Monday Dispatch: Rachel Daly is having an all-time great WSL season
The England international has now hit 20 goals in 20 games, taking her into a very exclusive club.
For someone who hadn't played in the league for 10 years and was nine days out from winning the European Championships as a left-back, few would have been forgiven for wondering just what a goal-shy Aston Villa would get out of England international Rachel Daly.
That's absolutely not to question Daly's eye for goal, as she showed time and time again for Houston Dash in NWSL, but a specific set of circumstances which saw Daly joining a club which managed 13 league goals in 22 games last season, returning to a league changed beyond recognition since her she last stepped foot on a Women's Super League pitch, and the defensive tenacity she'd picked up playing in a back four for Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses.
If there were any doubters, they've been silenced, and in some style too. Daly has 20 goals in 20 games for a side outside the top four, that at points last season couldn't buy a goal, and her stats put her up there with anyone that has ever graced the league.
Her tally is seven more than Carla Ward's side managed between them last season, and only eight shy of their combined tally for their previous two campaigns in the top division.
To put it into stark reality, Villa's top scorers last season were midfield duo Ramona Petzelberger and Remi Allen, with three each. Three.
Only Vivianne Miedema has more goals in a single season, scoring 22 in a 20-game campaign back in 2019, and there's no reason she couldn't at least match that tally in her current form which has seen her score seven in her last three; nine in her last five.
Check out over 100 more unique stories in WFC’s Premium section, available for just £45 for 12 months, paid in one go, or a £6 a month rolling subscription.
All subscriptions come with a 7-day free trial to allow you to explore our full archive.
Plus, guarantee you everything that is to come over the next 12 months…
Her last three games alone have brought a hat-trick and two braces, and a repeat of that would see her go level with Miedema. She is one shy of Sam Kerr's tally for the 2020/21 season and joint with Kerr's effort last season, and now two clear of Khadija Shaw in the race for this season's golden boot.
She is 10 clear of anybody else and has the same goals as rivals for the England number nine shirt Alessia Russo and Beth England combined, who both have 10 goals a piece.
The figures just get more and more incredible as you reel them off. Aside from her hat-trick against Reading on Sunday (her second against the Royals this season), she also set up the other two goals, becoming just the second player in league history to contribute to five goals in one game, after the aforementioned Miedema.
Only a couple have been penalties. Many have been headers, which is no surprise given her aerial threat, which she also showed for England in February with a brace of headers against Italy in the Arnold Clark Cup.
She also hasn't stat-padded either. Daly has found the net against Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, almost dragging her side to a point against Marc Skinner's side, and her opening day double recording a famous win against Gareth Taylor's City in a game which without knowing set the tone for her and Villa's season.
She has also brought out the best in players who perhaps previously went under the radar. Villa never massively struggled to create chances, just failed to convert them.
Fellow signing Kirsty Hanson has assisted four of her goals, but the rest have been nicely shared out between the rest of the team. Kenza Dali, Alisha Lehmann, Anna Patten and Maz Pacheco, all impressive throughout the season, have set Daly up twice, while Sarah Mayling, Rachel Corsie and January signing Lucy Staniforth have all registered an assist thanks to Daly's prowess in front of goal.
On an international level, Daly is giving Wiegman one hell of a problem when it comes to who starts in Australia this summer, but for now she can't do a lot more and Villa have pulled one of the signings of the season, if not the signing of the season.