WSL2 ones to watch 2025/26

WSL2 ones to watch 2025/26

We're only a short time away from the start of the new WSL2 season for 2025/26. So I wanted to present 2 players per team that will be worth keeping an eye on for next season. They're not necessarily the best players for each of their teams, they're just the players who I, and the people that I've asked, think could have big seasons ahead of them.

Birmingham City FC

Lucy Thomas

Lucy Thomas was one of the best keepers in the division last season and ended with the 2nd most clean sheets (6), despite missing the last 7 games due to injury. A willing sweeper keeper who was not afraid of leaving her penalty area. Thomas also boasted an 82% save rate on decent volume of 3 saves per 90. She played the most accurate passes per 90 among goalkeepers (28) on good efficiency (88%). The overall quality around the league looks like it's continuing to improve, so Thomas will still have a massive role to play in Birmingham's push for promotion.

Honourable mention: Lily Crosthwaite 

Birmingham really spread out the goals last season with Simone Magill being their top scorer on 5 league goals, despite finishing a narrow 2nd behind promoted London City Lionesses. Crosthwaite was primarily a right-sided winger for Durham last season, and with Birmingham's wing depth this season, I could see her potentially getting some minutes on the left as well, which could help round out her skillset on the ball. She is rapid in behind, a big off ball threat and a fairly creative passer. Her dribbling numbers are impressive on the surface at 4.7 per 90, although she doesn't look the most confident facing up an opponent, so this could be something she looks to add to her game this season.

Bristol City FC

Lexi Lloyd-Smith

Lexi Lloyd-Smith was Bristol's top scorer last season at just 22 years old, and will likely be their likely focal point again this coming season - especially since Ffion Morgan left in the summer. She's smooth on the ball and she can play as a 9, 10 or out wide for Bristol. Lloyd-Smith can get a goal from out of pretty much anything: she can get on the end of crosses, face up her defender and curl into far post, or clean up rebounds by coming in from the top of the box.

Honourable mention: Maria Farrugia

New signing Farrugia arrives after two straight relegations with Lewes and Sheffield United (before Blackburn opted to self relegate meaning Sheffield were allowed back into the 2nd tier). Farrugia can play as a 9, a 10 and on the left, although I think she's best utilised as a 10. When she's able to play centrally, she's not asked to take on her player in isolation quite so much which is something she needs to improve on. Regardless, Farrugia is arguably one of the cleanest ball strikers on either foot in the league. Her goal catalogue from last season was fantastic, and she even won goal of the season (if timestamp doesn't work go to 3:10) for her thunderbolt vs Bristol. 

Charlton Athletic

Jodie Hutton

Jodie Hutton is usually the player that receives long passes on the left wing where she can cut inside or run down the line to curl in excellent crosses into the box. Hutton was Charlton's chief creator with 3 assists last season and she also was their dead-ball specialist. Last season she scored a frankly ridiculous 7 goals as a left wing-back. Her goal scoring frequency was helped by the fact that she was a keen box crasher, but she's also capable of scoring from outside the box.

Honourable mention: Kiera Skeels

The Addicks' club captain at just 23 years-old will be aiming to keep Charlton's defence as solid as it was for parts of last season, as they finished with the 3rd least goals conceded with 21. The former England u-23 international is an adept carrier on the ball, good in the air and can spray top quality long balls out to the channels from deep. There have even been times in recent seasons when Skeels has been tasked with playing in midfield to accommodate for injuries and she did a fairly solid job in those games. She's physically very strong and is a vocal presence in Charlton's defence.

Crystal Palace FC 

Annabel Blanchard

I certainly found it surprising that Blanchard was let go at the end of the 24/25 season before she re-signed with Crystal Palace in early August. The attacking midfielder ripped up the WSL2 back in 23/24, scoring 11 times and setting up 7 goals, to help Palace get promoted. Although she didn't look overly secure on the ball in the WSL, she's able to pass and shoot on either foot to a high enough level that she can cause defences plenty of problems. Blanchard has a really good eye for finding space in the final 3rd and her 4 goal tally from last season feels low given some of the chances she had. That said, there's a lot more to come from her as a number 10 for Palace.

