Maidens perhaps seen as headless sweethearts (5)
I believe the answer is:
overs
'maidens perhaps' is the definition.
(maiden is a kind of over)
'headless sweethearts' is the wordplay.
'headless' means to remove the first letter.
'sweethearts' becomes 'lovers'.
'lovers' with its first letter removed is 'OVERS'.
'seen as' is the link.
(Other definitions for overs that I've seen before include "Bowling spells" , "Series of balls in cricket" , "Sets of six balls bowled" , "Rounds of six bowls in cricket" , "Maidens perhaps" .)