Why are WSL teams doing adopting a front two, how does it work in practice, and will it spark a revolution in tactics across the league?
As modern football tactics have evolved, formations with a lone striker have become ubiquitous across both men’s and women’s football. The 4-2-3-1 and the 4-3-3, offering more midfield control and attacking width than the popular 4-4-2 that preceded them, have been an ever-present for some of the world’s most successful teams.
However, this season in the Women’s Super League (WSL), an intriguing trend is emerging. There are now three teams consistently setting up in a 3-4-1-2 – Leicester, London City Lionesses, and Aston Villa. It’s of course not unheard of for teams to set up with a front two – the great tactical chameleon Emma Hayes briefly flirted with it in her final season as Chelsea manager, for example — but looking back over the last few seasons, it stands out as the first time more than one team have consistently set up their attack in this way.
A numbers game
The main advantage of a front two is essentially numerical. Against a back four, two forwards keep both of the centre backs occupied – meaning they can’t double up on one striker, and it can also open up space for wingers or wingbacks and midfielders to run in to. Against a back three, you not only avoid having a lone striker swamped by defenders, but you can also exploit the space between the wide centre backs and the central one.
A front two can also be very effective out of possession. Having an additional forward to press the centre backs limits the opponents’ build-up play, cutting off passing lanes and often forcing errors or more risky passes.
In the opening seconds of their game against Chelsea at Kingsmeadow, we can see Leicester’s pressing structure. Chelsea go back to Millie Bright from kick off to build up, and the front two of Hlin Eiriksdottir and Hannah Cain, as well as Emily Van Egmond in the 10, set off to press. Van Egmond drops off to cover Keira Walsh, but Eiriksdottir and Cain can still put pressure on the centre backs.
The ball ends up with Nathalie Björn, who can’t go back to Bright as Cain is ready to press her, and her passing options in midfield are limited by other Leicester players, so she eventually lumps a hopeful ball forward which is swept up by the Leicester defence.
You’ll sometimes see teams adopt a front two in the press, even if they don’t set up like that in possession. In the 2025 Euros final, England had Alessia Russo as the lone striker, but they pressed as a front two, with Ella Toone pushing up alongside Russo to help limit Spain’s opportunities to progress the ball. This became even more aggressive as an approach once England had equalised and Michelle Agyemang was brought on from the bench and deployed alongside Russo.
The personnel
There is no right or wrong combination for a front two – you’ll often find different profiles of forward or striker are combined and effective in unique ways, which is another advantage of the setup – it can be varied and unpredictable. The key is the understanding and cohesion between the two forwards to ensure they can capitalise in attacking scenarios.
Aston Villa, who arguably kicked off this trend towards the end of last season, alternate between Ebony Salmon, a versatile forward who’s good at link-up play paired with Kirsty Hanson, a lightning fast winger, or Rachel Daly, footballing Swiss Army knife and your classic fox-in-the-box. Having these different combinations being able to link up together makes Villa particularly unpredictable in attack. As a more settled forward line who’ve played together for a few seasons now, the various combinations seem to link up well.
Salmon and Daly linked up with a good give-and-go to score the opener in their 3-2 win away at West Ham in May. Bonus: as three defenders are occupied by Daly and Salmon, Jordan Nobbs is also an option arriving with a late run into the box.
London City Lionesses play with Isobel Goodwin, who is a classic striker; tall, physical, loves to blaze past centrebacks; and Nikita Parris, who is quick, agile and exceptional at finding pockets of space and clever runs. Both can and have played as a lone number nine, but have qualities that complement each other, and already seem to have developed quite a good understanding of each others’ movement.
London City Lionesses’ second goal against Everton is a perfect example of the front two combining. The full back is occupied by Lindstrom, who slots a perfect through ball to Parris making an intelligent run in between the two centre backs. Both go with her, meaning Goodwin need only wander unmarked into the area. Parris dinks a cross in and Goodwin fires it home.
Leicester have yet to settle on consistent personnel in their front two – Hannah Cain has been a fixture so far but has been paired up with Hlín Eiriksdottir, Shannon O’Brien, and Jutta Rantala thus far. This is perhaps why the goals haven’t been flowing — they’ve only scored 3, and registered just 9 shots on target — with players having less time to form the connections and understanding needed in the front two.
