After all the noise around this year’s U-20 Women’s World Cup, English football’s brightest young stars have finally been able to do what they came to do: play football.

After a tough group stage that resulted in qualification by the skin of their teeth, England will now face Nigeria in the first knockout round of the tournament on Thursday (2pm BST kick-off).

Their route there has been anything but straightforward. England opened with a 1-1 draw against Canada, coming through some difficult moments and needing a late Rachel Maltby penalty to take a point.

The Young Lionesses looked much more settled in a 5-1 win over Tanzania, but their final group game against Brazil represented a big step up in opposition.

England held their own, leading for more than an hour and heading for top spot in Group B, before goals from Clarinha and a 95th-minute winner from Gremio U20 star Gisele sunk their charge.

The 2-1 defeat left England level with Canada on points, head-to-head record, goal difference and goals scored, meaning that Lydia Bedford’s side progressed thanks to the ‘team conduct’ tiebreaker.

England received only two yellow cards over their three matches, while Stephanie Schoeley’s red card against Brazil ended up putting Canada out of the tournament.

Getting through the difficult moments

Canada was a tough opening game for England, who looked nervous against the reigning continental champions and gave the ball away in areas they normally wouldn’t.

After Annabelle Chukwu put Canada ahead early in the second half, keeper Katie Cox had to make two saves in quick succession to stop the game getting away from England.

England were able to stay in the game and Bedford used all five substitutes to do so.

Bedford admitted after the game that her side needed to “shake off the nerves” in future performances, but praised her team’s resilience.

“We’ve talked a lot about the mentality of our team. We’ve always said that, if we want to go the distance in this tournament, we need to stick together,” Bedford said after the game. “Only 11 players could start the match, but everyone on the bench knows they have a role to play. Every player has a part to play when their moment comes.”

She also pushed Aston Villa starlet Maltby further forward, pushing for an equaliser until they eventually won a penalty.

Maltby stepped up herself. “I trust my process,” she said afterwards. “I’ve practised, and I just knew.”

It was an early example of England grinding out a result when a game doesn’t go to plan.

Opening up against Tanzania

Against Tanzania, England looked far more comfortable.

Ipswich striker Princess Ademiluyi opened the scoring after nine minutes from Vivienne Lia’s cross, before Maltby scored twice from the spot and completed her hat-trick just before half-time.

Maltby’s third was the pick of the bunch. The move started with Lucy Newell in defence and, nine passes later, Lily Dent found Maltby free at the back post to slot it home.

England played good football throughout, using their width to move Tanzania’s defence around and getting bodies into the box.

Ademiluyi could easily have scored more. She hit the woodwork twice and caused problems whenever she ran in behind.

Lia also impressed. A late addition to the squad, she assisted both Ademiluyi and substitute Jessie Gale and provided consistent threat from wide areas.

By the end of the game, every outfield player in the squad had featured. That depth could serve England well as they go deeper into the tournament.

Maltby keeps making her mark

Maltby has been England’s standout player so far. Four goals and an assist in three games would be a strong return for a striker, and yet she has managed it as a defender.

The Aston Villa full-back scored the late equaliser against Canada, hit a hat-trick against Tanzania and then set up Dent for England’s only goal against Brazil.

Her performances follow on from a strong World Sevens tournament with Villa earlier this year, where she was named the breakout star.

There is more to her game than goals. She has played at full-back and further forward, and seems happy to take on whatever job Bedford asks of her. That flexibility is proving useful.

Brazil was a reminder of the margins

England’s best performance of the group may actually have come in defeat. Brazil caused problems, particularly on the counter, but England competed well and grew into the game against very strong opponents.

Lily Dent put them ahead after Maltby combined with Lola Brown before finding her at the back post. For long periods, England looked capable of holding Brazil to a clean sheet, or even adding another.

The game flipped around the 70-minute mark. Clarinha equalised from the penalty spot after Chloe Hylton was judged to have tripped Brendha in the area, and Gisele scored the winner late in injury time.

For a young side, it was a fairly brutal lesson in how quickly a game can change.

There are things they will want to improve. England have looked vulnerable after losing possession and they are still waiting for a clean sheet. They will also know they need to manage leads better.

What comes next?

England head into the knockout stages knowing they have enough to cause teams problems.

They have fought back against Canada, put five past Tanzania and gone toe-to-toe with Brazil.

Their round-of-16 tie comes next against Nigeria, which Bedford hopes will be the beginning of a fairytale run to the final.

The manager said after the Brazil game that she wants this team to be in Poland for seven matches. They have got through the first three. Now they have to show whether the resilience they have showed thus far will be enough to carry them further.

Chelsea needed this.

Not simply the result, but the manner of it. After dominating Aston Villa on the opening day only to draw 1-1, despite creating enough chances to win comfortably, A disjointed Manchester United offered Chelsea the chance to turn it around under the spotlights and they did exactly that, winning 5-0 in a convincing all-round performance.

One good game cannot erase the questions that have followed Chelsea into the new campaign. Sonia Bompastor’s side still have to prove they can consistently take more of their chances, improve their shot selection, and show that the resilience that once defined this team remains intact.

Against United, Chelsea answered some of those questions. They did not answer all of them.

The first response: Chelsea looked like Chelsea again

Chelsea played from the opening minutes with the aggression and intensity that had been missing from some of their more frustrating performances. They pressed high, attacked the space behind United’s defensive line and repeatedly looked to progress vertically from the back towards their wide players.

Lauren James, playing in a free role up front, moved across the front line and made herself difficult to track. Behind her, Kaptein often started from the right but moved inside, allowing Carpenter to provide the width on that side. That structure helped Chelsea attack the spaces around United’s defensive line, with both wing-backs given freedom to advance from the start.

The opening goal reflected the approach. Bronze’s miscued ball forward didn’t deter Kaptein, who took advantage of United’s defence misreading the trajectory of the pass. She attacked the space before delivering for Nüsken, who made her now-familiar run into the box from midfield and finished like a striker.

Chelsea deserved the reward for a dominant start.

Chelsea settled into a 3-5-2 after taking the lead, with McCabe dropping alongside the centre-backs as the left-sided centre-back, Thompson and Carpenter pushed high as wing-backs, and Lexi Potter playing alongside Kiera Walsh in central midfield.

In possession, this almost became a 1-4-5, with the two wing-backs acting as wingers and the wide centre backs pushing up to link with Walsh and Potter in midfield.

Chelsea continued to press high and prevented United from establishing possession in their own half. That pressure eventually produced the second goal, as Bronze stepped out from the back three to win the ball high before finding Walsh on the edge of the box. The midfielder finished precisely into the bottom corner.

And once Chelsea had that cushion, something seemed to change. Their combinations became cleaner, particularly on the right, as if the weight of the previous week had finally been lifted.

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Manchester City followed their 3-1 opening-weekend win over Birmingham City with a 4-1 victory against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday evening. As the only side to win both of their opening two games, City ended the week at the top of the WSL table.

The WSL champions took an early lead through Canadian centre-back Jade Rose after Villa’s new Japanese goalkeeper, Akane Okuma, spilled a loose ball from a corner into the danger area. Rose reacted quickest to score.

Mary Fowler doubled the advantage a quarter of an hour later, taking her tally to two goals in two games.

City looked in control, but Villa came back into the game three minutes before half-time. Summer signing Amalie Vangsgaard punished some weak City transition defending to pull one back and give the home side a foothold.

Villa stayed within touching distance of City thanks to a strong defensive shape and maintaining a threat on the break early in the second half. Mia McAulay and Chastity Grant offered pace, while Vangsgaard’s hold-up play caused City problems – especially down their left-hand side, where Carlotta Wamser was making her debut alongside Alex Greenwood, who was playing at centre-back for the first time in months.

City kept Villa at bay and, inevitably, Khadija “Bunny” Shaw added the third in the 73rd minute, before Lauren Hemp forced Mathilde Harviken into an own goal deep into injury time to make the scoreline more emphatic.

The win looked comfortable in the end, but it still left us with five things to ponder

1. Carlotta Wamser’s full debut

City began the summer window by moving quickly for established WSL talent in Beth Mead and Niamh Charles. A quieter few weeks followed and most assumed the club’s transfer business was complete, only for an injury crisis to prompt a surprise move for German full-back Wamser.

Of the three senior wide additions, Wamser has been the most involved so far. She came off the bench for a bright cameo in City’s opener last week and was rewarded with a full debut against Villa.

Some teething issues were inevitable for a young player adapting to a new country and a new league. Wamser lost her marker for Villa’s goal and her relationship with Hemp, while promising, is still a work in progress. Beyond that, she was excellent. She gave City much-needed pace and mobility down the left, which they lacked for long periods last season.

Wamser ran the line repeatedly, offered an outlet outside Hemp and recovered ground when Villa countered. Charles, who is injured at the time of writing, will have a serious fight to regain her place in the starting XI if Wamser sustains this early form.

2. More rotation from the bench

City’s title challenge last season was built on a small core of players who started the majority of games. The WSL champions gave fewer minutes to substitutes than any other side in the division, taking full advantage of the absence of Champions League football.

City won’t have that luxury this season, but they are still only playing once a week until the competition’s league phase starts later this month. Wamser was the only change from last weekend’s starting XI, but Andrée Jeglertz was quicker to use his bench on this occasion. Iman Beney, Sam Coffey and Mead came on in the 63rd minute, with City holding a one-goal lead. That was the sort of move that rarely happened last season.

Grace Clinton’s return from injury in the 83rd minute made it the second consecutive game in which City had used four substitutes. City’s rotation players need to be ready for starting minutes once the schedule becomes more demanding, and Jeglertz is already giving them responsibility while games are still live.

3. Set-piece dominance continues

City scored 17 goals from dead-ball situations last season – more than any other WSL side last season. They have started this campaign looking just as sharp.

Shaw scored twice from corners in the season opener against Birmingham City. Against Villa, Rose opened the scoring from another corner. Two games is too small a sample for firm conclusions, but City have begun the season looking every bit as dangerous from set pieces as they were last year.

4. Mary Fowler returns with a bang

Australian forward Fowler spent most of last season recovering from an ACL injury. Even after she returned, City reintegrated her carefully and she was unable to make a decisive contribution to the title run-in.

