NWSL Power Rankings: Week 4

Who is climbing? Who is falling?

Phuoc Nguyen (Fook Win)

Apr 25, 2023

Christine Sinclair scored her 60th career NWSL goal against Racing Louisville. Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer/ Thorns FC

Week 4 Power Rankings

Portland Thorns - They have 10 points from the first four regular season games, but still feels like it should of been the maximum. Portland did not play too well against Racing Louisville, but elite teams find a way to win.
OL Reign - First time in their team’s history where two players each got a brace. Bethany Balcer and Jess Fishlock helped OL Reign break out of their scoring funk (only 3 goals before last weekend). Both PNW squads have legit midfields and are the best teams in NWSL — it also isn’t that close at all.
San Diego Wave - They just beat an Angel City team where they were playing some really bad soccer. SD had an xG of 0.45 against ACFC following up an xG of 0.22 in the NWSL Challenge Cup opener. San Diego have been sloppy and been subpar in midfield. This is a bad formula and will eventually catch up to them.
Washington Spirit - The ‘questionable’ backline has only allowed 3 goals in their first 4 games.
Houston Dash - Their frontline of Sánchez, Ordóñez, and Salmon will need to score more for this team to be successful. The Dash have only scored 3 goals this year.
NJ/NY Gotham FC (+1) - Lynn Williams has scored in the first 4 of 5 games this year. She is going to be in the Golden Boot discussion. Williams has found a home with Gotham and accounted for the majority of their goals.
Racing Louisville (-1) - Sav Demelo has taken another leap and created good opportunities against Portland. Vlatko Andonovski was in attendance at Providence Park and saw how good she really is. Racing Louisville have made huge strides, but still have a ways to go.
Chicago Red Stars - They are the 2nd highest scoring team with 9 goals, but also the worst defensive team in the NWSL with 12 goals conceded.
Kansas City Current - Took over 60 minutes to find a goal against Orlando. They have not looked like themselves so far.
Angel City FC - They were the better side against San Diego, but could not capitalize on their chances. Alyssa Thompson is the real deal and continues to play herself into the USWNT World Cup roster.
North Carolina Courage - For a rebuilding team, they’re super competitive and have made teams earn results against them.
Orlando Pride - The young players who are getting time now will pay off huge for Seb Hines and the Pride for years to come.

*Key: Teams with (+ or -) moved up or down from last week’s rankings

Did You Know?

Sophia Smith already has 4 goals and 4 assists on the season. She has already matched the 4 assists she recorded in her first 2 seasons. The superstar continues to find new ways to influence the game.