With the festive season break underway, we scan through the Premier League to highlight the promotion and relegation battles, plus some statistical highs and lows at the ‘midway point’.
The Northern Division championship is set to be quite some tussle, with five teams looking to catch current leaders Nottingham Forest. Preston North End, Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers are all within three points, Derby are further behind, so too Sporting Club Albion, but the Baggies have enough games in hand to ascend to the summit. Nuneaton Town and Guiseley AFC Vixens occupy the relegation zone, with Loughborough Foxes a point above it.
Although Brighton & Hove Albion have opened up a nine-point lead in the Southern Division, both Charlton Athletic and Cardiff City LFC have games in hand with which to catch them, while Portsmouth and Coventry United have a little more work to do. Plymouth Argyle are six points from safety and Forest Green Rovers are the other team in the drop zone but only three points behind Queens Park Rangers from a game less.
Leicester City Women celebrate a Rebecca Kemp goal.
Leicester City Women could take some stopping in Midlands Division 1, having won all their dozen games and created a fourteen-point advantage. Radcliffe Olympic and Wolverhampton Wanderers can cut the gap but will have to go some to worry the leaders. Peterborough Northern Star and Sporting Khalsa are the bottom two, with the former only a point or two short of Steel City Wanderers, Leafield Athletic and Rotherham United.
Northern Division 1 is looking a three-horse race with top spot regularly changing hands between Christmas leaders Middlesbrough, Liverpool Marshalls Feds and Hull City. Tranmere Rovers and Chester-le-Street Town are at the wrong end of the table but from around only a third of their fixtures, leaving Stockport County and Norton & Stockton Ancients looking nervously over their shoulders.
Crystal Palace have dropped just two points from eleven South East Division 1 games but Luton Town and MK Dons remain close by, while Gillingham have three games in hand on the Eagles with which to threaten their position. Bedford are in dire straits at the bottom, not adrift in terms of points but having just seven games left and shipping five goals a game. Lowestoft Town are a point better off and Ipswich Town ahead of them by a couple of points from two games fewer.
Crystal Palace squad.
Five teams are hopeful of securing the South West Division 1 crown, with Larkhall Athletic leading from Exeter City but Chichester City, Swindon Town and Keynsham Town all have at least a couple of games in hand. St Nicholas and Shanklin are the last two sides but safe due to the unfortunate earlier withdrawals of Gloucester City and Swindon Spitfires.
Looking across all the six first-team divisions for the highest and lowest figures;
Leicester City Women are the top scorers with 53, Tranmere Rovers the lowest on only 7 goals, even though they have scored in all but one match. Bedford have twice gone 3 games without scoring, Denham United and Lowestoft Town have had three-game goalless spells but that included two ties for the Middlesex outfit and one for the Suffolk side.
Chichester City’s defence is the meanest with just 7 goals conceded, while Coventry United managed 3 consecutive clean sheets. Bedford have far and away the leakiest with 75 let in. Leicester City Women’s goal-difference of +41 is the best, Bedford the worst at -66.
Brighton & Hove Albion have the best points tally of 41, Nuneaton Town and St Nicholas the joint lowest of 3 points each.
While Leicester City Women have won every game, Bradford City have scored in all their matches. Leicester City Women are therefore obviously amongst those to be unbeaten on the road, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers. But Bedford, Chester-le-Street Town, Norton & Stockton Ancients, Plymouth Argyle and Tranmere Rovers still await their first home win.
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