What's going wrong for Liverpool Women this season? | OneFootball

It's a tough time to follow Liverpool: bottom of the WSL and hammered 9-1 by Chelsea in the League Cup on Sunday.

If it wasn't for the fact that the team that finishes bottom of the WSL this season does not automatically go down – instead playing against the third-placed team in the WSL 2 – then relegation would be a serious concern. 

As it is, the Reds could still go down should they finish bottom but them losing that play-off game really would be shocking.

The roots for Liverpool's malaise of course comes from the very top. The club's owners were more than happy to spend over four hundred million on its men's side this summer but were far less ambitious with its women's team. Indeed, the record-fee for selling Olivia Smith to Arsenal seems to remain mostly unused.

Smith's departure certainly has hurt as has Taylor Hinds also moving to Arsenal. Meanwhile, Niamh Fahey wasn't a regular for Liverpool last season but her retirement was a significant moment for such an influential player.

Of course, there was also the tragic deaths of former manager Matt Beard and kit man Jonathan Humble, the kind of incidents where it is impossible to say just how much of an impact their passing has had on the players.

Gareth Taylor was the permanent replacement for Matt Beard after his departure from the club in February with Amber Whiteley, now working as an assistant to Taylor, taking over in the interim previously.

But Taylor's arrival came in August 2025 and a managerless summer with the former Manchester City coach needing to get his new system running with just one month before the season's start. Other clubs meanwhile had all summer to prepare.

It's safe to say that Taylor's appointment has not paid off yet. If Liverpool stick with their man and offer him more new signings – like the rumoured signing of Alice Bergstrom from BK Häcken – then perhaps he can turn things around.

Bergstrom would be a start but more is needed especially with Marie Höbinger and Sophie Roman Haug unlikely to be back in action before next season.

But will the owners change their mind if Liverpool remain bottom of the league?

The Reds have played 15 games in all competitions this season, losing nine, drawing three, and winning three. Those three wins all came in the League Cup against second-tier opposition (Sunderland, Durham, and Sheffield United). Winning that group did mean they reached the quarter-finals but that also meant a 9-1 thrashing by the Blues last time out.

The drop off has been quite exceptional. Earlier in 2025, in the second half of last season, Liverpool won back-to-back games against Arsenal and Manchester United. 

Indeed, Taylor's side managed to draw with Chelsea in the league just as recently as November – an excellent result. But Sunday's humiliation at home should result in a big international inquest at the club and, hopefully, some real investment into the women's team.