WSL talking points: Man Utd off the boil again? Slegers right to get time?

Have Man Utd gone off the boil again?

Man Utd vs Liverpool – Sunday, kick-off 12pm, live on Sky Sports

Man Utd opened the season with three straight victories but have won only one of their five games since then.

Marc Skinner was fortunate to remain in post in the summer after finishing behind this weekend’s opponents, and is now in danger of finding himself under pressure once again after dropping points against Brighton, Arsenal, Aston Villa and now Chelsea this season.

The latter result, the only defeat, is no disgrace, especially limiting a side who had scored 25 times in their opening seven games to a 1-0 victory.

But losing having managed a solitary shot on goal until the 90th minute, and Skinner’s subsequent defence of his tactical decisions, left a sour taste.

“It’s not a defensive mentality,” he said. It certainly felt like one.

Elisabeth Terland’s absence was always going to be felt at Kingsmeadow, but Skinner raised more questions about his tactical choices given the late impact of substitute Melvine Malard, who hit the bar and caused Chelsea some defensive headaches in the half-hour she was on the pitch.

Facing a Liverpool side who have not kept a clean sheet all season may help. The Reds have manoeuvred themselves into the top half again despite winning only two of their eight games, and although sitting a place behind United, are already six points adrift.

A stinging defeat to city rivals and previously rock-bottom Everton last time out was particularly painful given the winning penalty was awarded for a foul committed outside the box, but with the bottom seven sides in the WSL now separated by only four points there is little time for Matt Beard’s side to feel sorry for themselves.

Slegers’ extension offers Arsenal stability

Arsenal vs Aston Villa – Sunday, kick-off 2pm

Renee Slegers has done a fine job steadying the Arsenal ship after the water taken on in the final months and weeks of the Jonas Eidevall reign.

Six wins from seven in Europe and the WSL have ensured their progression into the Champions League knockouts with two games to spare.

Though the domestic title is probably already out of reach, the four-point gap to second-placed Man City looks eminently more attainable than it did when she took over less than eight weeks ago.

She has deserved a further chance to make the case to succeed her former manager.

“A permanent manager is best for the club, obviously,” she admits – but given her record to date and facing three very winnable games from four before the winter break, there is method to the Gunners taking their time.

But have things started to click for Sunday’s opponents Aston Villa at just the right time?

They finally picked up a first win at the eighth time of asking against Crystal Palace in the last game before the international break, with Ebony Salmon’s 94th-minute strike the last and most significant of 22 shots at the visitors’ goal.

Villa have been wasteful all season but have the tools at their disposal to change that, especially when Rachel Daly, who fired in her 50th goal for the club in that win, is around.

Can Brighton end Bompastor’s perfect dozen?

Chelsea vs Brighton – Sunday, kick-off 2pm

Managing Chelsea is simple, right? You take over from one of the best managers in history, tweak a few bits here and there and sit back to watch the results. Sonia Bompastor is making it look that straightforward.

Her side have more mettle than merely using their quality to go through the motions. The leanest defence in the league, Man Utd, were meant to offer them a stern test before the international break but were dominated even without the Blues anywhere near their best.

Man City were dispatched in similar fashion a week before, managing only two shots on target.

Unlike Skinner and Gareth Taylor, Brighton boss Dario Vidosic arrives at Kingsmeadow this weekend without the expectation of returning to Sussex with anything.

Five wins from eight has put him firmly in credit in his first season on the south coast, and their entertaining style – scoring more goals than Man Utd and Tottenham, and only one fewer than Arsenal – has been a bonus.

Teams who take the game to Chelsea have found some joy, but accompanied with more significant pain this season. Just ask Spurs, who left south London on the wrong end of a 5-2 battering despite giving the Blues some worrying moments defensively.

Whether this one ends up more like their 1-1 draw with Man Utd or the 5-0 hammering at Arsenal which followed, anything is on the table. The only guarantee seems that it’ll be an entertaining 90 minutes.

Something has to give at the bottom…

West Ham vs Crystal Palace – Sunday, kick-off 2.30pm

Bottom play second bottom, separated by only six goals conceded, as West Ham host Crystal Palace on Sunday. Rehanne Skinner’s side finished second-bottom of the pack last season, and are finding life little easier this season.

However, there is optimism to be gained around the Chigwell Construction Stadium after finally getting up and running against Leicester in their last home league game, before a narrow 3-2 defeat at Brighton and then a 4-1 win at London City Lionesses in the Continental Cup before the international break.

Newly-promoted Palace looked to be building some momentum with five points from as many games after hammerings by Tottenham and Chelsea in their opening two, before a last-minute defeat at previously-winless Aston Villa in their last game soured the mood somewhat for Laura Kaminski’s side.

The form of Annabel Blanchard, who has scored three of their six goals to date and netted both in their solitary win, a 2-0 victory at Leicester, is a positive for the visitors, whose greatest concern will be to avoid the threat of becoming cut adrift this weekend as Bristol City did a year before them. Especially with a run of Arsenal, Tottenham, Brighton and two games with Manchester United to come in their next five matches.