Kerolin’s departure to Barcelona over the summer opened the door for Fowler to take a bigger role. Injury recovery aside, there were questions over how she would adapt to City’s new style of play. Under former manager Gareth Taylor, Fowler often played as a wide winger. Jeglertz is now using her in a narrower right-sided role, with the right-back holding the width outside her.

Jeglertz has said the role is designed to get Fowler closer to the box where she can make a difference, and has called her an “X factor”. Fowler has responded by scoring in both of City’s opening WSL fixtures.

5. City are creating without Vivianne Miedema

City wobbled badly when they lost Vivianne Miedema at the end of last season. She shaped how they attacked and defended, and her absence nearly cost them the title.

They lost 3-2 to Brighton and needed a last-minute set-piece winner to scrape past Liverpool on the penultimate weekend of the season. City ultimately won the league when Arsenal drew with Brighton a few days later, but Miedema’s importance had been made obvious.

Miedema then suffered a knee injury with only a few days left in the summer transfer window, prompting City to search across Europe for an emergency creative replacement. Paris Saint-Germain resisted City’s attempts to sign Nigeria international Jennifer Echegini, while Everton quickly rebuffed a deadline-day move for Ornella Vignola. City finally failed with a late bid for Atlético Madrid’s Fiamma Benítez.

On the pitch, though, City have created consistently without Miedema. They have scored seven goals in their opening two games, with Japan international Aoba Fujino operating as the direct replacement. Fujino cannot replicate Miedema’s exact profile, but she has given City greater mobility, helping them connect play and break up opposition attacks.

Fowler’s passing from the right half-space has also added much-needed creativity, while her goals could help replace some of Miedema’s threat in the box.

With their expected title rivals already slipping up, City have a chance to build early momentum.

In The Cutback’s preview of Arsenal’s season, we stressed the importance of avoiding the slow starts that have derailed previous WSL campaigns. Sunday’s goalless draw against Crystal Palace at the Emirates felt like the retelling of an all-too-familiar tale.

This is the fourth consecutive season in which the Gunners have dropped points at home in the opening month of a WSL campaign. In 2023-24, they were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on the opening weekend. In the following season, they dropped points in each of their opening three home matches, which included a turgid goalless draw against Everton, while last season’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa was equally frustrating.

On Sunday, that theme returned for another season. Arsenal may have gone through a summer of change, with eight players coming in during the window, but their problems remain the same.

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Chelsea took their rage from opening day out on Eva Olid’s visibly terrified Manchester United, putting five past her bedraggled red army at an eerily-quiet Leigh Sports Village.

Chelsea scored five but could have had eight or nine, if not for Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s forlorn resistance in the United goal. Her defence imitated statues with and without the ball, sabotaging her in possession and leaving her exposed from whistle to whistle.

United’s defensive frailty started early and only got worse. Chelsea’s first came from arguably their worst bit of attacking play of the first half, as Lucy Bronze’s scuffed ball forward was made effective by Dominique Janssen’s dreadful misjudgement, getting caught under the ball and gifting it to Wieke Kaptein, who squared it to striker partner Sjoeke Nüsken for a tap-in finish.

United’s attacking impotence was just as worrying. They once again struggled to play out from the back and, after learning lessons from their stuttery opener against London City, went long from goal kicks in the hope of gaining some footing in opposition territory. Chelsea’s central-midfield pairing of Keira Walsh and the excellent Lexi Potter took that as a gift, winning almost every duel and seizing on every second ball.

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United’s sporadic threat came on the break, and Monica Jusu Bah’s deserved start on the left wing looked to trouble 34-year-old Bronze early on. Luckily for Bronze, United failed to find her anywhere near enough, with Jusu Bah racking up the fewest touches of any United starter.

Olid will take plenty of criticism after two lacklustre performances, but she has taken a blatantly poisoned chalice at United, who lost several first-team players over the summer, including Melvine Malard to Chelsea, and brought in only four. Olid took her position as United manager in August and was unable to use the last few weeks of the transfer window to recruit to suit her style, and very few coaches in world football could have bridged the gigantic gulf in class between these two sides.

Because as bad as United were, Chelsea were at their imperious best. Any amount of confidence and fight United took into the game was sapped by an excellent midfield display by Walsh and Potter, and Walsh’s excellent 20-yard finish across Tullis-Joyce crushed United’s waning spirit just after half an hour.

Potter was particularly stingy, breaking up United’s midfield and snuffing out any fight United managed to muster. But as much as United struggled to deal with Chelsea’s superior midfield quality and physicality, they also had to deal with Lauren James in fine form. She was, as ever, superb, roaming the pitch as if she were a player several leagues above her colleagues and counterparts.

James spent much of the first half trying to entertain herself in the absence of any challenge from her opponents, attempting to settle the goal of the season debate in September with several attempts from outside the box. She enjoyed the free role given to her by manager Sonia Bompastor, whose decision to go for a back three, wing backs and a midfield box helped her side dominate from start to finish.

Unable to score her golazo, James settled for getting on the scoresheet in a less spectacular fashion. A weighted ball from Walsh slipped James into a one-on-one with Janssen, allowing her to ghost past the Dutch defender and finish low across Tullis-Joyce. It was James’s second of the season and her fifth goal in five games against United.

Angela Medina was United’s lone positive from this game, adding serious bite to United’s defence but often finding herself with two players to mark as Ellie Carpenter raided down United’s left-hand side. She spent much of the first half trying to leave a mark on Carpenter, before taking a horrible knock in a knee-on-ankle collision with Potter – Medina’s ankle coming off far worse.

United crumbled after her exit on 56 minutes, conceding two in quick succession after James and Carpenter put the game beyond doubt. Medina’s departure gave Carpenter plenty of space to work with, and she bludgeoned a fourth home after drilling a low shot against Tullis-Joyce’s legs, receiving the rebound and repeating the drill.

Jess Park was United’s only bright spark going forward, drifting from wing to wing and looking like the only player in red that listened to Olid’s demand to want the ball and use it with confidence. But it looks like it will take months, rather than weeks, for the former Hearts manager to work her magic with this United side.

The Red Devils look completely static and disjointed with and without the ball, and the distance between their build-up play and their attacking three is cavernous, giving Elizabeth Terland a rough job in holding the ball up on her own.

Chelsea pressed with ease throughout as United stayed glued to their pre-arranged positions, while the fluidity of James, Nüsken and Kaptein offered a stark contrast. Lucy Bronze’s late fifth goal added unnecessary insult to injury and capped off a dreadful showing from United.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Olid continued with the message she delivered after the 2-1 defeat to London City last week, her tenure is going to take patience and belief.

“The thing I always say is it’s about the belief”, she said. “We can still have the ball more, keep the ball longer, frustrate the opposition because we have the ball. We lose it too soon and then we can’t create the chances.”

When asked about the lack of reaction from her players following last week’s disappointing showing, including yet another game where only one shot on target was registered across the 90 minutes, she added: “We had moments in the game but it’s not enough against these teams, a few moments in the game. We need to be consistent in 90 minutes to perform and get three points from this game. It’s just the beginning, it’s a process we are going to keep working hard and we are going to solve all the problems we are having these first two games.”

It looks like things can’t get worse for United only two games into the WSL season. However, with an away fixture against Arsenal waiting for them next Saturday, the immortal words of Mick McCarthy surely apply.

Oh, it can.

Amid all the noise that surrounded London City Lionesses’ debut WSL campaign last season – and the incredible summer transfer window that followed – it’s perhaps surprising that Freya Godfrey is one of the most talked about players emerging from Michele Kang’s project.

The 21-year-old winger won London City’s Players’ Player of the Season award in 2025-26. She was the club’s top scorer in the WSL with six goals, and also notched four assists.

In a team that included £1 million signing Grace Geyoro – who only managed one goal in 20 league games from midfield – Godfrey was the most consistent performer, outplaying some of London City’s senior, starry recruits.

For Godfrey, being given consistent minutes was the defining factor of her 2025-26 campaign.

“I think I grew in confidence,” she told The Cutback. “I think the main thing for me, especially as a young player, is just needing game time, which I obviously came here to have, I got that.

“The more you get into the flow, the more things start going well, it’s a snowball effect. I want to try and be more consistent. I think that’s my main aim for this year.”

Godfrey initially joined London City on loan from Arsenal during the second half of the London City's 2024-25 promotion season, searching for game time due to her struggle to break into Arsenal’s senior team. It’s a conundrum faced by many young players in the WSL.

Last summer, she made the move to South London permanent and accumulated just under 1,200 minutes of WSL football in 2025-26, the youngest player in London City’s squad to hit that milestone.

Since then, she’s been rewarded with a new three-year contract, the highlight of a summer that saw her attend the F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the Wimbledon tennis grand slam.

The “consistency” that Godfrey is looking for this season is all about “creating chances”. She’s ambitious and recognises that she benefitted from “popping up in the moment” whereas this coming season she wants to have a meaningful impact on every game.

Godfrey may not be guaranteed as many minutes as last campaign given London City’s busy transfer window with French forward Kadidiatou Diani arriving from Lyon, and midfielder Alexia Putellas from Barcelona, just two of the big name arrivals. She started on the bench in London City’s opening day 2-1 victory over Manchester United. In terms of direct competition, Godfrey has shared her wide role with Geyoro and French winger Delphine Cascarino, two huge names with Champions League experience, and Diani can also play in a right-winger role.

The youngster is unfazed by those big names.

“If you asked me last season I would have said the competition’s still so high. I think I did well to establish my place in the team and keep my place in the team, and they’ve brought in more players for me to compete with, it’s a privilege to be in this position.

“I’m young and I’m competing with some of the best wingers in the world who, even if I don’t play, I’m going to learn from them. If I do play, then I’m going to be in a good place.”

London City’s summer additions have caused a stir with many fans and pundits expecting them to challenge the WSL’s ‘big four’ of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United for European spots this season. Godfrey believes they can go one step further and push for the WSL title.

“Yeah, 100% I think we can challenge for the title to be honest. That’s the ambition of the club and that’s where we want to get to.

“I think the Champions League is the minimum of what we want to be fighting for. I think we want to be in and around the title race. I think we have the calibre of players to be there. I think it’s good that we were able to get everything done in the summer, so now we have the pre-season for everyone to build together, which I think we struggled with last year because of the Euros.”

