Arsenal held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw to stay top of the league but with more bad refereeing calls, is it time for the women’s game to introduce VAR?

Jonas Eidevall selected the following XI Zinsberger; Maritz, Williamson, Rafaelle, Catley; Little, Walti; Mead, Miedema, Foord; Blackstenius.

A 0-0 draw was a fair result with Chelsea having a legitimate handball penalty call in injury time, while Caitlin Foord was impeded twice in the first half by Jess Carter and also denied a penalty or two.

The non-penalty, as well the Birmingham v Leicester incident where the referee wrongly sent-off the Birmingham goalkeeper for fouling a Leicester forward, clearly shows there is a need for VAR in women’s football. It totally changed the game and left Birmingham down to 10 players with a 16-year-old going in goal to face a penalty.

As a result, Leicester went five points clear of Birmingham in the survival race.

VAR will be in place at the 2022 Euros in England and also from the quarter-finals onward in the Women Champions’ League.

This is an extremely positive move for women’s football but VAR will be in the the FA WSL anytime soon as it is a costly option. The VAR light option, that is currently being trialled in multiple leagues including the D1 Arkema in France, might come in the future.

Matchday 15 brought good results for Arsenal with Manchester City defeating Manchester United 1-0 thanks to a wonderful Caroline Weir strike combined with awful defending from the United back and Mary Earps bizarre positioning in goal.

United were overtaken in third place by Spurs who won 2-0 at Birmingham.

The Blues are therefore seven points behind Everton, who lost again at home, this time to Aston Villa.

The summer spending spree at Everton has clearly gone wrong with two managers dismissed after losing the dressing room.

Leicester are up to 10th place now under Lydia Bedford’s stewardship and are eight points clear of Birmingham. They are running away at full speed from the relegation places.

Spurs, under Rehanne Skinner, have also been excellent so far and are now in prime position to secure a Champions League place.

They are two points clear of Manchester United and four points clear of Manchester City.

The only question mark is if they will be able to maintain their excellent form throughout the season.

https://twitter.com/BarclaysFAWSL/status/1492929063408652290

Most of the teams still have one or two games in hand with only three teams out twelve having played their 15 games so far this season.

Coming up next is the international break with National teams playing football tournaments all over the world for two weeks, before the season restarts with the FA Cup, the Champions League quarter-finals and more crucial league games.

Hopefully, no players will come back injured from their respective trips unlike in previous seasons, as injuries certainly derailed the team.

However the squad is a little big bigger this year so it can sustain more damage than in previous years.

The title is Chelsea’s to lose, but Arsenal can – and must – finish in one of the top two positions this year.