind of opportunity, right? Like, when you look at what he had at City resource-wise, you know, a group of players who played the way he liked to play

and only won one trophy in his five years there, which was a league cup, that's not a great return for a team of city's level of investment and standards and so like now seeing him sort of really battle you know kind of have that struggle over the way you want to play like your idea for football

versus like the practicalities of the squad you've got your disposal and whether they can actually play that way and then whether you can do something with that I think it's a really interesting one and like it's the biggest test of his career right he's born and raised in the city academy coaching system

and now he's not got that And this is like really interesting. I, in many ways, applaud him for like taking the risk on a club that has been historically so undervalued. Speaking of his former club, Manchester City made sure that they went six points clear at the top of the table as they head into the winter break with a comprehensive 6-1 victory over Aston Villa. Bunny Shaw scoring four in what was a record-breaking appearance at the Joy Stadium. I mean, where do we even start with Bunny Shore, Tom? Look, she's not content with just reaching the hundred goals for the club. She hit 101, 102, 103 on her 120th appearance in a city shirt.

She is just some phenomenon, isn't she? Best number nine in the world right now, isn't she? And has been probably over the last couple of seasons, she feels weird to say it, but she's almost like underrated despite being a perennial WSL golden boot winner and that sort of thing. We saw the best of her in this game in the different way she said. scored some of those goals, some with first time finishes, some with like really nice touches in the box to weave into position. I saw their previous game in person when they won at Lester and Bunny in that game was sort of oddly inefficient in front of goals. She should or could

have scored at least four, maybe five in the first half and didn't. But kind of, it never phased her and she still eventually got the crucial goals later on in the game. So it was sort of that side of her strong as well. The mental side is strong too. And I just, think she's a fabulous, a complete all-round striker, brilliant. And what a good run for Man City are on now. Really strong lead at the top of the table. I find out how quickly things can change because before my wife gave birth to our son, obviously Chelsea was still leading the way. We were talking on this pod, weren't me, about, you know, Chelsea just doing their thing and they were going to do it again. And I know I said something along the lines off, oh, I think

Man City will get them a run for their money and it got a little tone of surprise from some of our other sort of contributors at the time. And maybe at the time that was a weird thing to say but they've since then they have just kept on winning haven't they and it just shows I think how strong their squad of players is if they're all fit which they have been this season last season they had a lot of players missing for a long chunk so with no championship football to juggle they've got an incredible chance now haven't they too in the second half for the season to go all the way are you claiming a small very early prediction win on this pod that would be wrong That would be wrong because I did say Chelsea

were in the league at the start of the season so that would be unfair but I do think that the signs have been there perhaps because they lost the game at Chelsea didn't they and the first night of the season they lost at Chelsea which probably put them ever as a slight

you know, it was a difficult start to say the least and that probably sort of where the first four or five weeks meant they could kind of go under the radar because they were three points behind and then you kind of didn't look at them in the table as flying high but actually, you know, so we've won everything since then

is sort of title winning form, isn't it? There's no other way about it. And I do, I think if you look at how close they went two years ago to winning the league when they weren't into the championship that season, when they missed out on goal difference and they should have won the league,

we're in similar territory here now where a very strong squad of probably a core of like 14, 15 players, the core is really, really high level. that them focusing just on domestic football, I think they've got an incredible chance to win it. I just want to circle back on Bunny Shore because isn't it insane that she's only been long-listed

for the Ballondeur once? Isn't that mad? In the list of 30, she's never made the top 10. That blows my mind. I just can't believe it. It's mad, isn't it? Yeah. But as a sport, we're so lazily focused on the major tournaments, aren't we?

100%. That's where someone like Bunny is so unful. unfortunately not credited enough. Exactly, or Kim Little, for example, as well, yeah. City haven't won enough as well. You think about it, it's nearly four years since City won a trophy. It has reached a stage where you've got to win a Champions League to win a Ballardor, really, haven't you? Or at least perform well.

