Candidates for WSL Football Team of the Season (so far)

With just four matchweeks remaining in the 25/26 WSL season, let’s take a look at some candidates for the WSL Football Team of the Season.

Basic statistics like minutes played and goals scored can tell a simple story of player performance, but delving deeper into underlying metrics, such as xG and defensive contributions, shows which players are outperforming expectations and contributing to their team’s success in a highly impactful way.

The players we’re discussing below are included because of their elite performance, both in terms of statistical output and contextual factors. As well as the quality of their play, we’re also looking at the number of minutes they’ve played throughout the season, given consistency is key after all. With a few games still to go, these are the individuals who have made the strongest case for a spot in the WSL Team of the Season so far.

Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw (Manchester City)

Bunny Shaw is no stranger to the Team of the Season conversation. Last season’s 12-goal tally was comfortably her worst scoring season since joining the WSL in the summer of 2022, but still enough to secure her second Golden Boot. She’s on course for a third with her hat trick on Saturday putting her 8 goals clear of anyone else.

These metrics are great for measuring a player’s threat in front of goal. You can see that the Jamaican is not just the best in the league for all of these metrics, but the best by some distance. Posting numbers this high demonstrates her ability to consistently perform at an elite level. They also illustrate how Andrée Jeglertz is utilising Shaw as a target in City’s system. Across the WSL, there are many strong, aerially dominant defenders; however, Shaw still posts an impressive 63% win rate in the air and has won more aerial duels than any other player.

Jess Park (Manchester United)

When the two Manchester clubs made a trade deal in the summer involving Jess Park and Grace Clinton, most people thought Man City were getting the better end of the deal based on Grace Clinton’s quality. Fast forward a few months, and Jess Park has proved to be the more valuable asset this season.

With 6 goals and 5 assists in 18 appearances, Park’s goal contributions have been worth an additional 7 points to Manchester United this WSL season. As it stands, that’s the difference between being 2nd and playing Champions League football next season or being 4th and failing to qualify.

Home-field advantage is true in the WSL, with 56% of points so far won by the home team. This season, Manchester United is the only team in the top five to have picked up more WSL points on the road than at home. Park has been a significant contributor to that record; 5 of her 6 goals and 3 of her 5 assists have come in away games.

Kirsty Hanson (Aston Villa)

Team of the Season tends to be dominated by players in teams near the top of the table, which makes sense. After all, the best teams usually have the best players and the most success. Yet every so often, a standout emerges from further down the table. This season, Kirsty Hanson is doing exactly that at Aston Villa.

42% of Villa’s 24 goals have been scored by the Scot, a truly remarkable proportion for one player to contribute. With four games to go, she is only two goals off matching last season’s top scorer in the WSL. It’s not just the number of goals but the impact too. Without Hanson’s important goals, such as the winner against Leicester on Sunday, Villa would not have 20pts and be pushing for a top-half finish.

Comparing the number of goals scored to xG accumulated is considered the best way of measuring how clinical a player is. Seven players have accumulated more xG than Hanson so far this season, but she has outscored six of them. In fact, Hanson has over-performed (Goals - xG) more than any other player in the WSL this season at +3.9.

Kirsty Hanson will surely be on the shortlist when it comes to choosing the Team of the Season. She ticks all the boxes: quality with how clinical she is, quantity with the number of goals she’s scored, and importance with her contribution in the context of Villa’s season.

Hannah Hampton (Chelsea)

Chelsea haven’t managed to dominate the WSL as they did in 24/25, but they’ve still got an excellent defensive record. That is in no small part due to the brilliance of Hannah Hampton.

Sometimes, clean sheets are not down to the goalkeeper, but more to the defence in front of them. However, Hampton not only has the most clean sheets (7) in the WSL this season, but can also boast the highest save percentage at 78.3%. She has faced 15.3 xGoT but only conceded 13 goals. This means she has 2.3 goals prevented, which is a 15% over-performance in comparison with an average goalkeeper.

Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal)

After joining Arsenal in the summer of 2024, Caldentey came into the WSL with a bang and won the WSL Player of the Season award in her debut season. This season, she has been utilised much more often in a defensive position, a double pivot alongside Kim Little. With 2 goals and 3 assists so far this season, she’s unlikely to match her tally of 14 goal involvements from 24/25, but her underlying numbers are elite and demonstrate her influence on Arsenal’s success.

Compared to other WSL players in her position, she ranks incredibly highly in many metrics that measure a player’s creativity and defensive impact.

Shoutouts

The players above are five who I believe have made the strongest cases for inclusion in the WSL Team of the Season so far. However, several other players should also be considered for the shortlist:

• Kerstin Casparij (Manchester City) - Contributing with creativity and defensive nous in a freer role this season.
• Vivianne Miedema (Manchester City) - Only Shaw has more goal involvements this season.
• Anna Sandberg (Manchester United) - Cemented herself as first-choice left back and is posting 1.8 chances created per 90.
• Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United) - Captain Fantastic controls United’s game both in and out of possession.
• Olivia Smith (Arsenal) - £1m and good value for it. Big goals in big moments have been worth 6 points to Arsenal so far.
• Ellie Carpenter (Chelsea) - Given Chelsea an extra threat down the right and high progression through passing and carrying.
• Olivia Holdt (Spurs) - 9 goal involvements and progressive ball carrier.
• Tōko Koga (Spurs) - Key part of Spurs’ resurgence with defensive contributions.
• Courtney Brosnan (Everton) - 76.9% of 65 shots saved and 3.3 goals prevented.

Conclusion

With just under two months until the final day, there’s still time for form and tactical adjustments to shift the conversation, but the players highlighted above have already built a compelling case with their output, underlying numbers and consistency. These players have influenced matches in different ways: goals, creativity, defensive work, and by raising the level of their team.

There’s still time for others to get into the conversation, but if the season ended today, these would be among the first names on the shortlist.