Liverpool Women Set Standard Despite Spurs Draw
Liverpool Women went into the new 2026-27 campaign with a clear, modest calculation. Look at the opening trio of fixtures—newly promoted Charlton, mid-table Tottenham, and reigning FAWSL champions Manchester City—and four points felt like a sensible target. Pragmatic. Realistic.
They might now feel they should already have that tally in the bag.
A ruthless 4-0 dismantling of Charlton on opening day nudged expectations upwards. It wasn’t just three points; it was a statement that last season’s struggles might be fading in the rear-view mirror. The performance had bite, fluency, and the kind of confidence that had been missing for too long.
Week two brought Tottenham to town and with it a different kind of test. The 1-1 draw keeps Liverpool on course for that early-season benchmark, but the mood around the camp suggests something more: frustration that it wasn’t six from six.
Manager Gareth Taylor made no attempt to hide how he saw it.
"I'm really proud of the performance," he said afterwards. "I felt we were the better team. We improved second half, but I still felt we were probably the team that were looking more likely in the first. I think where we've just come up short today is our final action."
That final action. The last pass, the decisive shot, the moment of composure. Liverpool controlled territory and tempo, especially after the break, but didn’t land the knockout blow.
"For the amount of play that we had, it felt in the second half that Tottenham really couldn't get out of their half but only for a couple of moments," Taylor continued. "I'm really proud of the team and where we've taken it to now. I thought the goal was quality and I thought we could have had a penalty."
The pattern was clear: Liverpool squeezing high, Spurs struggling to breathe. The London side adjusted their press, tried to disrupt the rhythm, tried to deny space, but the hosts kept asking questions. The ball just wouldn’t fall quite right in the box.
Even so, context matters. Even if Liverpool do emerge from this brutal opening stretch with only those four points they initially targeted, it still marks a significant step up from last season. This isn’t just about results; it’s about how they’re playing. Pre-season hinted at a sharper, more cohesive side. The first two league games have backed that up.
"There are a lot of elements of our game today that we're really satisfied with," Taylor said. "Tottenham are a good team. They're not going to give up the spaces easily and they wanted to be aggressive and change their press in the first half to try to stop us gaining so much ball."
The draw, then, becomes less a missed opportunity and more a benchmark. Liverpool dominated large stretches against a solid Tottenham outfit and walked away annoyed they didn’t win. That shift in expectation says plenty.
Next up is Manchester City, the defending champions, under the lights in a rare Friday kickoff. The margin for error will shrink, the punishment for wastefulness will grow. But if Liverpool can carry this level of control and conviction into that clash—and finally sharpen that “final action”—the early-season target of four points might soon feel far too conservative.