Arsenal can't do that. That's very true. By the way, producer Sof's made a really good point. City have actually lost Sponny Shore to injury at the end of the last two seasons, which has always just derailed them a little bit. Viv Medemar as well. And when you think about that kind of front line that City have got this season, it's been one of the standouts of the first part of the season for sure when you think,

and obviously they lost Lauren Hemp for a long time last season. You've got Hemp, you've got Medemar, and you've got Aeobo Fegino as well, all in brilliant form. And together, Amy, you know, is very exciting to watch. I think as well that they're probably more set up to deal with injuries. this season because they don't have that European football so they don't have to rotate as much. They've got

Carolyn in there, they've got Im and Benny who looked really good. They've caught without hemp for a little bit like, they have got a little bit more depth, especially when you take out European football to kind of cope if something was to happen, you know, knock on wood, city fans

listening to, you know, one of their star players. And you think about when Bunny Shaw got injured, not last year, but the year before. And, And I think Mary Fowler played there and played pretty well, but at times she was sort of like, and she does like this about bunny on this. They have got me to mark if they need somebody else to fill in there,

who has obviously played in the centre for large parts of a career. They have, they've got that little bit more depth, they've got that little bit more ability to rotate. They can put those different sort of combinations on and kind of, you know, surprise people to an extent with that. I think this is the first season of the last three that I've not picked City to win. the league because the last two just kind of, you know, it didn't pay off.

So I just kept my mouth shut this year. You're in good company, Amy, that is for sure. Listen, Aston Villa, a quick one on them, because it felt as if we were kind of getting the old Aston Villa back a little bit over recent times, narrow defeat to Spurs, a dominant performance against Liverpool, that win over Manchester United earlier on in November. And then they go ahead and get hit for six, Susie. Not ideal when you're heading into a winter break in terms of what that does to you mentally. But where did it go wrong for them in the game specifically?

I mean, not ideal, but also like they're not going to judge their season based on the result against Manchester City who are sweeping all before them. So, like, I think that, you know, you go into winter break with that context in mind about their status. I think they'll be more frustrated about their status. I think they'll be more frustrated about those sort of drop points previously to London City and Spurs in particular in sort of recent time since their very, very good win over Man United. So, like, they're the results that they'll probably be stewing on more than this one. Like six is a hard number to concede, but, you know, we just praised the city front lines are high heavens. And I think they can be quite reflective of that. In fact, Arroyo was after the game.

She said something about a city killing everyone if you don't start the game well or something like that, which is completely true. So, you know, you get off to any kind of sort of slower or bad start and you're going to be punished. She also said that, yeah, she hopes that they can be as strong as they have been against sort of similar level opponents. And I think that is the marker for them. So, yeah, it's a tough one.

It's always tough to kind of lose a game by that margin, by a five-goal margin, but at the same time, the fact that they got a goal when they're very much like against the run of play for most of the game and it's against a team of city's quality who are free scoring to such an extent that they are. I don't think, I don't think this is the game

that is going to frustrate them when they're eating their turkey. No, I wasn't expecting you to say that right at the end. I don't know why that even made me laugh. Right, that's it for part one of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. In part two, we'll run through the rest of the WSL games and talk to WSL football Zara Al-Qudsi about Panini and the increasing commercial viability of the Barkler's WSL2. Welcome back to part two of the award-winning Guardian Women's Football Weekly.

ended an uncharacteristic three-game winless streak with a confident 3-0 win over Brighton. Sandy Baltimore and Alyssa Thompson both got on the score sheet for Sonia Bonpastor's side. Well, there was also an own goal from Caitlin Hayes. Comfortable in the end, Tom, it felt for the reigning champions. Never really let Brighton into the game, did they? What did you make of it all? Excellent performance from Chelsea and actually a game that on paper looked quite difficult. you're not at the back of a disappointing result.

Brighton away, they're a good team, Brighton, in the top half. It's not an easy place to go, forgive the cliche. And yet, this was really, really good from Chelsea. I thought they fully deserved the 3-0 win. Thompson's really starting to settle into the team now. Obviously, it took a few weeks naturally to kind of start to feel at home. Looks the player that we all hopes you'd be now, brilliant. And, yeah, sort of, I wish I had a slightly better tactical observation brain

to talk to you more about this kind of 4-2-2 that Chelsea are playing. But I like it. It's rare to see that in the modern game, and I thought it worked quite well for Chelsea. If that is indeed what Sonny Obam Pastor was trying to do, if she wasn't doing 4222, 2, 2, then she's probably listening to this laughing going, that Tom Garin doesn't know what he's talking about. But I liked it. Did it slay? Do you know what? That was one of the things that I thought about putting in the intro, and I thought, no, I'm far too old to do that. I can't get away with saying that comment. I don't want to be that person. I'm trying to be down with the kids when I'm quite clearly not down with the kids.