Godfrey’s impressive performances last season also caught the eye of England head coach Sarina Wiegman, who called her up to her Lionesses squads across all of 2025-26. She is yet to take the field for the senior national team but Wiegman praised Godfrey’s ability to offer England “something different”.

The winger is now looking ahead to try and lock down a place in England’s squad for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, albeit the Lionesses still need to qualify via the play-offs later this year.

“Everyone in the league is going to be hoping to go to the World Cup, so the competition is going to be high among the players, within the teams, and everything like that.

“I think for me personally, I just want to keep doing what I’m doing. I was obviously doing something right last season to get the call up, so I want to keep building on that and enjoy myself here, enjoy my football here, and play good football here, and then hope that I can get rewarded for that. And then be able to take my opportunity when and if it comes.”

Her London City side completed the first test of the Putellas-era with their opening win over United. But its going to take more than that to build a serious title challenge.

As the women’s transfer market becomes more competitive, finding value for money has become hugely important for clubs that aren’t generating huge amounts of revenue.

Most clubs are navigating this strange new market without any financial firepower, making shrewd business both difficult and essential. It’s hard to be sensible when it feels like the world has gone mad.

Star signings aside, teams need reliable cogs in the wheel to complete their tactical puzzles and make their stars shine brighter. So without further ado, here’s part 2 of my guide to this season’s rational, under-the-radar moves that could be the difference between glory and defeat.

If you haven’t already, you can read part one here.

Sakina Ouzraoui Diki (AM/FW, 25 years old, UD Tenerife to Madrid CFF)

UD Tenerife have been one of the most consistent sides in Spain since their promotion in 2015-16, having never once finished outside the top 10. They’ve recruited well throughout that time, using the free agent and transfer market to find players that fit their style of play. They finished fourth in the Liga F table last year, their joint-highest finish in the league, and reached the semi-finals of the Copa de la Reina.

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If you missed Sam’s explainer on fantasy WSL, here’s everything you need to know about the game.

Team Selection

We’re going for a 3-5-2 formation, leaving two defenders and one forward on the bench. This team’s value is £99m, so there’s £1m of extra budget available.

As a general rule of thumb, if your players can score at least one point per £1m cost on average, then they’re probably a good value pick. Most of these players scored at least one point per £1m (some were double!) in MW1, and I believe all 15 players can feasibly hit that target in MW2.

It’s not just a case of getting the most expensive players this matchweek. In this team you’ll find a mix of premium picks, players with low selection %, substitutable players, and players about to go on easier runs of fixtures.

Starting XI

Anna Tamminen (Newcastle) £5.0m

Newcastle had a fantastic start to the season, and Tamminen was a key part of that. In MW1, she scored 10 points: six for a clean sheet, one each for 3 saves and 13 defensive actions, and two bonus points.

She faces Bristol City on Saturday, who only scored one goal in their loss to Sunderland last weekend, so are looking less clinical than they were last season.

Kaitlyn Torpey (Newcastle) £4.0m

Torpey is fantastic value at just £4m and in the starting XI for a team that is one of the title favourites. She got seven points in Newcastle’s 2-0 MW1 win thanks to a full 90, a clean sheet and 11 defensive actions; and her upcoming fixture is against a Bristol City side that lost 4-1 on the opening day.

As Newcastle are one of the four teams playing on Saturday, we can wait and see if Torpey scores well, and substitute one of our bench players on if she doesn’t, so it’s a very low-risk inclusion.

Alanna Kennedy (London City Lionesses) £4.5m

Despite no clean sheet for LCL on the opening day, Kennedy did enough to warrant inclusion for MW2. LCL only allowed 0.25 xG against Man Utd and it was Kennedy’s presence that caused Olme to score the own goal that opened the scoring.

The Australian is also great value at £4.5m, and as she’s playing on Saturday night, she’s another one who can be substituted if we don’t see her return a decent number of points.

Ellie Carpenter (Chelsea) £7.0m

It’s a fantasy player’s dream to see a defender being played higher up the pitch, and Chelsea’s 3-back formation allows Carpenter to do just that. Despite not getting a clean sheet, Carpenter still scored 7 points in MW1 thanks to an assist, 7 defensive actions, and a bonus point. Man Utd (A) is, in theory, a tough test. However, we saw a poor attacking display from the Red Devils on Friday, so a Chelsea clean sheet is a realistic possibility.

Beth Lumsden (Newcastle) £7.5m

A third Newcastle player; one of their best, and only selected in 1% of teams. Lumsden managed 10 fantasy points in MW1, despite being subbed with around half an hour to go. She scored a goal, made 10 attacking actions and secured maximum bonus points.

Newcastle travel to Bristol City next which, last week, would’ve sounded like a tight game. However, The Robins lost 4-1 in their opening game, so they might not be the title-challenging force many expected them to be.

Delphine Cascarino (London City Lionesses) £5.5m

Cascarino accumulated 1.23 xA (expected assists) on the opening weekend, the most of all WSL players. No WSL player costing under £7.5m got more than 0.50 xA. Underlying numbers like this suggest that she will continue to create and is the prime player to score assist points.

Daniëlle van de Donk (London City Lionesses) £4.5m

Midfielders get 5 points for a goal, compared to 4 points for a forward’s goal, so van de Donk being categorised as a midfielder and playing in LCL’s front line is a cheat code.

As well as a full 90, she scored a goal and two bonus points on the opening weekend, taking her total to nine points. While she’s in this form, I firmly believe van de Donk is the biggest bargain in the game.

Lauren James (Chelsea) £7.5m

For many people in MW1, James was captain fantastic. A goal, 12 attacking actions and maximum bonus points meant she finished her first match with 13 points. Next up is her former side, Man Utd, who failed to impress on the opening day. James is looking like she has even more confidence than usual this season, and at £7.5m she is fantastic value.

Kirsty Hanson (Tottenham Hotspur) £8.0m

In any fantasy game, I tend to avoid new signings for the first few weeks until they settle in. But judging by her two goals and player of the match award against West Ham on Sunday, Hanson has settled in North London just fine.

You could look at her next game, Liverpool (A), and think her selection is an odd decision given the opposition’s clean sheet on the opening day. But as Liverpool only faced 0.08 xG, I think we need to wait until they’ve had a real test before we judge them, which is exactly what Hanson will deliver.

Bunny Shaw (Manchester City) £12.5m - Captain

Do I really need to justify this one?

Last season’s top scorer, two goals in the opening game, will score against any opponent, and will score at home and away. She’s the most expensive player in the game and somehow still represents decent value, especially when made captain. Okuma played well for Villa on debut, but I still think Bunny Shaw is the best captaincy choice for MW2.

Alessia Russo (Arsenal) £11.5m

Although the armband is elsewhere, there’s enough budget to include more premium options so Russo gets in.

Her next opponent, Crystal Palace, kept a clean sheet last time out, but did so with a lot of last-ditch defending and goal-line clearances. It’s unsustainable to keep clean sheets doing that so don’t be surprised to see Russo with a goal involvement or two.

The Bench

Katie Keane (Leicester) £4.0m

Leicester keepers offer a good budget option at just £4.0m. Before the season started, it was a toss-up whether we’d see Keane or Clark start. After Keane got the nod on Sunday and kept a clean sheet, it’s a safe bet that she will keep the spot for MW2’s game at home to Durham. As Tamminen is playing on Saturday and Keane is playing on Sunday, we can wait to see how Tamminen scores before deciding whether to sub Keane on for Sunday’s game.

Vivien Endemann (Liverpool) £6.0m

Endemann was a real coup for Liverpool this summer, and with a goal and assist on debut she’s already producing. As well as performing for her club, she’s performing in fantasy too – the goal and assist I previously mentioned, plus 10 attacking actions and the maximum bonus points meant she finished on 14 points, well worth her £6.0m price.

She was substituted off at 67 minutes, but as the scoreline was 3-0 at the time, we can assume this was to keep her fit for this week.

Alex Greenwood (Manchester City) £6.0m

One of three Ballon d’Or nominees in this team, Greenwood is a nailed-on starter at one of the title-favourites and one of their set-piece takers. Although Man City didn’t keep a clean sheet in MW1, Greenwood played at least 60 minutes and was substituted before the goal they conceded, so she still got the points.

Add on 12 defensive actions and that took her to seven points for MW1, a total that looks repeatable in her next three matches against Villa, Liverpool and Charlton.

Leah Williamson (Arsenal) £5.5m

The Gunners captain is back and firing at the start of this season. A clean sheet and 10 defensive actions contributed to six points in Arsenal’s first match of the season. Williamson also has a history of passing numbers, so with attacking action points available, we may see her rack these up over the season.

Williamson is my final substitute as I think the other defenders I’ve selected are more likely to keep a clean sheet, but if three of the players on Saturday don’t return, then Williamson will be substituted on. Her MW3 fixture is Man Utd (H) so there’s an element of future planning too; the Red Devils looked very blunt on Friday, so don’t be surprised to see an Arsenal clean sheet in that home.

Differentials

I’m sure you didn’t see it as a surprise that players like Bunny Shaw, Alessia Russo and Lauren James are included in my MW2 team. They’re some of the best players in the world and are unsurprisingly selected by a significant number of fantasy teams.

This is where differentials come in. When you include a few players in your team that score points while having a low selection %, it can give you an edge against other fantasy teams, and will often see you jump a few people in your mini-leagues that haven’t paid as much attention to finding hidden gems, like you have by reading this article!

For MW2, my top differential pick per position is:

GK 2% - Anna Tamminen (Newcastle)

Defender 3% - Kaitlyn Torpey (Newcastle)

Midfielder 3% - Delphine Cascarino (London City Lionesses)

Forward 5% - Vivien Endemann (Liverpool)

All four players have 5% selection at most, so they may well be key players in giving you the upper hand amongst your friends.

Don’t forget to sub (your team)

The substitution rule in this fantasy game is key to success. Six of the 15 players play on Saturday and are in the starting XI. This is on purpose as, chances are, we’re not going to see a good return from each one of the six, but they can be substituted before the games kick off on Sunday if necessary.

Don’t forget to sub (to us)

The Cutback will be bringing you regular fantasy pieces this season. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an article.

