Over the course of the Christmas break NewsChain is taking an in-depth look at each of the Women's Super League sides' performances so far this season.

Next up is Birmingham, who have possibly been the biggest disappointment in the WSL so far this year.

Birmingham City

Last season: 4th

Current position: 9th

Birmingham threatened to be the team to crack the top three of Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea throughout last season.

They finished the campaign two points off The Blues and 14 off The Gunners, who claimed a third league title, but showed on their day they can mix it with any team in England.

So it would have definitely been in manager Marta Tejedor's mind to try to break into the WSL title race and shock a few people this season.

However, after the departure of England striker Ellen White in the summer, that seemed less likely.

White bagged six goals in eight league games in the 2018/19 campaign, while The Blues scored fewer than any of the other top five.

Furthermore, they have leaked goals since the new season began and have already conceded 15 in 10 games, only two less than they shipped in the whole of the 2018/19 season.

The kicked off the campaign with defeats to Everton, West Ham and Man City, all without scoring a goal as alarm bells began to ring for Tejedor.

A confident victory over Liverpool looked to have been a turning point, before an awful display against Brighton saw them thumped 3-0. 

And it was about to get worse.

In one of the worst performances from any team since the season began, Birmingham were trounced 6-0 by Chelsea in front of their home fans in an utterly listless display.

A win over Bristol City and a draw with Tottenham have ensured they will not spend Christmas in the relegation place, but on the whole it has been a desperately poor first half of the season for the Midlands club.

Birmingham return on January 5 when they face the daunting task of travelling to defending champions Arsenal.