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NWSL Power Rankings - Week 10

Portland Thorns barely hold first for another week.

By Kreg Asay
NWSL Power Rankings

Movement abounds on this week’s table. There were two road wins, and a pair of draws resulting in a big jump for the Reign. The two bottom teams battled it out for last place, and we now have a clear picture for last place.

A reminder for readers who only follow the Power Rankings, there is also a prediction game called the Soapbox Oracle; and there is a World Cup prediction version found HERE. The survey has been updated for knockout rounds.

I do rankings for both NWSL and MLS a little differently; typically in soccer leagues within the USA, the home team wins more than 50% of the time. Thus I rank any team deviates from the ‘normal’ higher - basically an away team winning will move higher than a home team winning. The same applies for ties - a home team drawing will likely cause them to drop because it’s not what was expected of them.

So without further mindless banter, here’s the power rankings for week 10. (#) indicates last week’s ranking.

  1. Portland Thorns (1) - Held scoreless at home for the first time in recent memory! At least they didn’t lose the game vs the Royals, that would have certainly moved them down.
  2. Utah Royals (3) - The most potent attack (Thorns) met the tightest defense (Royals) and the result was a complete stalemate, 0-0 draw. Royals rise due to the Spirit falling.
  3. Washington Spirit (2) - Scoreless tie at home vs a team they should have easily beaten moves the Spirit down.
  4. Reign FC (7) - Picked up their first win on the road vs the Red Stars!
  5. North Carolina Courage (4) - Bye week. Drop one due to Reign’s road win.
  6. Houston Dash (6) - Visited the Spirit and walked away with a point and no goals conceded. Hard to justify moving above the bye team for that.
  7. Chicago Red Stars (5) - Gave the Reign their first road win. Stars have to be anxious for their internationals to come back from France.
  8. Orlando Pride (8) - Finally won a game! But it was against Sky Blue so... great.
  9. Sky Blue FC (9) - Finished second in the battle for last place.

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