For more fantasy tips, check out Decoding Fantasy WSL, the fantasy-focused show from The Cutback Podcast Network, with new episodes every Thursday. Search ‘Decoding Fantasy WSL’ wherever you get your podcasts.

If you missed the first NWSL Crunchtime, then get all caught up right here.

It was a packed week of on- and off-field action, as the majority of the league hit 23 games played. We saw the league’s longest unbeaten streak come to an end, history made in Portland, and, on Monday, some off-pitch news grabbed all the headlines yet again…

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Vlatko and KC end their love affair

The Kansas City Current announced on Monday — a national holiday in the States —that it had mutually parted ways with sporting director Vlatko Andonovski.

The move comes just 10 months after Andonovski started his front office role full-time, having previously been the club’s head coach for two years starting in 2024. Under Andonovski, KC finished top of the table in 2025, earning more points than any team in NWSL history.

"Both parties determined that Andonovski’s requested transition from coaching into the Sporting Director role at the end of last season was not the right fit,” the Current said in a statement.

The bare-bones, 78-word press release that delivered the news on Monday did not mention any of Andonovski’s achievements with the club and angered players both past and present. Since then, there has been an outpouring of affection for the departed director.

Michelle Cooper took to Instagram to post all the team’s records from 2025 with the comment: “Have to include historic 2025 season since the press release missed it!”

Team captain Lo Labonta also mentioned the press release’s failure to acknowledge Andonovski’s achievements. Saying that she spoke for the locker room, Labonta said the players were “forever grateful to have had you as a coach”.

Former player Claire Hutton, now with Bay FC, said that “Kansas City’s loss won’t be yours.”

This has been described by the Current as a mutual parting of ways, and there is no public acknowledgement that Andonovski is being actively pushed out of the club. However, it would seem that his sporting director role was not what he expected it to be.

One of the key wedges between Andonovski and the Current’s ownership is how Chris Armas, his successor as head coach, was appointed. Armas has no experience in the women’s game and was an average coach in men’s Major League Soccer, before being recommended by a friend of owners Angie and Chris Long. It would not seem that he was Andonovski’s pick.

Andonovski is one of the best coaches and team builders in NWSL history, and will not doubt have plenty of offers around the league. For KC, the most important football mind in their club history is gone. Now, a new model, a new structure, needs to fill the void.

Gotham’s unbeaten run ends

The longest active unbeaten streak in the NWSL came to an end last weekend. After 10 matches without a loss, league leaders Gotham were well beaten, going down 3-0 away to the Denver Summit.

Before Sunday’s game, Gotham’s last loss was on 4 July to the San Diego Wave. Denver have now done the double over Gotham in their inaugural season, having won 2-0 in New Jersey back in March.

While anyone can beat anyone in the NWSL, this was a shock scoreline due to how defensively strong Gotham have been this year. Before heading to Denver, Gotham had conceded just 14 goals in 22 games, and hadn’t conceded more than two in an NWSL game since November 2025.

Spirit make history in Portland

After 14 winless visits to Providence Park, the Washington Spirit now have a first-ever away win at the home of the Portland Thorns.

The Spirit came back from 1-0 down to beat the Thorns 2-1 thanks to new signing Melissa Bethi’s second-half winner. The 20-year-old Algerian international made her first NWSL start for the Spirit after arriving from Nantes in July, taking her goal calmly and with aplomb.

It was the first time Portland had lost at home since September 2025, ending their club-record 13-match home unbeaten streak.

The Spirit’s win combined with Gotham’s loss closed the gap at the top of the table to two points and reignited the race for the NWSL Shield with seven matchweeks to play.

The Yolanda bounce

Yolanda Thomas won her first match in as caretaker manager of the Orlando Pride, beating the Houston Dash 3-1 at home.

Thomas took charge as the first Black woman to manage an NWSL match after the Pride decided to sack former manager Seb Hines last week. Hines was the second-longest-serving manager in the NWSL and the first permanent Black head coach in league history.

On the pitch, Barbra Banda scored her first-ever NWSL penalty to make it 2-0 to the Pride just before half-time, her 14th goal of the season.

The win keeps Orlando’s faint playoff hopes alive. The Pride are five points behind the Seattle Reign in eighth, while Orlando have played one game more.

NWSL lacking in Ballon d’Or nominees

Just four players from the NWSL were nominated for the 30-player 2025-26 Ballon d’Or shortlist: Barbra Banda (Pride), Temwa Chawinga (Current), Rose Lavelle (Gotham) and Lorena (Current).

NWSL players can struggle for relevance in Ballon d’Or voting. The league’s schedule and time-zone don’t matching many of the judges who vote for the award and it’s no surprise that only the league’s top-line players appeared on the shortlist.

Lavelle scored the winning goal in last year’s Championship final, Chawinga was the Golden Boot winner and league MVP, and goalkeeper Lorena set records for clean sheets and fewest goals conceded while topping the league.

There was a theory that Banda and Chawinga could gain more votes this year because of their impressive showings at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, but as Jon Arnold pointed out, it appears that judges are being asked not to consider that tournament in this year’s vote.

What to watch out for

Sitting in third, the North Carolina Courage have been the surprise package of the season and their incredible leap up the table over the past few weeks has been driven by the sensational goalscoring exploits of Ashley Sanchez.

Sanchez scored a hat-trick last weekend, taking her tally to 18 goals this season. That’s the most ever by an American player in the NWSL and two behind the outright league record for a season, set by Temwa Chawinga in 2024.

The must-watch game of the weekend will see the Courage head to fifth place San Diego this Saturday [6:30 p.m. ET U.S. / 11:30 p.m. BST].

Both are jostling to finish in the top four and seek a home playoff match come November. But with just six points separating them from the top of the table, a long shot at winning a Shield isn’t quite out of the question.

Weirdly, North Carolina and San Diego are yet to meet this season and will face off twice in the final seven weeks of the season. This is also the Kailen Sheridan derby, as the Courage goalkeeper makes her first return to San Diego, where she was the team’s first-ever goalkeeper and key contributor between 2022 and 2025.

Arsenal ground out victory on the opening weekend of the WSL season, with Lisa Baum’s wondergoal enough to secure a 1-0 win over a Brighton outfit that has caused Renée Slegers’ team plenty of problems in recent years.

While the overall performance wasn’t the prettiest, Arsenal fans got their first chance to see some of their summer signings in action. Four players made their competitive debuts for the club, and all four played a big part in how the match unfolded.

Crash, Baum, Wallop

Arsenal were held to six draws in the WSL last season, three of them goalless, and it was these stalemates that prevented the Gunners from applying serious pressure to Manchester City. In singing Olivia Smith last summer, Arsenal added a player to their forward line who was capable of producing moments of unpredictability and individual brilliance, and if the very early stages of Lisa Baum’s Arsenal career are anything to go by, Arsenal look to have doubled down on this approach.

The 19-year-old German had started on the right in Arsenal’s publicly viewable pre-season friendlies, cutting in onto her left foot. Against Brighton, Slegers opted to use both wingers on their dominant sides, with Baum on the left and the right-footed Smith on the right. It was from this side that Baum ultimately decided the match in the 10th minute by picking up the ball centrally, dribbling past Lia Wälti and creating enough separation from defender Charlie Rule to crash a near-post left-footed shot in off the underside of the bar.

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Friday night’s WSL opener saw Manchester United fall a long way short of big summer spenders London City Lionesses.

The 2-1 scoreline was kind to United, who failed to register a shot until the 78th minute. An own goal from Julia Zigiotti Olme and Danielle Van De Donk’s gorgeous flicked finish – both from set pieces – was enough for London City to get the three points.

Across the 11 shots London City registered, it should have been a lot more. Simi Awujo’s late goal gave United fans something to cheer on what was an extremely disappointing night in Bromley.

This is five things fans can take away from the game:

Anna Sandberg’s position

Anna Sandberg played pre-season and this fixture in the left wing position, rather than left-back, where she has played her entire time at United.

Sandberg had her full breakthrough season in 2025-26 and was widely considered one of the best full-backs in the league last season. Her ability in one-on-one defensive situations was essential to United’ ability to stop attacks down their left side last campaign.

In this new role further forward, Sandberg no longer gets to use that strength anywhere near as much. Her main job in her new role is to pick up the ball on the half turn and beat a player down the line – not something she has looked comfortable at so far.

Sandberg was one of the best performing United players last season and her loss at left-back is noticeable defensively and offensively. Moving her back to a left-back role to utilise her strengths more will benefit her, and the team overall.

Options against a high press

One of the biggest threats in the London City attack came from suffocating United in their own half with a well organised press.

Eva Olid spoke to the media in the post match saying that “in the first half, we could feel like the players were not believing in having the ball”. This showed when United tried to play out from the back. On one occasion United tried to play out from the back into midfield, it resulted in a backpass from Maya Le Tissier to Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who just kicked it straight out of play. This just about summed up the first half.

To beat an organised high press, teams need movement off the ball, creating options and quick passing with confidence to get around the opposition. No United player did what was required, certainly in the first half.

This lack of options forced Sandberg and fellow winger Jess Park into much deeper positions, but without any real movement off the ball it gave them no attacking outlet. United often lost possession or hit it into the channels, where Elisabeth Terland chased each ball, but with little success.

United have players who are comfortable on the ball, so this lack of movement and dysfunctional passing came as a surprise. The belief needs to come back to the players over the next couple of fixtures where they are likely to face a good pressing team again.

Subs making an impact

The few positives in the game from a United point of view came from the bench. New signing Monica Jusu Bah and goalscorer Awujo injected the energy and possession further up the pitch United desperately needed.

Jusu Bah came on and stretched the play on United’s left side, getting the better of the opposition full-back a number of times and getting the ball into good areas in the box. That pace and one-on-one ability gave United a much needed outlet.

Awujo came on and added composure to the midfield, often picking the ball up in deeper areas and driving forward with the ball on her own. She also added much needed physicality to the team, which was noticeably lacking in the first hour of the game.

With those two substitutions, United looked more of a threat in attack and more comfortable on the ball. Both have made a strong case for starting against Chelsea next weekend.

No attacking outlet

The biggest cause for concern is the lack of attacking output United showed in the game. United registered four shots in total, all of which came in the final 15 minutes of the game. One of those four was a shot on target – the Awujo goal, which was the final kick of the game.