Honourable mention: Ashleigh Weerden

Earlier in her career she was often played as a lb, but last season for Palace she got the chance to play as a winger on both flanks, as a second striker next to Katie Stengel, and even as a lone forward, so she's certainly versatile. Weerden is quick off the mark and actually really good at arriving in the box for crosses/cut-backs. If she's allowed some positional consistency next season, she could really give opposing fullbacks problems this coming season.

Durham FC

Mollie Lambert

Lambert is something of a workhorse number 10 who is very hardworking on and off the ball. She can also play off the left flank which allows her excellent ball carrying and movement in behind to cause havoc when she faces up, or looks to run in behind defences. She also perfectly suits Durham's fast counter-attacking/transitional style (they averaged 47% possession in a 4th placed finish). She finished with 7 goals and 3 assists and was a real threat on second chance rebound shots in the box.

Honourable mention: Michaela Foster

I'll admit there might be a bit of aesthetics bias in my pick here(due to there not being many left-footed midfielders in the league), but that's not to discount what Foster brings to this Durham team. Primarily a number 8/6 that played in a double pivot last season, Foster has a good passing range, can fill in at left-back and has good set-piece delivery. On that theme of dead ball delivery, she even scored an olimpico (directly from a corner)against Sheffield United last season.

Ipswich Town FC

Rianna Dean

Despite a season-ending injury early in the season, Dean was still Southampton's top scorer in the league last season. The striker has plenty of experience at this level and had a spell in the top tier with Spurs. Like a few other players I've mentioned/am going to mention, if she can stay fit, I can see Dean having a decent season based on her scoring nearly a goal for every start in the past 2 seasons (10 goals in 10 starts and 18 total appearances across 23/24 and 24/25). She is quick and is a right-footed forward,  but she can pretty cleanly finish on her left as well. Her long range goal away vs Sunderland (if timestamp doesn't work go to 2:55) is also well worth checking out.

Newcastle United FC

For Newcastle I asked the owner of Howay the lasses on Bluesky, Amy Devlin, which players she believes will play big parts in their push for promotion.

Elysia Boddy

"1 is obvious and it is Elysia Boddy. She had her debut WSL2 season cut short with a knee injury just as she was about to make her first England U23 start but is back this year and has had a full pre-season with us. She is a physical specimen, tremendous athlete - just check out any of her training photos - who dictates play in the middle of the park. Strong, difficult to get off the ball, very tidy passer and with an eye for a golazo. A future star in my opinion."

Honourable mention: Beth Lumsden

"2 is more difficult as we have a lot of players around the same sort of level but if forced to pick I'll go for Beth Lumsden. Good season last year but went under the radar given the performances of Shania Hayles, she has the potential to get even better. Two footed forward with great technique and composure who knows where the goal is and isn't afraid to have a pop. She could surprise this year for sure."

Nottingham Forest FC

Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah

The Ghanian forward actually scored the most important goal in London City Lionesses history when she scored the 2nd goal vs Birmingham in the last game of the 24/25 season. Capable of playing up front, she's also very willing to drop deep to help in progressing the ball. Boye-Hlorkah's work rate off the ball is a big asset to any team as she put up 6.2 ball recoveries a game last season. Her pinpoint assist for Issy Goodwin (if timestamp doesn't work go to 1:36) vs Southampton last season also showed off her creative vision.

Portsmouth FC

Meg Hornby

Meg Hornby was a big part of Portsmouth turning around their form in the 2nd half of last season as 5 out of her 6 goal contributions (2 goals and 4 assists) came after the new year. Portsmouth's recruitment has looked impressive from an attacking standpoint this summer, but Hornby will still be an important part of their attack, as she will look to use her killer left foot and ability to cut inside or go down the line to secure Portsmouth's position in the WSL2 for another season. 

Honourable mention: Jemima Dahou

If there's one player that I've got really high hopes for this season, it's Jemima Dahou. A former Man City academy graduate who spent the last 2 seasons with Blackburn (the first on a dual registration and the second as a permanent first team player). The 19 year-old English creative midfielder is an incredibly smooth ball carrier, incredibly press-resistant - being able to turn in a phone box - and has top quality vision. My hope for this season is that most of Portsmouth's play in midfield will go through Dahou, as she can be a real creative game changer when she's got time to play a killer pass.

