Newcastle United Women have made the perfect start to their WSL2 campaign.
Sunday’s meeting with Leicester City should tell Tanya Oxtoby considerably more about how serious their promotion challenge really is.
Three matches have produced three victories, seven goals and only one conceded.
Newcastle therefore sit top of the division on nine points heading into Sunday’s 1pm meeting at Gateshead International Stadium.
Leicester’s official match centre confirms the Magpies lead the WSL2 table after three rounds.
The start could hardly have been better.
Now comes an important step up.
Leicester offer Newcastle a different test
Leicester were playing WSL football last season and entered the new campaign among the sides expected to compete near the top of the second tier.
They have taken six points from their opening three league matches.
Wins over Sheffield United and Durham were followed by a 1-0 home defeat against Ipswich Town.
That means Leicester arrive at Gateshead six points behind Newcastle but with enough top-flight experience to provide Oxtoby’s side with a valuable early benchmark.
Newcastle’s first three victories have already included an impressive 4-1 win over Sheffield United.
The next question is whether they can maintain that standard against another side with promotion ambitions.
Newcastle attack has transformed
There is good reason for optimism.
Newcastle have scored a division-leading seven goals while conceding only once.
Beth Lumsden and Martha Thomas have been central to that improvement.
Our analysis of Newcastle’s new attacking partnership highlighted how the pair have been involved in six of the Magpies’ seven league goals.
That gives Oxtoby something Newcastle often lacked last season.
They are no longer merely controlling matches.
They are beginning to punish opponents.
Sunday should reveal whether that attacking improvement can hold up against stronger opposition.
Promotion talk can wait, but Newcastle have set the standard
Three games cannot decide a promotion race.
They can establish expectations.
Newcastle have taken every available point and already built a three-point advantage over Leicester.
Another victory would extend that gap to six.
It would also reinforce the idea that Oxtoby’s rebuilt squad can compete with teams dropping directly from the WSL.
Supporters unable to attend can find the broadcast information in our Newcastle Women vs Leicester live-stream guide.
Newcastle’s official fixture list confirms Sunday’s match takes place at Gateshead International Stadium at 1pm.
Newcastle’s opening three games have created excitement.
Beating Leicester would provide something more meaningful: an early indication that this perfect start may be capable of becoming a genuine promotion challenge.
