Liverpool Women Aim for Survival After Spurs Draw
Heading into the 2026-27 campaign, Liverpool Women could have looked at their opening stretch — newly promoted Charlton, mid-table Tottenham, and defending FAWSL champions Manchester City — and circled one word: survival. Four points from those three fixtures would have sounded sensible. Realistic. Maybe even ambitious.
They’re already on pace.
A ruthless 4-0 dismantling of Charlton on opening day didn’t just tick the first box. It ripped it up. The manner of that win nudged expectations higher, hinted at something sharper and more confident than last season’s grind.
Then came Tottenham. A 1-1 draw on Sunday keeps Liverpool roughly on that four-point track, but it doesn’t tell the full story of a game they felt should have been theirs.
“I’m really proud of the performance,” manager Gareth Taylor 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.”
The pattern was clear. Liverpool had the ball, had the territory, and for long stretches had Spurs pinned back. The London side threatened in moments, but only that — moments.
“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 noted. “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 pressure told, but not quite enough. Liverpool’s attacking moves flowed until the final touch, the final pass, the final decision. That last action, as Taylor underlined, is where the points slipped away.
Even so, context matters. Four points from the first three games — if they get there — would be a significant step forward from last season’s struggles. This start, combined with some eye-catching pre-season displays, suggests a side that has not only stabilised but sharpened.
“There are a lot of elements of our game today that we’re really satisfied with,” Taylor added. “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.”
Spurs adjusted. Liverpool adapted. And for much of that second half, the home side looked like a team trying to escape, not one dictating terms.
Now comes the real measuring stick. A rare Friday night kick-off against Manchester City, the reigning FAWSL champions, will show exactly how far this Liverpool side has travelled — and how much further they can go if that elusive final action finally clicks.