I'm going to have to reindeer this in now. I need to stop. Oh, God. No, no, no, no. Stop, stop, stop, stop. And the one person that hasn't done any is the one person that started this in the WhatsApp group in the first place. And she's literally sitting on her chair with her hands over her face, laughing Amy Ruski. I'm looking at you. Listen, rotation's been a really strong feature of Chelsea's season today. also possibly a reason for their inconsistent form and we've mentioned it on this pod before Amy

how does Sonia Bon Pastor manage that rotation without losing the player connections that are also so key? I think also what Tom mentioned about the formation factored into that you think about how many different setups Chelsea have had this season which I think is one of the things that I kind of thought about with Alyssa Thompson which was she kind of consistently played on the left wing almost exclusively when she was at

Angel City this season I've seen a play on the right on the left as a wingback you know she's playing in

this sort of 4-2-2-2 like I think that definitely has been a factor and maybe it's just fun past they're thinking

what is the best system for you know whatever I need for a particular game which can be a good thing but I think you're writing that it can be

a detriment when you are it is one of the things with Chelsea it's kind of like you know you live and die by the sword you have this massive squad and it really

is, you know, a real strength of yours. But then you don't want to lead players out for quite a few weeks. And then when you put them in, they're rusty. They're not played for a while, you know. You've got to kind of give them that time so that nobody sort of drops off. But it is hard to get that right balance. And they've not had as many injuries as I think they've had in previous seasons as well, where before maybe they've been forced to be a little bit more consistent,

which obviously, again, not a bad thing. It is a very hard thing to manage. And I think some managers that, you know, only have 15. 15 players to kind of look at that and be like, well, you know, how can you be complaining if you've only got to manage your 25 players squad? But it does have its detriments and it's a hard thing to do. And they've obviously done it very well before. I think no team has ever overturned a six-point deficit at the halfway stage to win the title.

But I don't think they've been ruling themselves out. And I'm sure Bombastor will back herself to figure out the best way to attack each match going forward in New Year. Chelsea will never rule themselves out. I just cannot see that happening. Videsich did, however, rule Brighton out of this game pretty much in his assessment of it. He said they just weren't at it and unable to challenge Chelsea in the way that they would have wanted. What do you make of their season so far, Susie?

You know, they're struggling for consistency big time, right? I think they've won back-to-back league games twice, like since the start of the campaign, quite towards the beginning. And then prior to this game against Chelsea. So, like, they're really struggling for any kind of level of consistency. again in the same way that Villa aren't going to kind of rank their season based on that six one defeat like Brighton are not going to rank their season based on losses to like the top four necessarily but yeah it's it's a frustrating one to take I think soap put in producer Sophie put in her talking point from the from the game at the weekend that there's a danger in underestimating a wounded animal and I think you know that sums it up really like Like you're playing a team that wants to bounce back after that first defeat in 34 games to Everton. I don't think that, yeah, Brighton can be too down on the basis of this game. But that lack of consistency across this half of the season is, for me, the biggest concern when they go into the new year.

Yeah. An entertaining encounter at Goodison Park, Arsenal kicking off the weekend with a 3-1 win over Everton. wasn't to be for back-to-back shocks for Marva's Everton, unfortunately. But, you know, bearing in mind their performance last weekend, it could have been a potential stumbling block for Arsenal, Tom, a reminder to anybody who didn't listen to the pod last week or hasn't seen the results. Where have you been to start with? But that win over Chelsea and ending that incredible record-breaking run that they were on, how did Arsenal get the job done against what is usually a very resolute defence in Everton or has been of late?

