Since promotion from the Barclay’s Women’s Championship in 2022, Liverpool have been on an upwards trajectory. At the end of the 2023/24 season, Matt Beard’s Reds finished comfortably in 4th place, three places higher than the previous season. Finishing higher than the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, the Reds have shown potential to compete at the top of the table and even push for Champions League qualification. However, will a lack of recruitment and a new environment work in their favour, or serve as a stumbling block?

The Reds have shown grit and determination over the past season. From defeating Chelsea on a cool dark night at Prenton Park to overcoming Arsenal 1-0 in front of a crowd of 54,000 at the Emirates, Liverpool will never shy away from an upset or two. Matt Beard’s side can smell European football, but will this be the season that they are permitted to taste it?

New Home

For the past six seasons, Liverpool Women have battled their home fixtures at Tranmere Rovers’ Prenton Park. Now, a significant investment into the women’s team means the club have expanded their horizons. The Reds will now play their home fixtures at St Helen’s Rugby Football Club- an 18,000 capacity stadium that hosts an excellent pitch and an improved match day experience for supporters.

With the rugby league season extending from February to September, Liverpool will have sole ownership of the stadium for over half the season. St Helen’s has now been adorned with Liverpool crests and flags alike to recreate the atmosphere that the club previously had at Prenton Park. With the side hosting their final pre season friendly against Everton open to the public, fans have already had their first glimpse of what matchdays will be like at Liverpool’s new home.

Summer Incomings

Liverpool’s recruitment this summer has been rather sparse with just the three incomings putting pen to paper in Merseyside. We must question first whether this quiet window needed a bit more vigour in recruitment, however, the signings that have been made all do show great potential to serve as assets to Matt Beard’s side.

Young Canadian winger, Olivia Smith, was Beard’s first addition to the side, signing from Sporting FC in Portugal. Regarded as one of Canada’s brightest young talents, Smith excelled in the group stages of the Women’s Gold Cup this February with two goals and two assists across three games. With incredible pace and footwork, the 20-year-old deals brilliantly with pressure, and further, when she isn’t assisting her teammates, she’s scoring long range screamers from 30 yards out.

Gemma Evans was Liverpool’s second signing of the summer, a defender able to play across the backline who struggled to break into the Manchester United defensive line last season. Able to break up the pitch and create chances, Evans will look to use her versatility to strengthen this Liverpool backline.

The last bit of business for Liverpool was the recruitment of Cornelia Kapocs from Linköping in the Damallsvenskan. The young Swedish winger has proved herself a consistent goalscorer, finding the back of the net 18 times in 25 matches across 2023. Kapocs is a player with fantastic awareness, always finding pockets of space to exploit and create chances from. Intelligent on the ball and a poacher in the box, Kapocs will hope to boost Liverpool’s goal tally which has struggled to match the top sides in previous seasons.

Three promising signings for Liverpool bode well for the season, but are they enough to try and push the side for Champions League football? There are still a few absences in the squad that haven’t quite been filled, notably in the defensive department.

Notable Outgoings

Liverpool saw a stream of outgoings this summer, consisting of Shanice van de Sanden, Miri Taylor, Holly McEvoy, Natasha Flint, Melissa Lawley and most notably, Emma Koivisto and childhood Reds fan, Missy Bo Kearns. This leaves Liverpool with a small squad, lacking in depth across the pitch.

Koivisto, a stalwart at right back will be a huge miss for Beard’s side and instead of recruiting to fill the gap, Liverpool have chosen to trust academy graduate Lucy Parry after awarding her with a new contract. With the addition of Gemma Evans and Hannah Silcock- who has returned from loan- Liverpool will hope to keep the defensive security they built up last season. However, an injury keeping 2023/24 Liverpool Player of the Year, Grace Fisk, out for a few more weeks, could damage early hopes.

Predicted lineup for opening weekend fixture

Looking at Matt Beard’s starting choices against Everton, it seems likely that new signings Kapocs and Evans will make their competitive debuts against Leicester at St Helen’s. We can expect Mia Enderby and Sofie Lungaard to be attacking reinforcements off the bench, both having performed well against Everton.

Starting XI: Laws, Hinds, Evans, Bonner, Clark, Parry, Nagano, Holland, Höbinger, Kapocs, Roman Haug (5-3-2).

Substitutes: Micah, Fahey, Matthews, Kiernan, Enderby, Lundgaard, Daniels, Silcock.