United’s inability to beat the London City press was the primary issue, but their decision making when they got into the London City half was also well below an acceptable standard. On the few occasions United got forward, there was a lack of idea on how to attack, with players getting in each other’s way, often losing the ball by a loose pass or an overhit one out of play.

The lack of movement from the forwards and midfielders was noticeable in the first hour. A striker like Terland needs service into the box by getting the ball out wide and getting the crosses in for her to attack. With Park and Sandberg pinned back in defensive roles, this attacking outlet was gone, making Terland’s role redundant at times.

On paper, there is a lack of goals when you look at this United side, however the players on the pitch Friday night are better than they showed.

Patience needed

It was always going to be a tough start to the season for new manager Olid, however the performances need to show something positive for fans to hold onto.

This game raised big alarm bells, but also a realisation that it’s going to take time and patience to turn this side into a sustainable, successful team. A new style is going to take time to implement, with multiple players learning a new way of playing and needing to have the belief on the ball to play forward.

The biggest task I believe for the manager and coaching staff is to get the players believing in their own ability on the ball, and to believe in the attacking philosophy they want to implement, which is not going to happen overnight. United’s first win might not come until game week four, with tough fixtures against Chelsea and Arsenal next up. If that becomes the reality, the pressure will quickly start to rise.

There is a real desire amongst supporters to see this attacking football Olid has spoken a lot about in the media, but for this to become reality, it might take more tough games to watch before the ideas Olid has for this team to show themselves.

The European women’s football season has begun after a summer of off-pitch deals that showed the sport is maturing at an almost unmanageable pace for its stakeholders.

From transfers, to investments, to collective bargaining agreements, here’s your wrap-up of a summer that has changed the game.

An unprecedented summer of spending

Women’s football smashed its global transfer spending record during this transfer window just gone, more than doubling last summer’s outlay. Fifa recorded 1,406 international transfers between 1 June and 2 September, representing about 20% more moves than the previous record for a summer window.

However, total spending rose by over 100%, with a total of $28.6m spent on players – an indication that women’s football is now a long way away from the free-agent market it once was.

English clubs spent $8m, which unsurprisingly was more than any other country. Tottenham broke their transfer record to sign Signe Gaupset and then broke it again for Alice Sombath. Chelsea paid around £850,000 for Manchester United forward Melvine Malard, while Manchester City topped the charts for money received, pocketing around €1.2m from Barcelona for Brazilian forward Kerolin, which City described as a record transfer fee received by a Women’s Super League club.

Overall, the WSL’s biggest spenders were London City Lionesses. You’re probably bored of hearing about it by now, so let’s wrap this up as quickly as possible.

London City Lionesses owner Michele Kang went full Galácticos this summer, acquiring:

• Alexia Putellas (free)

• Mapi León (free)

• Mary Earps (free)

• Nicole Anyomi (free)

• Kadidiatou Diani (€800,000, according to L’Equipe)

• Rosa Kafaji (undisclosed fee)

• Daniela Arques (undisclosed fee)

• Janni Thomsen (undisclosed fee).

These eight new signings will join London City’s existing cast of stars. Grace Geyoro was signed for around £1m from PSG last summer, while Danielle van de Donk, Saki Kumagai and Kosovare Asllani will all be contributing to the wage bill.

London City’s spending will have WSL bean-counters leaning forward in their chairs. The league restricts salary spending to 80 per cent of annual turnover, with clubs allowed additional owner funding of up to £4m or 25 per cent of revenue, whichever is higher.

London City lost over £10m in one year during their promotion campaign up from WSL 2 in 2024-25, earning revenue of under a million pounds. That revenue will be considerably higher now that they are a WSL club, and Kang has claimed that London City’s new sponsorship and kit supply deal with Nike is worth “more than some Premier League deals”, presumably referencing agreements struck by the likes of Ipswich, Coventry and Hull.

For London City’s sake, that had better be true. The WSL can impose sporting sanctions where a breach is understood to create a material sporting or financial advantage. Kang has assembled one of the league’s most expensive squads before her club has fully established its revenue streams.

We’ll know in a couple of years just how closely Kang has cut her cloth.

Acquisitions and investments gather pace worldwide

A spate of investments and acquisitions in women’s football over the summer, particularly in England, showed that the sector is full of opportunities – and costs.

Sixth Street-backed Bay Collective completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Sunderland Women on 18 June, with Sunderland AFC retaining a minority stake. The group is putting player development – or to read the silent part out loud, player trading – at the centre of the deal, which is timely considering the boom in transfer spending.

Former FA women’s technical director Kay Cossington runs Bay Collective, while the new owners have committed to investing in the Academy of Light, performance facilities and the matchday operation. The north-east has proved to be a talent factory in recent times, with players like Beth Mead, Jill Scott, Steph Houghton and Lucy Bronze coming through Sunderland’s ranks in years gone by.

Women’s football’s other famous multi-club owner, Mercury13, completed two deals in the same month. It bought a majority stake in Bristol City Women on 8 June, with the Lansdown family remaining as minority shareholders, before investing in Liga F’s FC Badalona Women on 30 June. The group already owns Como Women in the Serie A Femminile.

Last, but by no means least, Mercury13 announced its final acquisition of the summer in the form of new chief executive Kerstin Lutz. The group has secured one of the most experienced commercial brains in European football, as Lutz was one of the key figures behind the buildout of the Uefa Champions League’s sponsorship portfolio, spending 23 years at Uefa’s former commercial agency Team Marketing.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Durham Women and Watford Women both found themselves in need of fresh investment to compete at the professional level. WSL 2 salary and stadium requirements can take a toll on clubs coming up from the National League or, in Durham’s case, independent sports clubs that can’t ask a brother club for money.

Durham were saved by South Shields FC chairman Geoff Thompson’s investment in June, while Watford owners the Pozzo family found a way out of funding their women’s team in 2026-27, agreeing to sell the team to specialist women’s sport investor Pitch15.

Players and leagues are figuring out the cost of professionalisation

As transfer and wage spending rises at the very top of the game, it’s easy to forget that most professional women footballers aren’t doing particularly well for themselves. Player unions are trying to change that state of affairs, while clubs increasingly pursue a top-heavy salary market that drives star-led growth.

A-League players are still without a collective bargaining agreement after a summer of negotiations over a new deal spiralled into a public spat between the union and the league.

The two sides have only a couple of months to find an agreement before the scheduled start of the league season, but there will be some wounds to heal before any pens hit paper. Australia’s player union chief Beau Busch said years of league underperformance had damaged trust, before accusing the APL of announcing its latest offer publicly without giving players enough time to consider it.

Professional Footballers Australia is seeking automatic sanctions against clubs that fail to pay players on time, alongside improved player protections and a new salary cap agreement.

In return, the Australian Professional Leagues has offered a one-year deal that would increase the A-League Women salary cap from A$640,000 to A$900,000 and provide a roadmap towards full-time professionalism. This deal hasn’t been enough to break the deadlock, and negotiations will continue this month.

Unlike the labour disputes and lockouts seen in US sport, this isn’t an argument between the rich and the richer. More than three quarters of A-League Women players described themselves as financially insecure in the PFA’s most recent survey, with 62% of players needing second jobs outside football.

A similar argument is bubbling away in the NWSL. The league’s strict salary cap was in danger of preventing clubs from retaining top US players and attracting stars from Europe, so the league introduced the High Impact Player rule to allow clubs to spend up to $1m above the salary cap on selected players from July.

The NWSL Players Association challenged the measure, arguing that changes to player compensation should be collectively bargained and argued for a larger overall salary cap as a fairer outcome for all players.

Liga F takes €55m and changes its television strategy

Liga F overhauled its business strategy over the summer, steering away from state and league subsidy and putting their faith in the hands of private equity.

The league approved the biggest financial decision in its short history on 29 June when 12 clubs backed a €55m investment led by Pau Gasol’s Gasol16 Ventures and Fortified Partners. The money will arrive over four seasons and according to a statement by Real Madrid, €40m will be divided between the participating clubs, Liga F will receive €12m for its own operations and €3m will be used to acquire player image rights.

If Liga F plays out as a commercial success over the coming 25 years, the cost of that investment will be significant. Real Madrid, Athletic Club and two other teams rejected the agreement, and Madrid explained that Gasol16 and Fortified Partners would receive 49% of future central commercial revenues until the initial investment is paid off, and 35% thereafter until June 2051.

Liga F needed new funding to continue as a top-tier league after several of its existing sources of capital were beginning to run out. LaLiga had provided €32m of financial support over four seasons and was due to contribute another €10m in 2026-27 before Liga F pivoted away. Spanish government professionalisation funding had also come to an end for 2026-27.

The league also left its DAZN broadcast contract a year early to focus on a new free-to-air led TV strategy. DAZN had agreed to pay €35m over five seasons from 2022-23, giving Liga F an average of around €7m per year.

The new arrangement gives half of every matchday free television distribution in Spain, but it also appears to bring in substantially less money than the previous DAZN contract. A report in Spanish newspaper El Confidencial indicated the league could be earning half as much as it once did for its broadcast rights.

Liga F has effectively used €55m of private investment to give itself time to rebuild its television audience, provide funding to clubs for infrastructure and marketing projects, and re-pitch itself to a largely apathetic Spanish public.

Fifa backs down before the Under-20 Women’s World Cup

Women’s football almost became a victim of bad men’s football governance last weekend, as the Under-20 Women’s World Cup became the first Fifa tournament threatened by the governing body’s row with Uefa over Fifa Forward Enterprise.

Uefa’s 55 associations rejected the highly controversial investment proposal and the dispute escalated at the end of July when European federations agreed to withdraw their teams from Fifa competitions until the plan was completely abandoned..

As a relatively low-stakes tournament, the U20 Women’s World Cup provided a good opportunity for Uefa to show it meant business. Until Fifa finally provided the commitment Uefa wanted in late August, the tournament was in severe danger of cancellation. However, Uefa has remained determined to remove Gianni Infantino as Fifa president.

Women’s football leagues the world over have rushed to free themselves from broader men’s football governance – the NWSL, WSL, Liga F and Frauen-Bundesliga have all made great efforts to set up independent commercial and governance structures.