by playing some really quick high tempo and really nice to watch football particularly in the opening half an hour it was great to be a good as on Saturday I loved watching this game the quality of the goals three of the four goals in particular was such high quality finishes

it was real privilege to see them and I thought Arsenal were really dynamic the kind of link up between players like Cadente and Little and also you know all of the front line, really. Russo's sort of link-up play was excellent. And the speed of which they did all of it in the first half an hour kind of blew Everton away a little bit. It could have been four or five maybe. As it turned out, Everton got that kind of goal, the equaliser against the

run of play, brilliant finish from Aashi that kind of just sprung things back into a contest again, but really Arsenal on much a better side. And Brian Sorenson said after the game that you know, that Arsenal really suffocated his team in that opening period. And in his words, when they're at their best, they're the best team in the league by a mile was what he said. And whether or not people agree with that,

it was certainly for that 25, 30 minutes spell, they were really, really good. So that was fun. I think the difference probably for this game maybe than what Chelsea went through the previous week was that when Everton got their goal, Arsenal immediately went down the other end, and just sort of snuffled it out

and got themselves back in control again, whereas Chelsea allowed that kind of Everton lead to, just to linger for longer and longer and longer and kind of build up the pressure, whereas Arsenal nipped it in the bud straight away. But there were positive signs from an Everton point of view to a degree in second half, but it was just golfing quality,

and I thought Arsenal were significantly the better side. So I respect to McCabe and Smith for their brilliant goals, I thought they were superb. three goals in four minutes actually because I actually had equalised two minutes after McCabe had scored and then Russo two minutes then after that I love it when a flurry of goals happens like that it's very exciting but Olivia Smith back on the score sheet in the 87th minute to seal the deal for sure and actually you know Tom mentioned Alessia Russo there and that goal it was a hundredth appearance as well for Arsenal that's racked up fairly quickly equally feels like she's been there for

500 appearances at the same time. Quick one on Everton, Susie. They haven't really found their form, have they yet, at Goodison Park? And Brian Sorenson said, Arsenal was just the better team, which is a fair assessment. But what does he need to look out? And what do the team need to look out over the winter break if they want to start adding more points on the board and making this a, you know, a decent season? Again, I feel like I'm a broken record. we should just do a like insert team name here and will not judge their season by their results against the top four because like I think so the reality for Everton as much as it is for the others. But they beat Chelsea so I think it's I think I know that there will be a lot of people questioning questioning that but they defended brilliantly in that match and I actually think that that is enough of a statement win to say okay we've got. something to build on here. We've got a, you know, do you see what I mean? I do, but I also think

like at the end of the season, they're not going to be looking at that result, that win against Chelsea. They're going to be more frustrated with the results that they messed up, right? Like, against the teams closer to them in the league than they're going to be celebrating that win, I think. Like, it's, put this way, if I'm a player or I'm a manager, I'm really, like, upset about the idea or disappointed in the idea that I'm focused on being happy about. one win against a top team when I'm languishing in 10th. There's bigger fish to fry there. It can be a momentum changer and like shiffings a little bit and, you know,

hopefully across the winter break they can take some like heart from that result into the new half of the season. But at the end of the day, like again, it's the results. When you look at Everton across the season so far, they've won two games, their first game of the season and then that game against Chelsea. And in the middle, it's eight games where they've not got to win. and that's like a real problem and that's what they need to be looking at. I'm looking at West Ham three points below them and Liverpool five points below them

and thinking that's not an insurmountable challenge. And for the quality of Everton's squad relative to, you know, what is at the disposal of Rianne Skinner at West Ham and Garif Taylor at Liverpool, they should be better than where they are for me. So again, like I say, I don't think they're going to judge a season on the loss to to Arsenal, but I also don't think they're going to necessarily reflect on that first half of the season that win against Chelsea too much. I think they'll be worrying about that block of eight games in a row without a win. I think it's really important that they pick up in the

new year as well because they are going to lose players in the Asian Cup. They've got so many players that are going to be gone. You know, they've got that Japanese contingent. I think they've got, what, three or four Japanese players now. You know, you just mentioned Hayashi who scored two great goals in the last two weeks but you're going to leave someone like Claire Wheeler as well so they're going to have to start picking up points early in the new year yeah that's a really good point and actually Lester leapfrogged them in the table as well

ending 2025 and a high themselves so with a second win for them of the season Shannon O'Brien's 59 minute goal and a late penalty save from Janina Leitzig were enough to see them gain three points over London City lionesses and Lester actually created one less shot than London City with the same number on target and only 29% possession.

