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NWSL Power Rankings - Week 8

Every team changed places this week.

By Kreg Asay
NWSL Power Rankings

All teams moved positions in this week’s table. Lacking international players has hit many teams hard, but the two week World Cup break is finally here. For readers who only follow the Power Rankings, I also do a prediction game called the Oracle; there is a World Cup prediction game found HERE. All group stages are able to be picked now, and standings will be updated after each round here on the Soapbox.

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 8. (#) indicates last week’s ranking.

  1. Portland Thorns (2) - A 3-0 win for their first home game coupled with last week’s #1 losing returns the Thorns to the top.
  2. Washington Spirit (3) - 2-0 victory at home against a weakened Utah side.
  3. Utah Royals (1) - Visited the other league points leaders in D.C., and fell 2-0.
  4. North Carolina Courage (5) - Won 3-0 on the road. Normally that would be a big rise, but it was against Orlando.
  5. Chicago Red Stars (4) - Had to be the unfortunate team to play in Portland for the Thorns first home game.
  6. Houston Dash (7) - Tied on the road vs the Reign.
  7. Seattle Reign (6) - A 1-1 stalemate vs the Dash at home ruins their winning streak.
  8. Sky Blue FC (9) - Bye Week
  9. Orlando Pride (8) - Another home blowout loss by 3 goals.

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