Tottenham compounded Liverpool’s woes with a 2-1 victory at Brisbane Road on Sunday, continuing Gareth Taylor’s side’s search for their first points of the season. It was an illustration of the parallels and contrasts between two teams who are, in a multitude of ways, on relatively similar trajectories in the Women’s Super League but who are equally experiencing contrasting fortunes in the opening stages of this season.

With this win, Spurs consolidated their fine start to life under Martin Ho to remain fourth, while Liverpool are rooted in the danger zone. The disparity between the two is underlined by the data – Tottenham are the team who have outperformed their expected points by the biggest margin this season; Liverpool are the ones who have underperformed the most.

The similarities of their journeys are clear, not just in the manner they have yo-yoed up and down the league in recent seasons but in the upheaval they have gone through. Both have undergone significant change in leadership over the summer and both were relatively slow to appoint a new manager. Ho came into post in July, a month before Taylor at Liverpool, and neither was given the financial resources or...