Khadija Shaw leads the Women’s Super League scoring charts this season, but which other players are competing with the Manchester City star for the Golden Boot?
With two-thirds of the 2024-25 season gone in the Women’s Super League, and only seven games left to play, the race for the Golden Boot is really heating up.
With a total of 252 goals scored across the league, many more are expected when all 12 teams play in a packed slate of fixtures on Sunday.
It has been a goal fest, and, unsurprisingly, Manchester City’s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has been prominent in front of goal.
Shaw finally got her hands on the Golden Boot last season after chasing the elusive honour and narrowly missing out in the previous campaign. It was Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly who stunned the league in 2022-23, scoring 22 goals to Shaw’s 20.
The Jamaica international made sure there was no doubt last season, and the City forward bagged a remarkable 21 goals in just 18 WSL appearances, netting a staggering eight goals more than the chasing pack, containing Elisabeth Terland (13), Lauren James (13) and Alessia Russo (12).
It’s been a case of mixed fortunes for some of the competition’s bigger names, with two-time winner Sam Kerr unable to play for virtually the entire season and Vivianne Miedema now finding her form again after swapping Arsenal for City.
Shaw, meanwhile, has been able to continue where she left off this season despite having to overcome a long injury layoff.
So, how does the race to be named WSL top scorer stand at the moment, and who should we be looking at as the most likely candidate to dethrone Shaw?
Or is Shaw simply too prolific to stop, as she looks to win the award for a second consecutive year? Something that has only previously been achieved by teammate Miedema and Chelsea foe, Kerr.
Khadija Shaw – 11 goals
Since joining Man City in 2021, Shaw has been nothing short of prolific. The talented striker holds the all-time scoring record for the club, having netted 81 goals in all competitions.
Despite having some weeks out in December before returning after the winter break, Shaw still leads the way with 11 goals from 12 games, with her total coming from only 799 minutes played.
Shaw has had 82 touches in the opposition box and has scored all 11 of her goals from inside the penalty area. She is an all-round threat, having scored five with her head (the most headed goals by a player in the WSL this term), four with her right foot and two with her left.
Shaw has outperformed her 6.7 xG significantly by 4.3, and notably, compared to many of the major top-scorer races in both the women’s and men’s games, none of her 11 goals have come from the penalty spot. She has had 46 shots overall, hitting 20 on target, with a shot conversion rate of 23.9%.
She boasts the best minutes-per-goal rate among her direct competitors at 72.6. However, she could have had more as she has missed five of the big chances that have come her way, defined as a chance from which a player would usually be expected to score.
Shaw has also provided one assist, with her 12 total goal involvements the joint-best total in the league, level with teammate Mary Fowler. The link-up between her and the Australian has been exceptional for City in recent weeks, and they remain among the best attacking teams, despite some shaky recent form.
With Fowler and Miedema among the players providing for Shaw, you wouldn’t bet against her winning the award again, and she will attempt to extend her lead away to Tottenham this weekend.
Alessia Russo – 8 goals
Russo is having a renaissance under Renee Slegers and has flourished under the new manager’s style at Arsenal.
Russo sits just three goals behind Shaw with eight in 14 matches, and a home game against bottom-half West Ham on Sunday may have her eyeing more opportunities.
The Gunners striker has played 1,101 minutes and has outperformed her xG (6.1), but only by 1.9.
All eight of her goals have come from inside the box, scoring the most with her right foot (five), while getting two with her left and one header. Only one of her goals has come from the penalty spot (xG excluding pens – 5.4).
In comparison to her City rival, Russo has had more shots than Shaw (48) and more on target (23), though has a much lower shot conversion rate at 16.7%. Russo has also had more touches than Shaw (563 to 357), with 111 of those inside the opposition box.
She averages a goal every 137.6 minutes and has provided two assists. Russo ranks fourth for WSL goal contributions (10) this term.
With games against Everton, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and former club Manchester United still to come, she may well feel confident of giving Shaw a run for her money, while building her form ahead of a crucial Euros campaign for England in Switzerland in July.
Elisabeth Terland – 7 goals
With plenty of talent departing Man Utd last summer, manager Marc Skinner did some canny business as he secured Terland’s services on a free transfer.
Having scored 15 goals in 28 games in all competitions last season for Brighton, she has proved crucial in United’s 2024-25 campaign.
Terland opened her United account in October against Spurs, scoring a brace. She has the third-best xG among players in the WSL (6.1 – outperformed by 0.9).
She has had 45 shots, and fewer on target than the top two (17), while her shot conversion rate is also the lowest at 15.6%. Terland also ranks first for big chances missed 10 and may come to rue those spurned opportunities if she can’t catch Shaw.
Like Shaw and Russo, all of Terland’s goals have been scored from inside the box, but her finishes are more evenly split – three on her right foot, two on her left and two headers. She averages a goal every 150.1 minutes.
Terland has also provided four assists, more than the top two scorers put together. She sits third overall for goal contributions with 11, behind the impressive Man City duo of Shaw and Fowler.
Who are the Outside Bets?
There are some other notable standout players whose performances and goals should not go without a mention and who are still within touching distance of Shaw to mount their own challenge for the Golden Boot.
Bethany England has proved again this season why she must be considered as one of the best strikers to grace the WSL.
The Tottenham Hotspur star also has seven goals for the season (scoring from 5.0 xG) and is closing in on the all-time WSL goal record (81 goals, four behind Miedema’s 85). She has had 32 shots this season, with 12 of those hitting the target.
Earlier this year, she secured the remarkable feat of becoming the first player to score against every WSL team. Since the league’s inception in 2011, 19 clubs have played in the competition, with England scoring a brace against Crystal Palace in January to earn her slice of history.
Chelsea have been in incredible form and at the beginning of the season, the catalyst for this was Guro Reiten. Her efforts also have her on seven goals for the season (from 4.9 xG), making her the Blues’ top scorer in the competition.
Reiten has racked up her haul from the fewest shots (26, 11 on target). Out of the top five scorers in the WSL, Reiten has the best shot conversion rate (26.9%).
She is also the only one of the top five to score from outside the box this season (one), while none of her goals have been headers.
In joint-sixth position, but still in Golden Boot contention, is Frida Maanum, who has netted six goals this term.
The Arsenal forward went off like a train to start the season, though has since slowed a bit. She has had 36 shots overall and scored with half of her attempts on target.
Maanum has scored all six of her efforts with her right foot (four inside the box, two outside), including a stunning long-range curler that won her the WSL Goal of the Month award for November.
The final player to mention and one who has been tearing up the WSL in the last few weeks in the absence of teammate Shaw is Fowler.
While she shares top spot for goal involvements with Shaw, Fowler has six assists, the most of any player in the league. She is also the first player in WSL history to be directly involved in two or more goals in four consecutive appearances.
Of players to score more than three goals in the WSL this season, only Brighton’s Kiko Seike (27.8% – five goals) has a better shot conversion rate than Fowler’s 27.3% (six goals).
The Golden Boot race remains tight though, with the likes of Vivianne Asseyi, Seike, Mariona Caldentey, Nikita Parris, Daly, Miedema, Aggie Beever-Jones and Grace Clinton all joint-eighth on five goals.
The final weeks of a dramatic WSL campaign will now play out with one of the closest and most varied Golden Boot races in many years.
But all the contenders know how tough it is going to be to defeat Shaw, as her pursuit of goalscoring history – such as the most goals in the competition and the most Golden Boot triumphs – continues this year and beyond.
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Who Will Win the WSL Golden Boot? Opta Analyst.
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