Sheffield United FC 

For this section I asked Ben Meakin of BladesPod and the Women Of Steel newsletter for who he thinks can help Sheffield this season.

Amy Andrews

"United’s first signing of the summer is the one I’m most excited to see: striker Amy Andrews. I’d been casting my eye over other clubs’ released lists while I waited for United’s own, and of all the free agents Andrews was the one that I most wanted us to go for following her release by Newcastle. She’s been an excellent second-tier forward for the last few years, and ranked second out of all forwards last season (minimum 10 appearances) for chances created per game. United scored a pathetic 12 goals total last season; I’m hoping her arrival will see that number jump up significantly."

Honourable mention: Joy Ralph

"The other player I’m excited to see is Andrews’ probable strike partner, Irish U19 striker Joy Ralph. Ralph is, by my reckoning, the first player United have ever spent money on, arriving for an undisclosed fee from Shamrock Rovers this summer. She was immediately handed the number 9 shirt in what looks to be a pretty big indicator of the role she’ll have in the team. I got to see her first-hand in an U21 game last week and her movement and touch look well ahead of anything we had last season. Potentially, a very exciting player for the season ahead and beyond."

Southampton FC

Fran Stenson

There are flashier names at Southampton, but I think Fran Stenson will be really called upon again this season. Stenson is 24 now and has 2 full seasons as a starter at this level. She's not the most proactive keeper off her line, but her rangy arms and tall frame play a big part in her shot stopping quality, which is something that could be key for Southampton improving this season. Her 6.2 accurate long balls (62% of which were accurate) is also pretty impressive for a goalkeeper.

Honourable mention: Ellie Brazil

If there's one thing that Southampton lacked last season, it was a consistent goalscorer. Yes, they were absolutely ravaged by injuries, but in Ellie Brazil (unfortunately she's also had a rough injury history) they have a number 9 that's athletic, tall and loves to run onto passes in behind. Like many others I've mentioned, she can do a decent job across the front line and was part of an attacking pair at times with Charlton last season, so I wouldn't be surprised if she lines up next to Emma Harries as a front 2 at times.

Sunderland AFC

Eleanor Dale

A former Everton academy player, Eleanor Dale finished her first full season as a Sunderland player with 8 goals and 2 assists in the league. Not to mention her 4 goal haul against Exeter City in the FA Cup. She shows great composure in the box and can out-muscle her defenders to create space for herself. Dale moves really well for someone who is very tall and she doesn't play an especially gangly style. Her 17% shot conversion rate last season was pretty good, but this can still improve and her goal frequency of 1 goal every 160 minutes put her 3rd for number 9's, behind only top scorers Shania Hayles and Isobel Goodwin.

Honourable mention: Katie Kitching

A 5 goal and 5 assists season saw the New Zealand international put up a productive season for the Black Cats. Her deadly set-piece delivery to set up teammates, and even to go for goal herself, made up for her low touch volume in a possession shy Sunderland team that only averaged 42% possession in 2024/25. Her open play crosses also created chaos in the box, and she was arguably unlucky not to notch more assists last season as her 1.7 key passes was enough to put her 4th in the league in that metric, behind Kosovare Asllani in first with 3.4. She can score from outside the box and can finish on either foot in the box. Her off-ball movement is smart enough to get her in behind defences to make the most of Sunderland's fairly direct play.

Ella Toone WEuro 2025 analysis

Ella Toone Euro 2025 analysis

Introduction 

WEuro 2025 was a bit of a strange tournament for Ella Toone. Toone became a hero for England in the final of Euro 2022 by putting The Lionesses 1-0 up against Germany. A trademark run in behind allowed her to chip the ball into an empty net after getting onto the end of an excellent ball over the top from Keira Walsh put her 1v1, against an on-rushing Merle Frohms.

Walsh sends the ball in behind the German defence.

Toone chips over Frohms.

She then wheels away celebrating.

On top of that, a year later she would continue to step up in another crucial moment as she put England 1-0 up (again) against tournament hosts Australia in the semi final. Appearing unmarked on the left side of the box, Toone managed to curve the ball into the far right corner with outrageous technique. 

Russo holds the ball up in the box.

