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NWSL Power Rankings - Week 20

Back in action after the break, and 4 teams move.

By Kreg Asay
NWSL Power Rankings

After a short break for international games, the NWSL resumed play with four games. Only 4 teams move this week.

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

  1. North Carolina Courage (3) - Won on the road vs Sky Blue. Would have only been 2nd if Royals hadn’t won at home.
  2. Utah Royals (2) - A wonder-header by Becky Sauerbrunn gave the Royals a win over the league leaders. Defense withstood a barrage, but kept the clean sheet. Stay in 2nd only due to the Courage road win.
  3. Portland Thorns (1) - Fell to the Royals in Utah after a difficult battle where they took 21 shots. Fall 2 only due to Courage winning on the road, and #2 is the team they lost to.
  4. Chicago Red Stars (4) - Very convincing win over the Dash at home, but can’t justify moving them above the top 3 yet.
  5. Reign FC (5) - Beat the last place team at home. Earned some points for the standings, but not in the Power Rankings.
  6. Washington Spirit (6) - Bye Week
  7. Houston Dash (8) - Outplayed by the Red Stars in Chicago. Still rise due to Sky Blue loss.
  8. Orlando Pride (9) - Lost to the Reign on the road. Move up due to Sky Blue losing at home.
  9. Sky Blue FC (7) - Another home loss to the Courage takes them back to the bottom.

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