NWSL Power Rankings: Week 8
Who are this week's risers and fallers?
Week 8
NJ/NY Gotham FC (+3) - Gotham absolutely dominated OL Reign on the road and put in their best performance of the year. After a tough home draw against Orlando, they rebounded with their best win of the year.
Portland Thorns - Got a much needed stress-free win at home against a struggling Chicago side. Friday’s game at San Diego Wave will be huge.
OL Reign (-2) - They’ve lost two in a row. An ugly 1-4 loss at home to Gotham leaves them with a ton of questions.
Washington Spirit (-1) - VAR gifted them a penalty at ACFC the week before and then followed it up losing their first game of the season to Orlando. This team has trouble putting their opposition away and this will be an ongoing theme all year.
San Diego Wave - Two consecutive wins against Kansas City and Houston is a good start, but the real challenge is at home against Portland on Friday.
Racing Louisville (+2) - Winning against Chicago and Kansas City (twice) in a week is expected, but can they do it against better competition? They’ve got a big game against North Carolina this week.
North Carolina Courage (+2) - NCC is unbeaten in their last five and currently 6th in the playoff picture. Can they keep this up?
Orlando Pride (+2) - They’ve won 3 out of their last 4 and have not lost since April 23. They are only one point out of a playoff spot.
Angel City FC (-3) - The scoreless drought is now at over 220 minutes.
Houston Dash (-4) - Houston is so inconsistent and goals have been extremely hard to come by. Changes need to be made offensively.
Kansas City Current - Who are they? What is their identity? Where is the defense?
Chicago Red Stars - Why are they still in a three back system? They’ve conceded 22 goals this year.
*Key: Teams with (+ or -) moved up or down from last week’s rankings
Tier 1: Gotham, Portland, OL, Washington
Tier 2: San Diego
Tier 3: Racing Louisville, North Carolina, Orlando, Angel City
Tier 4: Houston, Kansas City, Chicago Red Stars
Welp! Honestly think we should just get big $$$ for her and work on bulking up our defense. What's the point of having her out on loan for 2+ years? Just let her go!
https://twitter.com/womenstransfer/status/1661120160676151304
Tier One (Excellent): Blank
Tier Two (Probably Good but also fraud watch): Gotham, Washington, Thorns, Wave, Reign
Tier Three (Might Be Good): North Carolina, Racing, Angel City, Orlando
Tier Four (We Suck): Houston, Kansas City, Chicago