The ball is played towards Toone in space.

Toone hits the ball towards the top right corner.

The ball hits the top corner and England are 1-0 up.

Circling back to this past tournament, and Toone didn't get her name in the spotlight nearly as much compared to Chloe Kelly, Hannah Hampton and Michelle Agyemang. I still wanted to look into how Toone still made an impact on the tournament and her profile more generally.

All stats are from Sofascore and Fotmob. Apologies for the quality of the images too.

Goal contributions

On the surface 2 goals and 2 assists from 1.94 expected goals and 1.24 expected assists across 6 games seems pretty impressive, although they all came vs Netherlands and Wales (she got 1 goal against the Dutch and 1 goal & 2 assists vs Wales). Her goal against the Dutch was well taken, as she found herself in open space at the top of the box, to receive a pass from Alessia Russo. She was able to run into the space and finish smartly, low to the keepers left side.

Toone arriving late on the outside of the box.

She then finds herself in acres of space as the defence has collapsed near the 6 yard box.

Toone attacks the space and finishes low on her left foot.

Against Wales, Toone's first contribution was to score to make it 2-0. Russo gets to the cross before Olivia Clarke could claim the ball. Russo managed to round the Welsh keeper and then find Toone in space in the box. After her first shot rebounded back to her, Toone was able to fire into the net from close range. 

Toone is on the top of the D waiting to run into the box.

Russo has rounded the keeper and Toone is on the penalty spot in position for a cut-back.

After her first shot rebounded back to her, she smashes the second attempt high into the net.

Her first assist saw her overlap Lauren James on the right flank to attack the space near the byline, in order to deliver a pinpoint cross for Lauren Hemp to head in from close range.

Toone looks to overlap the stationary James who is baiting Wales to press her.

Toone gets on the end of James' pass down the line and looks to cross to the back post.

Hemp finishes off the cross with a header at the back post.

The final assist involved her linking up with James again on the right flank with a 1-2 to get into the box, and lay the ball across for Russo to tap in from 6 yards out.

Toone and James linking up once again on the right flank.

Toone runs in behind the defensive line again anticipating a ball in behind from James.

She cuts the ball across the 6 yard line back to Russo in space.

Russo has an empty net to slot the ball into.

On-ball attacking threat

Toone managed 10 shots across the whole tournament, with 8 out of the 10 shots coming in from inside the opposition's box.

Given that her role within the team was to be a second striker that would crash the box, overlap/run beyond Russo and make the most of England's strategy to create most of their chances from crosses(England were able play 8 successful crosses from 27 per game). The above graphic represents where you'd want Toone to be shooting from (even though she missed 2 big chances and had some of her shots blocked).

While Toone nominally lined up as the number 10 behind Russo she mostly looked to attack the inside right half-space channel (see graphic below), although she was given license to float along to the left wing to create overloads at points. 

Rough representation of the right half-space channel.

Ella Toone's WEuro 2025 heatmap.

Although Georgia Stanway usually plays slightly higher than Keira Walsh in the midfield pivot, in this tournament she was given more license to occupy more advanced on the left side of midfield to mirror Toone's coverage on the right side. 

Georgia Stanway's heatmap for WEuro 2025.

Toone's crossing was surprisingly threatening which, before the tournament, wasn't something I expected her to do much of, as it's not really something you associate with her profile for Manchester United. As mentioned earlier, one of her 2 assists actually from a pinpoint cross to Lauren Hemp against Wales. Even when her crosses didn't find a specific target, they did create chaos for opposition goalkeepers.

Toone recovers the ball on the left flank and looks to cross into the box.

The ball flies dangerously towards the 6 yard box.

Italy clear the ball after it deflects off of goalkeeper, Laura Giuliani. 

I'd still argue that she was unusually passive this Euro's. The best example that I noticed was when she got onto an excellent through ball from Hemp in the latter stages of the quarter-final against Sweden. In a 1v1 situation with Swedish keeper, Jennifer Falk, she chose to square the ball to Stanway who couldn't get to the ball before Nathalie Björn, resulting in a turnover when England were in desperate need of a goal. 

Toone points where she wants the ball in behind the Swedish backline.

She gets on the ball in an advantageous position.

