Gareth Taylor was deliberately coy when asked ahead of the new Barclays Women’s Super League campaign what was possible for Liverpool.
After Sunday’s emphatic 4-0 win over Charlton Athletic, perhaps it’s now understandable why he refused to pinpoint one aim. Setting a limit on this team’s aspirations would be unwise.
The Reds, on the back of an excellent pre-season, were outstanding on the opening weekend of the 2026/27 BWSL campaign, blowing away newly promoted Charlton.
Liverpool were slick, controlled and operated with the authority of a side used to winning comfortably. Of course, for much of last season, that could not be further from the truth.
The Merseyside club managed just four BWSL wins all campaign, the first not coming until late January. That will have made Sunday’s rout even sweeter for Taylor.
His side were excellent from the off. It felt like a goal had been coming for some time, even when Grace Fisk tapped in the eight-minute opener.
Despite dominating possession and creating several openings, it took until the second period for Liverpool to grab a second. Again, it was Fisk who converted, this time with a superb side-foot effort from the edge of the box.
Prior to last weekend, the 28-year-old defender had managed just four career BWSL goals, but was close to walking away with the match ball when her header from a corner deflected just wide.
Instead, it was debutant Vivien Endemann who netted the third, a rich reward for an outstanding maiden display in red. Hopes are high on Merseyside that the 25-year-old German will prove to be an astute signing. On the evidence of Sunday, she could soon take the league by storm.
“She's been really good,” Taylor said post-match, when asked about Endemann’s performance. “I think she's really attacking in the sense that she takes the ball all the time, she tries things and she's got lots of pace. You hope you'll have that type of debut, but sometimes you don't.”
Charlton simply could not live with Endemann’s repeated forays down the right and dangerous dinked crosses. It was her pass that picked out Fisk for her brace, before Endemann rocketed one into the roof of the net herself in the 63rd minute. She was replaced soon after, and fans will be intrigued to see if the attacker can build on that impressive first bow when Tottenham Hotspur travel to St Helen’s next weekend.
Cornelia Kapocs then added a fourth in injury-time after Natalia Ramos was fouled in the box. Another debutant, Ramos made an impressive cameo off the bench and went close with an 80th-minute strike.
The win leaves Liverpool top of the table after one matchday. They ended the game with 76 percent of the possession, seven shots on target and an expected goals of 2.35. The demolition stands in stark contrast to last season’s opener: a 4-1 Merseyside derby loss at Anfield. But, clearly, this new version of Liverpool poses a different proposition.
“We want to be up there at the top part of the league, and we know that there's a challenge ahead of us,” remarked Taylor. “But we're confident in the work that we do.”
The arrival of six new players - four of whom made their debuts at The Valley - has bolstered the sense that this side is better equipped to execute Taylor’s possession-based, high-pressing tactics.
The former Manchester City coach had to adapt his approach last term with Liverpool’s BWSL status on the line, but on Sunday, there were signs his methods are becoming more deeply instilled.
Liverpool’s high possession numbers owed much to the composure of Fuka Nagano and Kirsty MacLean in the middle, with the latter registering a 93 percent pass completion rate. The sight of either midfielder dropping between centre-backs Fisk and Jenna Clark was commonplace, as they set Liverpool’s passing tempo and built attacks from deep. That encouraged both full-backs to advance and created one-on-one opportunities for the wingers ahead of them, allowing Endemann to thrive.
She was one of two summer arrivals who started, along with Kiera Keating, a player well known to Taylor from their City days. The goalkeeper had little to do in this one-sided affair and wasn’t called into action until the 80th minute.
But Keating did show glimpses of her calmness on the ball, spraying an early pass upfield to Endemann, and late on even touching the ball near the centre circle. She will be pivotal to Taylor implementing his expansive style, with the Welshman referencing the need to ‘play forward quicker’ this season and be ‘braver’ in their passing.
That was evident on Sunday, with MacLean threading several through balls in behind the Charlton midfield, one of which resulted in a chance for Ceri Holland in the early stages of the second half.
That Fisk produced the second-most passes into the final third underlines the prevalence of direct passes in Liverpool’s system. Fellow defenders Clark and Samantha Kerr also managed six each throughout the 90 minutes.
The one criticism of Liverpool on a superb opening weekend was that their quick midfield interchanges went awry in the latter stages of the first period, with Charlton closing the spaces and stymying their build-up.
The London side’s positive response to early setbacks in each half will be the biggest positive for coach Karen Hills, who will demand more from her side in the coming weeks.
Liverpool will expect a tougher task when Spurs travel north next week. Another convincing win on home turf will really fuel belief this can be a special season.
Taylor won’t draw too many conclusions after one victory, but it seems almost certain a refined Liverpool won’t be embroiled in a relegation scrap this time around.
“The exciting part is that it will only improve and get better. They've got some big returns already and had a great game and dominated, and that's been impressive,” Taylor admitted.
While the 53-year-old won’t set targets for the campaign, fans almost certainly will. What’s possible in 2026/27? A title tilt feels too ambitious, but based on Sunday’s showing, competing for a European spot cannot be ruled out.
“I wouldn't want to put a limit on what I feel we can do this season,” Taylor said in Friday’s pre-match press conference. Those words have taken on a different meaning in the wake of Sunday’s exceptional showing.