Given Fifa and Uefa’s willingness to put a major international women’s tournament in danger, you can begin to see why that independence is so important.

Arsenal are still searching for the first WSL title since 2019, but with a summer overhaul that saw big exits and exciting incomings, could this finally be their year?

What happened last season?

Arsenal found themselves in the all-too-familiar position of playing catch-up in the WSL last season. Just six wins from their opening 12 matches left the Gunners 10 points adrift of Manchester City, a gap they were not able to bridge. Nine wins from their final 10 games was not enough to pose a late challenge.

Arsenal fans will be exasperated at how often they have found themselves in this position. In 2024-25, they won just two of their opening six matches. Only when they were well adrift of leaders Chelsea did they manage a run of 12 wins in 13. Similarly, in 2023-24, their title hopes were practically over before they had begun after they picked up just one point from their opening two matches.

This time around, a false start to the title race will spell disaster. The Gunners will face all three ‘big four’ rivals – Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United – within the first five matches of their season. It will be a stern test of whether progress has been made.

Beyond the WSL, Arsenal felt the sting of another disappointing FA Cup exit, crashing out at the quarter-final stage for the second season in a row following a shock defeat to Brighton. Not since 2022 have the Gunners reached the last four

The highlight of Arsenal’s 2025-26 campaign once again came outside of domestic competitions. The Gunners couldn’t quite hit the heights of 2025’s Women’s Champions League triumph, but a run to a third semi-final in four seasons showed a level of consistency in Europe that should not be sniffed at, while victory in the inaugural Fifa Women’s Champions Cup meant that some silverware was earned for their efforts.

Transfers

The bulk of Arsenal’s business was done early, with various deals in the pipeline for a number of months. Free transfers for Georgia Stanway, Selina Cerci, Geraldine Reuteler and Ona Batlle were all completed in early July, with 19-year-old winger Lisa Baum arriving shortly after for a reported fee of £510,000.

Subsequently, Arsenal’s goalkeeper ranks have been strengthened by the arrivals of Misa Rodríguez and youngster Isa Damm, while a lack of central defensive depth was addressed just as the transfer window closed, with Frenchwoman Elisa De Almeida joinining from PSG for a reported fee of £550,000.

Arsenal fans will be enthused by the volume of work done in the transfer market this summer. Talk of a potential squad rebuild had reached almost mythical status in recent years, and significant surgery to the squad across multiple positions reflects a realisation of this longstanding ambition.

With these changes come an overall lowering of the age profile of the squad. Specifically, the signing of Baum shows the continuation of a policy to go for youth on the flanks. In both of Arsenal’s publicly available pre-season friendlies, Baum was paired with back-to-back PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year and club-record signing Olivia Smith.

In midfield, bringing in a player of Stanway’s pedigree will alter the dynamic of what Arsenal are able to do in the centre of the park. With limited depth in this area last season, they became overly reliant on a double pivot of Mariona Caldentey and Kim Little, the latter of whom turned 36 in June.

Another intriguing tactical subplot concerns how the sizeable boots of the now Chelsea-playing Katie McCabe are filled. Batlle looks likeliest to take up the mantle at left-back, given the two-time Women’s Champions League winner’s pedigree. She has played the role before, but playing a right-footer in the position will no doubt require an adjustment to Arsenal’s build-up.

Ones to watch

Smith is now in her second season at the club and will be looking to go to another level after a strong start to life in red and white. The Canadian scored five times in the WSL last term, often rotating between the right and left wings. Starting both of Arsenal’s Meadow Park pre-season friendlies, she scored cutting in from the left against Paris FC before netting from the opposite side in a 5-1 win against Charlton, with a thumping strike from the edge of the box.

Speaking to The Cutback after that match, Smith spoke about having the flexibility to play on both sides: “The best part about football is being flexible, I just want to be on the pitch and to play wherever. Left or right side, I have different qualities for both sides. I can either cut in or take it to the line on both sides. I am very happy to do that when I can.”

Another player to look out for is Smilla Holmberg. The 19-year-old full-back impressed supporters after arriving in January, with her willingness to make overlapping runs and her pinpoint crossing both standout qualities. She scored a brace while deputising on the wing in April’s 7-0 win against Leicester, and her level of versatility was underlined in the friendly against Charlton, where she slotted in at centre-back for the second half of the game.

Fixture to look out for

Chelsea at the Emirates in March of next year.

Arsenal-Chelsea has long been the league’s flagship rivalry, and McCabe’s controversial move across London will only fuel the animosity between the two sides. Arsenal fans felt a sense of betrayal after McCabe’s decision to swap red for blue and they will be sure to make her aware of that when she makes her return to north London.

McCabe herself is no stranger to playing the role of villain in this fixture, of course. Expect fireworks.

Prediction

This season’s WSL title race looks set to be tighter than ever. It is now Manchester City, rather than Chelsea, that the Gunners are looking to overthrow at the top of the table. But it would be foolish to dismiss the old enemy from west London, who have a point to prove after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign of their own.

If Arsenal can buck recent precedent by coming through a tough run of opening fixtures, a serious tilt at a first league title in eight years should be on the cards.

Manchester City got to the summit of the mountain last season, winning the league for the first time in a decade and then adding the FA Cup to make a domestic double. Can they keep the consistency with the addition of Champions League games to their schedule?

What happened last season?

The Sky Blues were the team to beat in domestic football last season. They capitalised on their rivals’ slow starts to the season to build a points gap which reached 11-points at one stage. In the end, City won the title four points ahead of Arsenal and six points in front of Chelsea.

A disappointing semi-final exit in the League Cup was the only blemish on City’s record as they stormed to a 4-0 victory in the Women’s FA Cup final against Brighton to claim a first WSL-FA Cup double.

Sum up the transfer window

Manchester City needed experience after losing some big characters in the squad. Laura Coombs announced her retirement at the end of last season, veteran left-back Leila Ouahabi left for Chicago in the NWSL, and second choice goalkeeper Khiara Keating joined Liverpool. Last season’s third-top scorer Kerolin completed her switch to Barcelona, leaving City light in attack and experience.

City responded by adding familiar WSL faces in the form of Niamh Charles from Chelsea and Beth Mead from Arsenal. A mini injury crisis at the end of the window saw them move swiftly to add versatile German full-back Carlotta Wamser from Frauen Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen and Anna Moorhouse on loan from Orlando Pride as a back-up goalkeeper option.

City’s best bit of business was holding onto star striker Bunny Shaw. The forward was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea, but City managed to lock her down on a new long-term deal.

Who should the fans keep an eye on this season?

Mary Fowler had her breakout season in 2024-25, scoring 10 and assisting 10 across all competitions for City. Unfortunately, she suffered an ACL injury at the end of that campaign which ruled her out for the majority of City’s title-winning season. The departure of Kerolin means the champions need another supply of goals. I am backing Fowler to step up.

Her ability to play any of the attacking roles coupled with her two-footedness makes her a devastating tool for City. I am very curious to see what she looks like in this new version of City where she will get more freedom to roam across the attacking third. She also scores ‘bangers’, something City did not do much of last season.

Elsewhere, Aoba Fujino also keeps improving season upon season and is one of the best young attackers in the WSL. The linkup between her Japanese compatriots Risa Shimizu and Yui Hasegawa was a highlight of City’s preseason and hopefully a sign of things to come.

The game you’ve marked in your calendar

Manchester City-Arsenal is a game that always delivers. The late Stina Blackstenius show in the 2023-24 season broke Manchester City hearts, the season after that both sides battled it out in a seven-goal thriller where Arsenal came up 4-3 victors. Last season, it was City who ended up on the right side of the scoreline after a late Iman Beney goal put them 3-2 up. All these fixtures were played at the Joie Stadium but this time the fixture is set to be played at the Etihad on 4 October, which adds another layer of excitement and intrigue. It is early in the season so it will not be a title decider but it is one of those games that could lay down a marker for either team’s title challenge.

Prediction

City are not in the chasing pack anymore, they are now the team to beat. That comes with its new set of challenges. The expectation is that City will rise to the challenge especially if they keep their best players fit. They have been relatively quiet in the window but that is because they had the best squad in the division last season and the rest have been trying to play catch up. The title race will definitely be tighter this season than last campaign, but City’s experience and stability should get them over the line again.

However, the Champions League is an entirely different beast. It is a beast City, and Chelsea, are yet to tame with their best ever finish being the semi-finals in 2017 and 2018. Their biggest stars are yet to make a mark on Europe’s premier competition and they will be desperate to do that. They have the quality to win it but I think the first aim should be to be a team that consistently makes deep runs into the competition, realistically it will probably be semi-finals again.

The build up to the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland has been far from normal. The tournament, which would usually be much more under the radar, became the centre of a boycott and battle between two football governance powerhouses in Fifa and Uefa.

After fears that Uefa-governed federations may miss the competition all together, the tournament finally kicks off in Poland this weekend. England reached the semi-finals in 2018 but have failed to qualify for the last two tournaments. This squad brings plenty of WSL experience. Could this finally be England’s year?

Getting here hasn’t been simple.

What should have been a straightforward build-up and an exciting time for players and staff became a political headache.

In July, it was revealed that Fifa president Gianni Infantino had drawn up plans to sell off a stake in Fifa’s commercial and ticketing rights for all men’s and women’s World Cups to private investors. The controversial plan would see all of Fifa’s 211 member associations receiving $40m (£30m) in exchange for supporting the proposal.

Uefa was the first confederation to reject the idea and the governing body went one step further, saying it would boycott all upcoming Fifa tournaments, including the U-20 Women’s World Cup. Infantino eventually scrapped the plans, but the debate has rolled on as Uefa has continued to call for Infantino’s resignation.

Tournament hosts Poland remained prepared to deliver the tournament but some players, including England star Lucy Bronze backed a boycott, saying it was “for the good of the game” and future generations.

England U-20 manager Lydia Bedford’s plan never changed. She prepared training camps and shut out the noise as best she could, and said that communication from England’s FA was clear throughout August.

“I had really good, consistent communication from FA leadership to basically say: you ignore it, keep the group on track, keep the staff on track, just carry on as usual,” Bedford said.

The tournament is now kicking off as normal, after Uefa dropped its boycott, but the European football federation remains committed to removing Infantino as Fifa president.