It just proves my point that football is not played on paper or on stats but actually also proves that Lester's efficiency has improved this season, Tom. Yeah, they're a really well-coached team. You make a really good example there on less than 30% possession, but they've had the same number of shots on target with five each. And that's just showing how much more effectively they're using the ball. I think we need to give massive credit to Leicester with where they are because they were written off at the start of the season,

by myself included and so many others, because of the players, they lost such a high number of good players in the summer, whether it be people like Mamiki and Takalado and Ruby Mace, we could go on and on and on. It was a long list. It's a relatively inexperienced group here that a lot of people thought would finish bottom,

and what they've managed to do so far with Rick Passmore is just be so solid and steady and with what they've got, with the resources they've got, they're overperforming. I think nine points at the halfway stage is a really good return, well on course to safety, if you were to repeat that in the second half of the season.

And I was looking earlier, I think half a dozen of the players now in their team have played more minutes already in the first half of the season as it in the whole of last season because players that were more on the fringe or on the bench last year have all stepped up to the first team. And that's a really, really impressive spell from from Leicester to start.

So, you know, it's not going to carry it away. They're not suddenly like where Tottenham are. But I think with the resources they've got, they're doing really well. And I think the fans should be really, really chuffed with where they are to be on nine points at this stage of the season. I would have predicted three or four points at this stage. And I think they've done very, very well indeed. How frustrated will Jocelyn Prasur be, though, Amy?

Back-to-back defeats for London City Lionesses for the first time since the start of the season. not how he would have liked to have gone into the break. Yeah, and they had the chances to not lose this game as well. When you hit the post with a really nice chance and a slain his penalty right at the death. I mean, I was stunned when I saw that penalty. You know, a player of her calibre and her experience and her quality, one of the poorest penalties I've seen for a while,

just like a passback to eating a light sick. So I think that'll be frustrating. It's one of those things we felt like aside from, you know, the games against the top four, they looked like they were quitting themselves quite nicely and they were kind of building and, you know, it can take time, I think, with the amount of change there in the summer. And, you know, obviously there was a lot of hype with them before the season, but, you know, it does take time when you make it how many transfers, but it felt like they were sort of building and progressing quite nicely

and coming together as a unit. But to get these two results going into the Wonderbrae were really sting, I think. Yeah, without a doubt. Right, listen, we've got a special interview for you next because last week it was announced that Barclays WSL 2 players would feature in the Panini sticker album for the first time. So we thought we'd catch up with WSL Football's Chief Revenue Officer Zara Al-Qudzi to learn more about the move

and also talk through the commercial prospects for England's Second League. How you doing, Zara? I'm good, thank you, for you, Susie. Listen, this is really big news. You know, we've always been huge advocates of the second tier, which I can't stop calling the championship. I'm sorry, I really, I know I have to be on board.

I'm going to have to report you to Ruth, our chief marketing officer. Come on now. It's deserved. I never get it wrong, but in general conversation, I say championship. But I mean, how important is it to bring WSL2 players into the Panini Stickier album and give them so much visibility? Well, that's the very word. and why we want to do it from a visibility perspective.

But I think it's just, it's also just symbolic. You know, one of the reasons that we did do the rebrand to Barclays WSL 2, Faye, away from championship is because a lot of the value and inequity has sat in WSL as a brand. And therefore we decided actually it's important to have. And I know, you know, I know it's going back to what it was. And sometimes, you know, those are the best ideas. but having Barclays WSL and Barclays WSL too meant we effectively have one brand but two leagues.

So we kind of see it now as having 24 clubs versus two independent leagues. It helps us build narrative like this season in particular with obviously expansion of BWSL, meaning that at least two teams will go up and then we have the playoff, that actually we can start to build that story around the race into BWSL. And I think the Panini album in itself just helps demonstrate, you know, how we are taking BWSL2 really seriously and building visibility of not just the clubs in that league, but also the players. Do you know what? That is really important. And I absolutely get why you did it. It makes a lot of sense. So with that in mind, where exactly are we at the moment in terms of the commercial viability of WSL too? Because we know that there is a little bit of a split in WSL as it is in terms of the team. that have a lot more money to invest than others.