Oddly, she tries to square the ball for Stanway who is blocked off by the Swedish defence.

She did struggle in tighter spaces when she was on the ball and did get dispossessed 5 times and only won 44% of her duels. 

Toone getting barged off the ball by Guijarro (p1).*p=part.

Toone getting barged off the ball by Guijarro (p2).

Toone getting barged off the ball by Guijarro (p3).

However she did have one flashy moment which saw some neat close control allowed her to resist the pressure that Patri Guijarro was putting on her near the right flank.

Toone on the ball with Michelle Agyemang ahead of her, and Guijarro closing her down.

Toone chops the ball to her left to allow Guijarro to fly by her.

She's then able to turn out of pressure.

Ans then lays the ball of for Bronze who has space to receive the ball.

Off-ball attacking threat

It wasn't just in the box where she seemed passive either. One of Toone's biggest weapons is her attacking positioning and understanding of spatial-manipulation off the ball, so seeing her not attack the space behind the midfield line more than she did was a bit odd. This example against Italy stood out.

Toone is alongside Hemp looking to break towards Italy's box.

She peels off into the centre.

Hemp eventually squares the ball to her.

Instead of attacking towards the right side or towards goal, she opts to bring the ball back towards the left flank.

You could argue that because she played as a shadow striker (a number 10 who will look to act as a secondary striker as well as playmake) that her modest 45 touches per 90 isn't too bad, given that England averaged 56% possession (apart from against Spain where they only had 35%). This is where Toone's game usually shines, and while she still was able to find plenty of good attacking positions, she was often overlooked by her teammates (which was understandable in some moments of the game state where they wanted to hold the ball for longer after being on the backfoot). She was still keen to point out when she was in space either in build-up or on the break.

When England were looking to build through the thirds, she'd constantly either drop in or move into open space to provide a passing angle for either a defender, or Keira Walsh to break the lines.

Toone gestures that she wants the ball from Walsh.

She's able to receive with her body facing towards Bronze.

Toone gets the ball back from James and is able to run into the space near the centre circle.

She then plays it out wide for Greenwood as England have moved play from right to left.

Defensive contributions on-ball

Across the tournament she made 3 tackles, 3 interceptions and recovered the ball 21 times - 8 of which were recovered in the final 3rd. Her role as an attacking-minded midfielder wasn't really to put up high defensive numbers off the ball, but any disruption that she was able to cause allowed England to stay higher up the pitch.

Off a loose pass Toone is able to close the space here.

She comes away with the ball and Walsh is able to face towards goal.

Again, Toone is able to cut off Guijarro's drive.

Toone completes her tackle.

 

Defensive contributions off-ball

England's pressing structures meant that Toone either pushed up to form a front 2 , stayed as a 10 behind Russo with James and Hemp holding the width (that sometimes looked like a lopsided 3 bank of 3 in midfield as James dropped back) or in a bank of 4 with Walsh behind and Russo in front.

Toone in a staggered front 2.

England's bank of 3 behind Russo.

England's lopsided lines of 3.

Toone in the bank of 4 with Russo above and Walsh below.

England's general idea was to try to discourage teams from playing through the centre of the pitch too easily, but where Toone excelled was when she was tasked with giving the opposition's midfield pivot minimal space to turn into when their team was in build-up.

Toone sticking closely to Manuela Giugliano in Italy's build-up (a).

Toone sticking closely to Manuela Giugliano in Italy's build-up (b).

As most would've anticipated against Spain, England didn't hold the majority of possession throughout the game. That said, the whole team showed their excellent levels of stamina as they were eventually able to make things more difficult for Spain as they game went on. Toone was able to put a good amount of pressure on Patri and Aleixandri when Spain were on her side.

Toone presses Patri Guijarro high up after Coll tries to work the ball out to Spain's number 12.

After Guijarro laid the ball off to Paredes, Toone looks to shut off the pass back to Guijarro in the centre and give Paredes less time on the ball.

Summary

So Toone wasn't completely unplayable (in a good or bad way) this tournament, but she did put in a shift as a starter - other than when she came off the bench against France but she still added pressing intensity to attempt to get England back into the game. Her knockout stage heroics weren't needed this year, yet she did solidify that she's a nailed on starter in the number 10 role for England.