All six European teams are competing as planned, the politics have now been pushed aside, for now, and all focus now turns to the football – which Bedford feels could actually benefit from the furore that has preceded it.

“I think any attention for these young players is good attention. The world knows that this tournament’s happening, and hopefully that will really drive attendance at the games, people logging on and watching it online. It is going to be massive for our players in terms of that support.”

The tournament runs from 5 to 27 September, hosted across four Polish cities: Łódź, Bielsko-Biała, Katowice and Sosnowiec.

England kick off their tournament against Canada on Saturday 5 September (7pm GMT), they will then face Tanzania on Tuesday 8 September (7pm GMT), before closing the group against Brazil on Friday 11 September (3pm GMT).

Why is the U-20 Women’s World Cup important?

The U-20 World Cup is the pinnacle of the women’s youth game, and teams that do well here often go on to dominate at senior level. Spain won the U-20 title in 2022, then the senior World Cup the following year with several of the same players. USWNT manager Emma Hayes recently told ESPN she believes it is “the biggest platform for young players to play in” and said she and her staff will be watching, scouting, and expecting others to do the same.

Since the inaugural tournament in 2002, some of the world’s best players such as Marta, Alex Morgan and Aitana Bonmatí have taken part, along with more recent stars like Salma Paralluelo, Olivia Smith and Alyssa Thompson.

England players to keep an eye on

England have lost some experienced and talented players who haven’t been released by clubs as a result of the tournament’s timing in the calendar. Many teams have kept hold of players who are recovering from injuries or are needed in matches in the NWSL, or at the start of seasons across Europe.

Chelsea’s Lexi Potter, San Diego Wave’s Laila Harbert and North Carolina Courage’s Erica Meg Parkinson will all miss the tournament.

Chloe Sarwie, 17, is a left-back tipped by some as the future of England. She’s been at Chelsea since she was eight, made her Champions League debut against FC Twente in February 2026, and played a big part in England U-23’s European Competition victory earlier this year.

Jessie Gale, 20, is a striker on loan at Newcastle from Arsenal. Last season brought two loan spells — five goals in 15 games at Portsmouth, then four in 12 at Bristol City. Skilful and pacey, she’s already made four appearances for the England U-23s.

Katie Cox, 20, has been part of Chelsea’s academy since she was eight. Cox is still developing as a player, and will be spending the 2026-27 season on loan with Nottingham Forest in WSL2, but its clear that Chelsea have high hopes for her to be a future number one. A talented basketball player as well as footballer, Cox has played at every England age group from Under 16 to Under 20.

Who stands in their way?

England face Canada, Tanzania and Brazil in their group, which should represent three very different tests. Bedford acknowledges that Tanzania shouldn’t be overlooked, given how many players in that squad are coming off the back of major tournament experience at this summer’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Regardless, the former Leicester City boss believes her side are well prepared given the number of training camps laid on to get ready for the tournament.

“It’s been a long summer with loads of preparation camps, so it just feels really nice to finally be here,” Bedford said. “I think at one point I felt like all I was preparing was preparation camps, so to step onto the turf in Poland a few days ago just feels like you can finally now focus on the real thing.”

She continued: “By the time we get to the World Cup, we’ll have played four non-European opponents since June, and that puts us in a really positive place.”

England have played nine fixtures in the build-up, including draws with the US and Colombia, and convincing wins over Portugal and New Caledonia.

Can they go all the way?

Beyond a tough group, it doesn’t get any easier. Spain, the US, Japan and holders North Korea are all strong contenders.

England’s best finish remains their third-placed finish in 2018, when a semi-final loss to Japan was followed by a shootout win over France for third. Several players from that squad, including Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo, went on to reach the senior World Cup final in 2023.

Bedford’s group have talent, togetherness, and real experience of playing at a high level. Whether that’s enough to go further than any England side before them, we’ll find out.

In the world of football, most coaches dread the weekly press conference and post-match interviews. Natalia Arroyo is not that type of coach.

The Aston Villa boss commands a conversation because she has been on the other side of the aisle. She went from player, to part-time journalist and coach, to football manager – an uncommon career path.

Arroyo’s stint as a journalist in Spain came after injury ended her playing career at just 22, but her time in the media has done wonders for her current career. She is excellent with the media – an essential part of football management that very few coaches fully get the hang of. It’s clear that she was a skilled journalist during her time covering games and working as a TV pundit.

I was given a 20-minute slot at Villa’s pre-season media day, and 45 minutes later Arroyo was still chatting, debating her favourite British comedy shows that she watches to better understand the culture in her new home. Mr. Bean and Monty Python are favourites, albeit we joke that most of her squad are too young to know either show.

English and Spanish football are also very different, and much of Arroyo’s time at Villa has been about making adjustments. She arrived in January 2025, replacing Robert de Pauw halfway through the WSL season, and during her 18 months in charge she only managed to win 12 of her 39 WSL matches in charge.

Her Villa career has been inconsistent to say the least. Positive results have been followed up with heavy defeats. Beating Brighton 2-1 one week, before losing 4-1 to United in the following game. Arroyo admits that there is a strong difference between the Spanish coaching environment compared with England.

“Some of our ways of training are different than here. The way we train in Spain is much more ball related and football related. I think that’s a modern methodology anyway.

“Here in England, the players are a little bit less used to small spaces, to rondos where you are not just having fun but thinking about the why in every drill, so every passing drill is not about technique, is about tactical understanding, and I think that’s the challenge.”

The 40-year-old can easily switch into technical coach speak, but it’s clear from how English teams have fared against Barcelona in the Champions League – and when England regularly play Spain at major tournaments and in qualifying – that there is a clash of styles at play. Spain’s possession-heavy style, versus England’s physical and often direct methods.

Arroyo calls the English style “rock and roll” football. And she wants to keep that within her players but also build more connection and confidence between ball and player.

She believes that Villa were undone last season by a lack of depth, and an inability to reliably rotate throughout the season. Villa have signed eight players over the summer, but a key loss has been Kirsty Hanson, last season’s top scorer with 12 goals.

Hanson joined Spurs over the summer, taking a large chunk of Villa’s goals with her. Their next highest goalscorer was veteran forward Rachel Daly with three. Arroyo also lost Ebony Salmon, more of an attacking squad player, and Gabi Nunes, who had struggled since moving to the WSL in 2024.

The Villa head coach isn’t concerned about Hanson’s departure but instead reflects that it was an example of how you can get the best out of a player when you find the right role for them.

“What we can learn from the Kirsty Hanson season is how we were able to to touch the right button with her to make her grow in her goalscoring ability. That was a couple of conversations we had around her role and giving her the confidence and the trust to believe that she could be that.

“She did a great job and if we can repeat the same thing with the other players that we have now, probably we will have the smile at the end of the season, seeing that every single attacking player is so close to the best season ever. Because that was what Kirsty was having, the best season in her career.”

One of Villa’s most impressive recruitments has been midfielder Lucia Kendall, who joined from second-tier Southampton in the summer of 2025. The 22-year-old has been a favourite of Arroyo’s and she was promoted straight into the first team last season, featuring 18 times and getting a call up to Sarina Wiegman’s England squad.

Developing young talent is a particular focus of Arroyo, who worked on Catalonia’s talent pathway in Spain for 10 years during her early coaching years. Arroyo worked with big names that made their way through Barcelona’s La Masia academy including Claudia Pina and Jana Fernandez, who is now at London City Lionesses.

Of the eight players Arroyo has signed on permanent deals this summer, just three are over the age of 23. When she was head coach of Real Sociedad, her side were the youngest team in Liga F and Arroyo is clear that she wants Villa to be a place where young players can thrive.

“If you want minutes, if you want a space to grow. If you want a space to learn, we want to be that.”

Fernandez isn’t the only Spaniard to be reunited with Arroyo in the WSL. London City manager Eder Maestre was her assistant at Real Sociedad for three seasons. Arroyo sees herself as an educator for future coaches coming to the WSL and she’s kept a close relationship with Maestre as they both navigate different demands and ambitions from their clubs.

“I always try to learn from them [other coaches]. I need them to grow, and if I can give them some advice, it’s powerful. I feel I am in the spotlight, if that makes sense. And for some of the younger ones, the ones that are curious, the ones that are starting their career, I try to help students. I try to help them because I was lucky, even as a journalist, trying to learn from senior ones, and I’m really grateful to them at how generous they were at giving me advice. So if I can help them now, I try to be coherent with that and give them that challenge.”

What should Villa fans actually expect this season, given the team lost eight of their final ten matches of the 2025-26 campaign? This forthcoming season is about control, according to Arroyo, but also understanding when to attack games.

“I want to dictate what happens in the game. That’s what makes me more comfortable. That gives me more control, that’s what I want. So I want to be in control, but able to attack. So if control means we are protective, we are scared, we are reactive, no I don’t want that. I want to be proactive. I want to dictate what’s next in possession, out of possession.

“But we also need to realise that in the league, some days we can’t because other teams are better than us or can be better than us in certain areas. So we need to be a little bit adaptable in reading what the game is allowing us to do and be smart, of course.

“One of the things I’m really encouraging the players to do is trust themselves, deal with the storm, deal with the emotions, stay consistent and comfortable in the uncomfortable moments.”

We certainly haven’t seen the best of Arroyo’s Villa and there will be pressure to improve on last season’s poor run. But one thing is clear: if you’re in the coach’s presence this season, grab a microphone and whip out a notebook, because there is so much to learn.

Alexia Putellas’ first game with London City Lionesses was watched by a peak concurrent live audience of around 3,500 in Spain – not on a broadcaster, but on a YouTube channel.

London City’s 2-1 win over Manchester United was streamed on the YouTube channel of Mundo Maldini, a Spanish-language YouTuber with over 1.3 million subscribers.

For the remainder of the season, one WSL game a week will be shown on Eleven TV, a new venture launched by Putellas and her agency Team YouFirst, while all other WSL games during a weekend will be shown in the region on the Barclays WSL’s YouTube channel.

The Cutback understands that the WSL declined to renew its deal with Movistar, the Spanish pay-TV broadcaster that carried rights to one exclusive game per week last season, instead opting to work on a new streaming offer. The agreement with Movistar had prevented the WSL from streaming other matches in the territory on YouTube, thus limiting visibility for the league.