Last year’s summer signing Noémie Mouchon, Leicester’s most complete striker, is working her way back to full fitness, and I personally think she could prove to be the perfect partner for a forward with the profile of Cain or Rantala.
What also matters in a front two, particularly in a 3-4-1-2, is what’s behind them. By having a number ten in a more free role, and with wingbacks pushing up, your midfield two can be quite exposed, so having a pairing in the engine room who are strong in duels and good at recoveries is a must.
Leicester’s Sam Tierney is currently leading the league in tackles and interceptions, and has won the second most ground duels. Equally, having a technically skilled number ten who can find the spaces to link the midfield with the forward line is essential. LCL’s Kosovare Asllani currently has the joint second most shot creating actions in the league.
Why now?
Are we seeing these up-and-coming teams trying to mix things up to disrupt the more established teams? Or are they perhaps adapting to the personnel they have?
It’s certainly interesting that this trend has emerged as the entire league seems to have shifted away from giving the top teams too much “respect” – you very rarely see teams, home or away, sit in a low defensive block. Most teams now will press, and press high, taking more risks to try and climb up the table. And as I’ve covered, the front two can be very effective as a pressing machine.
For London City Lionesses, they certainly have a different identity and air around them to teams that have come up from the WSL 2 before them. They’ve invested heavily, luring top international players like Jana Fernandez and Grace Geyoro from Barcelona and PSG respectively.
Here we can see the evolution of the newly promoted side in the WSL by average player positions in games against Arsenal. Bristol City sat very low, barely making it out of their half. Crystal Palace nudged up the field slightly, whereas there is a slightly more noticeable shift up the pitch and less compactness for London City Lionesses in their season opener at the Emirates.
In the WSL 2, they played with Goodwin as a lone striker, but upon coming up to the WSL have shifted to the front two, bringing in Parris from Brighton. Their recruitment strategy has raised eyebrows — was there a clear plan, or was it more about bringing in big names? Either way, it’s interesting that they didn’t bring in a high-profile winger, who often make for quite flashy signings, so perhaps we can give them the benefit of the doubt that this was a wider tactical decision.
Natalia Arroyo has a clear philosophy — aggressive pressing, fast and intent attacking — but hasn’t been wedded to the 3-4-1-2 throughout her coaching career; her Real Sociedad side invariably played in a 4-3-3. Even at Villa, she didn’t implement the formation until her seventh game in charge.
Prior to that, she alternated between Gabi Nunes and Rachel Daly as the lone striker, never really getting either of them off the mark. Perhaps this was what motivated her to make the switch, bringing more variety into their attacks by introducing a second forward – and it was when they bought in the front two that they managed a run of five wins to close out the 24/25 season.
Leicester had chronic injury struggles last season with their attacking players — and are still feeling the effects. With their only out-and-out striker still working her way back to match-starting fitness, they’ve perhaps had to adapt while the team doesn’t have a natural focal point.
This all leads me to think this is all about the respective coaches getting the best of the players they have available to them rather than it being a specific system they’re trying to impose — but it’s hard to look past the benefits that shifting to this way of playing has brought with it.
Villa have secured 4 points against Arsenal in the last 12 months, LCL have made a solid start to life in the WSL, and Leicester look surprisingly well-drilled for a team who are having to rebuild under an interim manager.
Will other teams adapt?
As we’ve seen, the front two can be dangerous from an attacking perspective, but it can be nullified with the right setup. Everton were hurt by the front two against LCL and as a result switched to a back three in their game against Leicester. Brian Sørenson is not one to shy away from adapting to the opponent — last season they played in eight different formations.
Here we can see Everton’s back three, with Ruby Mace and Clare Wheeler just in front of them, meaning that Leicester’s Rantala and Cain can’t press as effectively, and Van Egmond is occupied by two defensive midfielders rather than one as she was against Chelsea.
In attack, Cain picks up the ball in space from an interception by Cayman, but finds her options fairly limited. Janice Cayman can’t get forward quick enough to provide another option – and thus it comes to nothing. Eventually, she tries to slot the ball through to Rantala, who is making a run between the centre backs – but the Finn is swamped by the extra defender.
While being flexible in approach to the opponent in front of you can be helpful, it can also impact cohesion. As more teams across the league regularly face this setup, it’ll be intriguing to see how – and whether – they adapt in the mid to long-term. Will other teams follow suit and adopt the front two? Will we see more teams shift to back three or five to deal with increased numbers in attack? Watch this space.
