How Goals Are Scored In The WSL

Introduction

The Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) is now seen as one of the best and most competitive football leagues in the world. As the league grows, so does the amount of professional data available to analyse how goals are scored. Tools like Wyscout and Opta, as well as academic studies such as Craven, Oxenham and Ranaweera (2025), allow us to understand attacking styles, goal-creation patterns and even how a player’s dominant foot affects assists and finishing.

This article will look at how goals are scored in the WSL by examining attacking styles, the difference between open play and set pieces, where goals originate on the pitch, and how players’ footedness impacts goal creation. One key finding shown by the data is that left-footed wide players often assist right-footed forwards, and this combination regularly leads to successful goals.

How WSL Teams Attack

According to Craven et al. (2025), who studied 132 matches from the 2021/22 season, 1,179 attacking sequences that ended in a shot on target were analysed and placed into five categories:

• Combinative organised attacks

• Direct organised attacks

• Fast organised attacks

• Counterattacks

• Set plays

Their findings showed:

• Combinative organised attacks produced the most shots on target (27.23%)

• Set plays produced the largest percentage of goals (27.08%)

• Fast organised attacks were the most effective, with a 53.33% conversion rate

This shows that although longer periods of possession can create a lot of chances, quick attacks and set pieces are more effective for scoring.

The Wyscout Barclays WSL 2024/25 Season Report supports this, showing that:

• 27% of goals so far this season have come from set pieces

• 53% of open-play goals began in the wide areas or half-spaces

• The average possession time before a goal was 9.8 seconds, proving that many WSL attacks are fast and direct.

Set Plays vs Open Play

Set pieces continue to play a huge role in goal scoring. Both Craven et al. and Wyscout highlight how effective they are, even though they happen less frequently than open-play attacks.

According to Wyscout (2025):

• Teams take around 10.9 corners per match

• 11.7% of corners result in a shot within two actions

• 32% of corner-related goals are headers

These results match research from Wang and Qin (2020), who found that 18.8% of goals at the 2019 Women’s World Cup were headers, mostly from set pieces. This proves that aerial ability and organised set-piece routines are key scoring methods in the women’s game.

Where Goals Are Created ?

Wyscout (2025) found the following distribution of goal sources:

• Wide channels (left + right): 41% (22% left, 19% right)

• Central combinations: 25%

• Set plays and transitions: 34%

This shows that most goals are created out wide, which aligns with Craven’s findings. Many successful attacks involve overlapping full-backs and crosses or cut-backs, showing that width has been important over several seasons.

Footedness and Assist Patterns

Distribution of dominant foot (Wyscout 2025):

• Right-footed: 78%

• Left-footed: 17%

• Two-footed: 5%

Since left-footed players are less common, they can be tactically valuable, especially when used on the left wing to deliver natural inswinging crosses.

Assist pattern statistics (Wyscout 2025):

• Left flank, left-footed assister: 18%

• Left flank, right-footed assister: 11%

• Right flank, right-footed assister: 24%

• Right flank, left-footed assister: 7%

• Central/other: 40%

This proves that the most common assist combination in the WSL is:Left-footed left-side assister → right-footed forward

Wyscout also states that these crosses have an expected-goals value (xG) of 0.14, compared to 0.10 for outswinging crosses, meaning they are more dangerous.

Examples:

• Katie McCabe (Arsenal) – 6 assists, all with her left foot, 4 finished by right-footed strikers

• Guro Reiten (Chelsea) – 7 assists, 6 from her left foot

This shows how valuable left-footed wide players are for creating high-quality chances.

How Players Finish

Wyscout (2025) reported that goals this season were finished as follows:

• Right foot: 59%

• Left foot: 22%

• Header: 17%

• Other: 2%

Headers, although less common than shots with the feet, have one of the highest success rates, especially from set pieces and crosses.

How the WSL Compares to Other Competitions

• UEFA Women’s Champions League (Mitrotasios et al., 2022): 42% of goals from wide play or crosses

• 2019 Women’s World Cup (Kubayi, 2022): 28% of goals from set pieces, 18% headers

• Systematic review (Sarmento et al., 2021): Women’s teams use more organised attacks than chaotic transitions

This shows that the WSL follows similar patterns to other top competitions, especially in its reliance on width, organisation, and set plays.

Why These Patterns Matter

Because WSL teams defend very compactly through the centre, wide areas provide more space for attackers. This explains why over 40% of goals come from the flanks.

From the data, coaches can learn to:

• Continue practising set-piece routines

• Value left-footed wide players highly

• Pair right-footed forwards with natural-footed wingers

Teams like Arsenal and Chelsea are already doing this successfully, as shown by the assist patterns of McCabe and Reiten.

Conclusion

Across multiple pieces of verified research and official WSL data, the key findings are clear:

1. About one-quarter of goals come from set plays

2. Over 40% of goals begin in wide areas

3. Headers make up around 17% of finishes

4. Left-footed wide players are crucial creators of dangerous chances

Overall, the most effective goal-scoring strategy in the WSL combines well organised set pieces and natural-footed wide play that supports right-footed forwards score.

References:

Craven, L., Oxenham, P., & Ranaweera, J. (2025). Analysis of attacking styles and goal-scoring in the 2021/22 Women’s Super League. PLOS ONE, 20(2), e0318929.

Kubayi, A. (2022). The creation of goal-scoring opportunities at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Journal of Human Kinetics, 82, 165–172.

Loffing, F., & Hagemann, N. (2015). Footedness in soccer: A systematic review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33(7), 701–709.

Mitrotasios, M., González-Rodenas, J., Armatas, V., & Aranda, R. (2022). Creating goal-scoring opportunities in UEFA Women’s Champions League matches. Retos, 43, 154–161.

Sarmento, H., Clemente, F. M., & Figueiredo, A. J. (2021). Offensive patterns in elite women’s football. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 21(3), 355–371.

Wang, S. H., & Qin, Y. (2020). Shooting and goal-scoring patterns in the 2019 France Women’s World Cup. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 20(6), 3080–3089.

Wyscout. (2025). Barclays Women’s Super League 2024/25 Season Report. London: Wyscout SRL.