But how have we seen things progressing in terms of growing the commercial side of the WSL2? I mean, I think we've already seen it in the partners that we've brought on board. You know, I've been very clear that with the few partners that we can bring on board, with the commercial construct that we've got with all of our clubs, that we will never do a deal with anyone that just benefits BWSL. It needs to benefit both of our leagues and all 24 of our clubs. So if I look at our renewal with Nike, where they committed to providing any player without a person endorsement deal, boots and also gloves for keepers, it was really important, if not more so,

that that was rolled out for BWSL2, because actually when you start to add up what four pairs of boots costs at that level, that's a significant percentage of their wage. And I always talk about the fact that when we all start new jobs, we get given a phone and a laptop and we just take it for granted. And yet we're asking our players to pay for their own boots, which is actually the tool of their trade. So, you know, that was something that Nike committed to, and over half of our players across both leagues, but majority in BWSEL2 have taken that up. Likewise, when we brought Apple on board, they actually were very clear that they wanted to level the playing field by

providing hardware to all our clubs. So, you know, whether that's Charlton, Durham in BWSL2, all the way up to, you know, Brighton, Tottenham in BWSL, they were very clear that they didn't actually just want to benefit the top. They wanted to make sure that, again, and everyone had the same access and help level that playing field and British Gas exactly the same when they came on board. You know, for them it was actually about how can they help build fandom, look at the community

and support eventually with pitch protection around both leagues. So we're seeing it. I mean, I say that I've made a point of saying that we would never just do a partnership with the top tier. The brands that we're speaking to and our partners themselves also recognise that, you know, there is a strength in supporting both leagues and all 24 clubs. So how has that landscape for WSL2 change since you came into the role?

Because it does feel like there has been a bit of a shift. I mean, it's not just enough partners to raise the visibility either. So you'll recall that we made the commitment this season to put every single match on YouTube in BWSL2. So last season we would just have one match every game round. And if I look at, I was reviewing the sort of the numbers so far. This time last year, Birmingham, Bristol, Charlton, Durham, I should know, just Birmingham, Bristol, Charlton had only been on or had visibility of one game last season.

Durham hadn't been on at all, obviously, Forrest Nipswich, wouldn't have been. All five of those clubs have now had six matches streamed live at this point of the season. And being able to sort of, and actually, interestingly, even though the players obviously aren't watching it, because they're playing in it, the players have said that that's a huge thing for them to be able to share where their matches are, you know, can't overlook the work that's been done on the football side of things as well. So, you know, a huge thing was being able to get PFA support for the BWSL2 for the first time. Also bringing in a minimum salary because I think it's really important. We talk a lot about raising the floor and not capping the ceiling. It's about bringing everyone up, you know, and also bringing in roles, you know, more safeguarding roles and performance well-being roles as well. So it's a collective effort.

To be honest, when the football stuff develops like that, it actually helps me from a commercial perspective to demonstrate what we're doing. And it puts us in a stronger position with partners. I was going to say that that is really vital because you can drive as many people as you like to watch on YouTube. But if the product isn't good enough because there isn't the investment and the support, then, you know, you're going to turn people away straight away regardless of the commercial interest that you've got. But going back to YouTube, because it's such a great deal. And we know how, you know, younger viewers in particular are now consuming media. But how important is it to increasing revenue and how does it kind of work out

when it's still quite a small media market? Where do you kind of see the trend going? Obviously you see it going upwards. That's a really stupid question. But you know what I mean? Like how quickly is what I mean? I mean, I think in general, and this isn't just BWSL too.

I think in general, when you look at both of our leagues, scheduling is our biggest challenge. That is one of the benefits of YouTube. It gives us a bit more flexibility when it comes to B-WSL2, and it's been a great thing for us to look at how we do that. We're also looking at, you know, multi-view options. I know that kind of, it's been like Marmite. Some people love it.

