There will be a new name at the top of the Women’s Super League table on matchday nine.
Manchester City beat Chelsea at the summit by beating Everton 2-1 last week, while Sonia Bompastor’s Blues could only manage a 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
Despite their new status as leaders, City are only given a 26.2% chance of winning the title by the Opta supercomputer, with Chelsea retaining the title in 69.7% of simulations. The Blues are unbeaten in 33 league games and can write a piece of league history on Sunday.
And Andree Jeglertz’s side face a tough test this week when Manchester United visit the Etihad Stadium for a big derby clash on Saturday.
That’s not the only derby taking place this weekend, however, as north London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal face off on Sunday. Chelsea visit Liverpool, while the London City Lionesses will look to continue their strong form against Aston Villa.
Meetings between Brighton and Leicester City, and West Ham and Everton are also on the calendar on Sunday. Here we look ahead to the weekend’s action using Opta data.
MANCHESTER CITY V MANCHESTER UNITED
The first match of the weekend is perhaps the biggest, as City look to extend their seven-match winning streak in the WSL – their longest run since fourteen consecutive wins from November 2023 to April 2024.
City have 21 points from eight games this season (one loss) and will only earn more points at this stage of the 2017/2018 season (22).
They lost 4-2 to United at the Etihad in January, their first home defeat to their rivals in the WSL. They won four of their first five such matches and drew the others.
And United are the only side to have a 100% away record in the WSL this season, winning on all four of their road trips. Only in the 2020/21 season did they win five away games in a row within one season before.
City are the first team, apart from Chelsea, to start a WSL matchday at the top of the table since Matchday 21 of the 2023/24 season. The Citizens were top on that occasion too, but ultimately finished second on goal difference, under Gareth Taylor.
City – who handed England international Alex Greenwood a new two-year contract on Wednesday – are given a 55% chance of victory according to Opta’s predictive model, with United winning 21.8% of simulations and 23.2% finishing.
ASTON VILLA V LONDON CITY LIONESSES
London City Lionesses visit Aston Villa on Sunday in one of four early matches, having won four of their last six WSL matches (two defeats).
That’s as many wins as all newly promoted teams had achieved in their previous 51 games in the league combined (eight draws, 39 defeats).
Jocelyn Precheur’s team could now become only the third promoted side to record five wins in their first nine games of a WSL season, following Manchester United in 2019-20 (five wins) and Sunderland in 2015 (six wins).
They are just one place and two points above Villa in the table, with Natalia Arroyo’s team having lost just one of their last twelve matches in the competition (seven wins, four draws).
They are unbeaten in five games since a 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea on matchday two (two wins, three draws). Villa are favorites with a 51.5% win probability, with the Lionesses at 23.8% and the draw at 24.7%.
Villa have also lost just one of their eight WSL matches against promoted sides, winning five and drawing two, although that one defeat did come in their most recent match, 3-1 away at Crystal Palace in March.
BRIGHTON V LEICESTER CITY
Brighton and Leicester are both in the bottom half of the table, but with buffers of seven and five points respectively over bottom club West Ham.
They face each other on Sunday, with Brighton having won two of their last three top-flight meetings with the Foxes and winning just one of their first five (one draw, three defeats).
Brighton have won just two of their eight WSL matches this season (two draws, four defeats) and at this stage only claim fewer wins in their first ever two top-flight campaigns (one point in both 2018/19 and 2019/20).
Part of their problem is the tendency to fall behind. Brighton have trailed in each of their last four games in the WSL (one draw, three defeats) and they could fall behind in five consecutive games for the first time since October 2022 to March 2023 (11 in a row).
However, the supercomputer makes them favourites, with a 49.8% chance of winning compared to Leicester’s 24.9%.
Leicester could also write a piece of unwanted history. They are without a win in their last twenty WSL away games (seven draws, thirteen defeats), equaling Yeovil Town (between April 2017 and February 2019) for the all-time record, which they could now take outright.
LIVERPOOL IN CHELSEA
Chelsea could also write a piece of WSL history on Sunday, although theirs would be a much more positive milestone.
The Blues are unbeaten in their last 33 WSL matches (28 wins, five draws), matching their own record run between February 2019 and January 2021, under Emma Hayes.
During their current run, which started on Matchday 20 of the 2023/24 season, Chelsea have achieved 89 points, at least 20 more than any other team in the division (Arsenal – 69).
They will set a new milestone with another win or draw against Liverpool, who are winless in each of their last ten WSL matches (two draws, eight defeats) and could equal their joint longest streak without a win in the league (11, previously set twice, in August 2011 and January 2020).
Chelsea have also scored in each of their last 29 WSL away games, since a 2-0 defeat to Man City in March 2023. Only Arsenal, with a 30-match streak between April 2011 and April 2015, have ever scored in more consecutive away games in the competition.
The Blues have won 13 of their last 16 WSL matches against Liverpool (one draw, two defeats), completing their first league double over the Reds last season (3-0 away, 1-0 at home) for the first time since 2018/19.
Liverpool will have to be especially wary of Aggie Beever-Jones, who has scored four of Chelsea’s last seven WSL goals against Liverpool. Her five goals against the Reds are her most against any specific opponent in the competition.
The supercomputer gives Chelsea a huge 91.1% chance of setting a new unbeaten record, winning in 79.7% of scenarios and conceding 11.4%. Liverpool are only given an 8.9% chance of pulling off a major upset.
WEST HAM V EVERTON
West Ham finally grabbed their first point of the season at the eighth time of asking last week, drawing 1-1 with Leicester after seven consecutive defeats.
Throughout 2025, the Hammers have recorded just one run of more than one match unbeaten (five between March and April, with two wins and three draws).
But they are still experiencing the longest winless start to a season since Leicester in 2022/23 (first nine), and also the worst ever by a London club.
Everton, meanwhile, are just four points above the bottom club in the division, having failed to win any of their last seven games (two draws, five defeats) after starting with a win.
The Toffees last went eight WSL matches without winning in the same season when they failed to win any of their first eight games of 2018/19 (two draws, six defeats).
The predictive model struggles to divide the teams, with West Ham given a 37.7% chance of victory, compared to Everton’s 35.9%, with a 26.4% draw.
But one thing that needs to be anticipated is entertainment. Only the games against London City Lionesses and Man City (29 each) featured more goals than those against Everton this season (27 – 11 for, 16 against).
TOTTENHAM V ARSENAL
The weekend’s action concludes with another derby at Brisbane Road, with Tottenham and Arsenal level on points on 15 points each after the first eight matchdays.
Spurs have won just one of their 11 WSL meetings with Arsenal (one draw, nine defeats), a 1-0 victory in December 2023 in which they attempted just five shots while facing 31.
But Martin Ho’s side now have the chance to win three home games in a row in the WSL for the first time, having won three of four games at home this season (one defeat).
Spurs’ total of five wins this season is actually one more than Arsenal have managed; the Gunners last won fewer than five of their first nine games since 2014 (three).
Arsenal have scored at least 12 more goals than any other team in the WSL by 2025. With their sixty goals from twenty games, they only scored 69 goals in 23 games in 2018.
The European champions have also recorded the most build-up attacks in the WSL this season (28), while only Leicester (one) has registered fewer than Tottenham’s two. The Gunners have had the most touches in the penalty area this season (319) and only Man City (113) have bettered their 106 shots from inside the box.
Arsenal were victorious in 64.1% of the supercomputer’s simulations, compared to Tottenham’s 16.7%, with a finishing level of 19.2%.
#Womens #Super #League #predictions #Man #City #Arsenal #backed #derby #wins #Chelsea #eye #record #Soccer #News