Guardian writers’ predicted position: 9th (NB: this is not necessarily Tom Garry’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 7th
Prospects
Liverpool are entering a new era after choosing Gareth Taylor as their head coach in August, hoping he will bring success in the long term and help build an identity for how they want to play. The former Manchester City head coach’s appointment came 162 days after Liverpool’s former manager Matt Beard left, after an extensive recruitment process than the Guardian understands took much longer than usual because of a clause with Taylor’s previous contract, after Taylor had been identified earlier in the summer as the No 1 target. It was the first major coaching appointment overseen by the managing director, Andy O’Boyle, who arrived in April, replacing Russ Fraser.
After an unexpected fourth-placed finish in 2024, Liverpool ended last term seventh and they are hoping to improve on that and start building towards challenging for trophies again after making their fans wait for success for far too long; they have not achieved a top-three finish since winning back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014. Liverpool are one of only four clubs to have won the WSL but over the past decade there have been big question marks about the wider club’s ambition for the women’s team, who have been operating with a far smaller budget than the top sides.
This summer they sold Olivia Smith for a then world-record fee of £1m, breaking a historic barrier, but it remains to be seen how they intend to spend that money, making predictions difficult about their campaign until the transfer window closes on Thursday. They are yet to replace Smith with a statement signing.
The manager
Taylor, the former Wales, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United player, spent five years at City where he came mighty close to a league title, missing out on goal difference in the 2023-24 campaign. In another second-placed finish in 2020-21, his side lost one league game. He won an FA Cup and a League Cup, and Liverpool are understood to have admired his possession-based style. Can he replicate that successfully with a squad not blessed with the same world-class talent?
Off-field picture
Liverpool have announced a trio of league fixtures that will be staged at Anfield, including their season-opening local derby against Everton on 7 September, and the rest of their home matches will be played at their regular home in St Helens, which offers a good level of facilities for their fans compared with many others in the WSL. The players have a top-class training environment at Melwood but the fans will wantFenway Sports Group to invest more in the squad after years of comparatively frugal spending has left them miles behind clubs such as Arsenal and Chelsea.
Star signing
Could the answer change before the window shuts? So far, Liverpool’s best move has been to make the loan of the Scotland midfielder Sam Kerr a permanent transfer from Bayern Munich, and they have also signed the Rangers academy graduate Kirsty Maclean and picked up two astute free signings in the Wales defender Lily Woodham – who is likely to fill the gap on the left created by the exit of Hinds – and the German goalkeeper Rafaela Borggräfe. But none of those have made a sizeable dent into the £1m received for the sale of Smith.
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Stepping up
Mia Enderby, frequently impressive for England’s youth teams throughout the age groups, is one of Liverpool’s brightest young prospects and, at the age of 20, this could be the season when she goes from being a player with potential to being a star of the present. In July the former Sheffield United forward signed a new contract and Liverpool could certainly benefit from more goals: they were the third-lowest scorers in the WSL last season and they have not had a player reach a double-figure goals tally in the top division since Courtney Sweetman-Kirk hit 10 in 2018-19.
It was a good summer for …
Gemma Evans and Ceri Holland were part of the Wales squad that contested their first major women’s international tournament, but there are no senior England players in the Liverpool squad. It was a surprise that the forward Sophie Roman Haug was left out of the Norway squad for the Euros and she could have a point to prove this season. The vast majority of the Liverpool squad were able to have a summer break for rest, recovery and then a full pre-season, which could benefit them.
Main initiative to attract more fans
A big shift over the past six months has been an attempt to change the playing style and make the team’s tactics potentially attract more fans through the turnstiles; the largest element of that hinged on the recruitment of a new head coach, so a lot rests on the success of Taylor and his coaching staff. The club have chosen their home league fixture against Everton, Manchester City and Arsenal to be staged at Anfield.