Some people don't love it. I think Sky do a great job with it because they actually commentate over the top. It's sort of looking at all of it in the whole, but it's also not just about the 90 minutes. I think we're still growing our audience. So we also look at our three-minute unique reach, which is sort of an industry way of measuring your audience, because we have a lot of people, like actually recently,

the Arsenal Liverpool game that was on in the WSL at the Emirates was on half an hour before Arsenal versus Villa in the Premier League, which was on TNT, and we had a 30% crossover of that men's audience watched our match before they then tuned over to watch the men. So it's little things like that, but we're still learning and still looking at that data. But being able to provide clips is also really important. So that's why we carved out the right for our players to be able to use clips. Because again, we know that our players are what drive into interest with the audience.

And we also know, to your point, Faye, the younger audience may not sit and watch 90 minutes, but they may sit and watch just the highlights or clips of goals. And that's kind of where we also need to make sure we're serving them as well as, you know, a fan that is going to sit down and watch 90. I'm going to now change. So gone is the championship. Gone is WSL. I'm now going to go BWSL 2 because I've noticed you've said that.

Oh, Faye, what an early Christmas present. Listen, I always say Barclays, but I'm loving the shortening of BWSL2. It's going to start to roll off my tongue, I promise. But when you're looking at the next 12 to 18 months, what are you focusing on mainly? Always driving revenue because we need to keep growing the game and looking how we do that, whether it's through revenue, whether it's through activations, whether it's for visibility. So in the second half the season, there will be a big focus on the scheduling side of things, listening to our fan groups, listening to our players,

and then also looking at the international growth. I think what's phenomenology, if you look at the last few years, so in the 21, 22 season, just before the 9th is won their first euros, our international or non-UK audience was 26%. It is now 76%. So we have seen a huge international growth. And I think often we're viewed as a domestic English property. But we actually have, we just got some research out,

probably oversharing, but we have more fans in the US than we do in the UK. So definitely looking at how we support our international growth will be something in the next 12 months, but a continued support of all of our clubs with driving attendance and looking at how we continue to develop players and coaches in this country as well. Amazing. We are also a global pod, by the way. It is amazing the number of people that we have listening that send in messages to us from all around the world. It really is a global product. WSL and WSL2. BWSL and BWSL2. Yay! Zara, I have a lovely Christmas. It was great to see you. And you very. See you soon. Take care. Bye. The third round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup took place at the weekend, by the way.

Relatively few surprises. 40 teams battling it out for the chance to progress in the competitions. Crystal Palace is narrow victory over Lewis. London Bee's extra time. win over Dartford and Swindon Town success over Lee Field Athletic in a five-gold thriller were among some of the highlights. The fourth round draw then took place on Monday night and it includes Aston Villa travelling to Arsenal, whole city facing Birmingham and a long trip for Manchester City as they take on high-flying FAA Women's National League side, AFC, Bormouth. All those 16 fixtures are going to be played from the 17th to the 18th of January 2026 on that weekend. And one other thing to let you know as well, Morocco.

Champions AS FAR have booked their place in the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup semi-finals. The two-time African Champions League winners beat Chinese outfit Wuhan Jiangda. I'm sorry if I've not pronounced that right. Thanks to an extra time goal from Sana Massoudi. They're going to face Arsenal in Brentford on the 28th of January for a spot in the final, which is then going to be played at the Emirates on the 1st of February. Wow, what a lovely pod. Tom, see if you can get some sleep. over Christmas, if possible. Thank you very much.

Have a lovely Christmas in New Year, guys. See you soon. Thank you very much, you too. Amy, I think you need to start coming up with some puns, please, next time. Yeah, I'll send you a nice punny Christmas message fair. How about that? A punny Christmas message, lovely. I love that.

See you soon. Thank you. Need to. Susie, have a lovely Christmas. Back at you. We've got a little break. I know we have. we're taking our own midwinter break.

The Guardian Football Weekly will cover any big women's football stories that come up over the next few weeks, although Susie's going to be hoping that there are none because she really actually wants to take her break. We will be back on the 13th of January. So don't go anywhere. We're only just having a little break. Keep having your say as well.

Please send us in your questions via X or email us at women's football weekly at the Guardian.com. Thank you for all your support this year as well. We really appreciate it and we love getting all of your messages so thank you so much and as ever

a reminder, sign up for our bi-weekly women's football newsletter to get all your women's football fix. All you need to do is search moving the goalposts sign up.

The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Silas Gray. Music composition was by Laura Iodale our executive producer is Danielle Stevens. This is The Guardian. Thank you.