Everything fans need to know ahead of Asian Cup as Everton Women to suffer
With the Women’s Super League paused until 15 March, multiple clubs across the division are preparing to say goodbye to players set to represent their countries at the upcoming Asian Cup.
Out of all WSL clubs, none are set to suffer as much as Everton during this period, with four players set to take part in the tournament.
This year’s competition is being hosted by Australia, who are represented by multiple key figures from the division, and runs from 1-21 March across five venues.
With this in mind, Goodison News takes a look at potential troubles ahead for Scott Phelan‘s side as the WSL resumes in March.
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Four Everton players set to represent club internationally
Ahead of the season start, it was commonly known that Everton were going to be hit hard come March.
The Toffees secured the signatures of three Japanese internationals over the summer: Rion Ishikawa, Honoka Hayashi and Hikaru Kitagawa.
Hayashi in particular will be missed, having racked up the fifth most minutes of any Everton player this term, just behind Clare Wheeler, who has been called up to the Australia squad ahead of the competition.
More positively for the Toffees, Yuka Momiki will remain on Merseyside, having missed out on a place in Japan’s squad.
Though depth is a huge concern, with no other side losing as many players as Everton as they play out fixtures against Tottenham and Manchester United before the competition’s end.
Ongoing break provides Everton with crucial reset period despite absentees
Sunday’s derby defeat against Liverpool was a shock to the system after recent weeks.
Everton have seen an uptick in form across February, with wins against Aston Villa, London City Lionesses and West Ham, leaving them eighth in the WSL table over the break.
The Toffees have formed a gap to the relegation zone, and now have ample time to reset over the break, with no more football to focus on other than their league form until the end of the season, bringing a more positive spin despite the list of absentees.
With Phelan in charge on an interim basis, the club now have an ideal period to figure out their direction, and build form again ahead of a crucial run of fixtures following the end of the pause.
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