The league has now opted to explore a digital-first approach with Putellas, resulting in a new deal with the London City star’s media venture. The move has certainly generated buzz and will help WSL Football reach young women’s football fans in Spain, but these sorts of agreements are never without their hiccups. Tonight’s stream of London City’s opening game experienced some technical issues early on, with sound quality below the standards of the average YouTuber.

Eleven TV has said it is setting up the “broadcasting infrastructure” to stream the rest of the season on the new Putellas-owned channel.

The new digital broadcaster’s ambitions are to “become a leading destination for women’s football across the Spanish-speaking world” and broadcast interviews, analysis and original formats, as well as live games.

The deal comes on the back of a surge in “creator-led” partnerships across football. Last season, Germany’s Bundesliga partnered with Mark Goldbridge’s That’s Football channel and The Overlap in UK streaming rights deals. The partnerships had mixed results, with limited concurrent live views.

This season, the Bundesliga added Jamie Vardy’s new YouTube channel to their English YouTube distribution, while renewing with Goldbridge’s That’s Football.

Vardy’s coverage is being produced by Banijay Entertainment, with Vardy and guests featuring as pundits.

What sets this deal apart from Vardy and Goldbridge is Putellas is a current player, and an influential figure within Spanish football. What influence she will have in any of the coverage remains to be seen.

The new-look London City Lionesses announced themselves to the WSL on opening night, strolling to a dominant 2-1 victory against a poor Manchester United side that looked out of ideas from the first whistle.

Alexia Putellas captained London City in her first competitive game for the club, and while all build-up to this game focused on the two-time Ballon D’or winner and the home side’s ambitious summer spending spree, all the post-match talk quickly shifted to just how much are United going to struggle.

And boy did they struggle. An early own goal by midfielder Julia Zigiotti Olme and a beautiful backheeled flick finish from the Lionesses’ Danielle van de Donk sealed their fate late on. United substitute Simi Awujo’s late consolation goal flattered the Manchester side, who were the architects of their own downfall.

United boss Eva Olid told Sky that her side were “nervous, without confidence”, and this may have been an understatement. They had to wait until the 78th minute for their first shot on goal. Jess Park hit the side netting in United’s brightest moment in normal time, before Awujo halved the lead with the final kick of the game.

Olid’s side played like a team that had only just been patched together, rather than a starting XI that only featured one new signing in left-back Andrea Medina. They folded under London City’s early press and struggled to play out from the back, panicking in possession and finding themselves forced to kick long on a number of occasions.

There can be sympathy for the disrupted pre-season United suffered after Olid was brought in with just weeks to go before the start of the new campaign, but this performance will leave her with very little to build on.

Teammates shrugged and pointed after every turnover of possession – of which there were many – and at one stage in the first half, Jayde Riviere was hurried along by referee Emily Heaslip because she was at risk of exceeding the new five-second throw-in countdown, such was her lack of options. Her throw ended up going straight to a London City player.

It only took nine minutes for London City to take the lead – Zigiotti Olme heading into her own net from a Janni Thomsen corner – and United never seemed to recover.

The game already felt out of United’s grasp at 1-0, but it was well and truly over when van de Donk doubled London City’s lead with a beautiful backheeled finish in the 82nd minute. A short Mapi León corner was worked to the near post by Delphine Cascarino, leaving van de Donk to put the cherry atop the cake.

Despite their opponents, London City will rightly come out of this match with plenty of credit. They spent much of the game in second gear but turned up the heat when they had to, starting the game strongly with and without the ball. The Lionesses ended the game with 60% possession and pressed well, especially in the first half.

The imperious Putellas was happy to facilitate the game at her own leisurely pace, and fellow new arrival Mapi León was a consistent threat with her delivery from corners and free-kicks, enjoying a night off from defensive duties until the very last.

Aside from conceding late on, London City’s only concern will be the loss of winger Lucía Corrales, who was stretchered off in the second half with what appeared to be a freak non-contact upper-body injury.

The only positive for United is that new signing Medina looked at ease alongside her new teammates, perhaps more so than her existing teammates did with one another.

It’s odd to say that London City Lionesses’ thunder was stolen by an opposition that performed so poorly, but such is the reality of Manchester United football club, where expectations are so high.

From the managers

Eva Olid, Manchester United head coach: “I always say that it's a process. In three weeks, I have tried to make the team believe that we can be a team that dominate with the ball and attack.

“I think it's something more mental. The first half we could feel we were in a place where we're not believing. At halftime, I said ‘listen, this is not us’. We need the ball to be ourselves, and of course, we can see a change in the second half.

“I think that if we play 90 minutes like we did in the second half, it would be a different game.”

Eder Maestre, London City Lionesses head coach: “We had many chances to create a bigger gap [in goals] and when you are facing Manchester United, you can’t imagine that you are going to be so dominant the whole game because they have a lot of good players. We had some not bad moments in the second half. As I mentioned, we need to be humble. I think the team showed how capable they can be, and be dominant in the identity that we are trying to to create. So I'm very proud of the team.”

At the end of the 2025-26 season, the first women’s playoff final in nearly two decades saw Leicester face Charlton Athletic in an all-or-nothing contest for the final place in the WSL.

After a goalless 120 minutes, a penalty-saving masterclass by goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse sent Charlton into the top flight for the first time since 2008.

Ashleigh Neville and Emily van Egmond were both on the losing side for Leicester that day, but have found their way back to the WSL thanks to summer moves to south London. They will bring a wealth of experience to a squad stepping into unfamiliar territory — about 70% of Charlton’s current squad is under the age of 27, making WSL experience invaluable.

That playoff final was almost a spark of inspiration, especially for Neville: “Together, collectively as a team, they found a way to win, and that’s a massive mentality to have. That’s something I want to be part of.”

“Charlton is such a different group. The culture they have made for themselves is incredible, and joining it has opened my eyes to how much they never give up.”

That mentality has given Neville confidence that Charlton can stay up, despite their relatively small budget.

“I think, personally, people expect us to go straight back down, but that’s only more fuel to the fire to show them and prove that we’re here to compete. We know that being new to a league is quite hard. I’ve done it myself at Spurs, where the first year you just want to survive and then you build on it from there, but for me, I prefer to be the underdogs.”

Another considerable deciding factor for Neville was a reunion with manager Karen Hills. Hills signed Neville for Spurs in 2017, where Neville played for nine years, and managed the club as they were promoted into the WSL.

It is a relationship that Neville already feels comfortable with: “Karen was very honest with me. I wasn’t being sold a dream. She believes in the team and believes in me which is all you want as a player. I really respect her as a coach.”

For van Egmond, whose career has taken her through the NWSL, A-League and WSL, she views the English top flight as the benchmark: “The NWSL and the WSL are constantly competing back and forth with each other and international football has a bit to do with it, but the WSL is a really exciting league. What the clubs have to offer here, from facilities to investment to the competition is second to none. That’s credit to the investment and the sponsors for making that happen.”

Van Egmond also holds the impressive title of being the most capped Australian female footballer ever, and she joins two other Matildas in the squad, Leah Davidson and Grace Johnston.

Speaking about her Aussie teammates, she says: “I think it’s awesome for them to come out of their comfort zone. They were both in the A-League and then switched. [The A-League] is having its difficulties at the moment in terms of a league trying to establish itself but as individuals, it shows their ambition to be part of this club.”

“With the World Cup coming up next summer, we want people playing consistent minutes, being challenged every day in top environments. It is naturally going to help the team have success. If the Matildas have more people overseas at the moment, it’s definitely a good thing.”

On the pitch, Neville expects Charlton to bring its attacking identity to the WSL.

“We want to play with the ball, and we have young forwards who are fast and direct. But we need to be sensible about what we’re coming up against because a lot of teams play with aggressive press now so we need to know when to play.”

“Our main focus is on the league but we have three-game weeks coming up which will be new for many players. We would like to have a good run in the cup as well.”

Van Egmond has already identified two players who could make their mark this season: French forward Lorena Azzaro, on loan from Paris FC, and Jodie Hutton, whom she describes as an “underrated dark horse”.

Charlton got a taste of top-tier competition last Wednesday, losing 5-1 to Arsenal in a pre-season friendly at Meadow Park. However, their WSL opener against Liverpool at The Valley this weekend will provide the Addicks with a more familiar test.

The game will be a repeat of last season’s FA Cup quarter-final, which saw Charlton lose 1-0 in extra time after a 115th-minute winner from Liverpool midfielder Zara Shaw.

Van Egmond’s verdict on Charlton’s promotion was straightforward: “Charlton have definitely earned the right to be in the league.”

Sunday will bring an examination of whether Charlton play well enough to stay there.

For the first time in five years, Marc Skinner will not be in the dugout to lead Manchester United at the start of a WSL season. Skinner’s resignation last month came against a backdrop of frustrated fans and a club that is looking to scale back the costs of chasing Champions League football.

It was a departure that felt both shocking and expected at the same time.

For several years, Skinner had been managing within restricted means as United’s hierarchy have been vocal about the cost burden of the women’s team. United fans had also become frustrated about a style of play that many believed had become stale, and Skinner was often the target of their criticisms.

Now, there’s a new coach to absorb the pressure of being United boss, but with the strategic direction shifting towards prioritising youth, can Eva Olid maintain United’s place alongside the WSL’s elite?

What happened last season?

It’s hard for Manchester United fans to look back at last season and take many positives.

United finished fourth in the WSL last season, nine points adrift of Chelsea in third place and 15 points shy of Manchester City’s title-winning total. It was a marginally worse performance compared to 2024-25 when United finished third.

In cup competitions, Chelsea once again blocked United’s path by knocking them out of the FA Cup and defeating them in the League Cup final. The Champions League offered some hope as United reached the league phase for the first time and looked comfortable in most of their fixtures.

However, once again, they couldn’t find a way past elite opposition. Bayern Munich proved too strong for United over two legs, but fans could be forgiven for seeing the tie as a missed opportunity. The Red Devils were 10 minutes away from sending the tie to extra time until two late second-leg goals killed their hopes of a semi-final against Barcelona.

A lack of depth and tired legs showed in the second leg – something the club hasn’t entirely addressed over the summer.

Transfers

On paper, United’s transfer window looks a bit lopsided, with more departures than arrivals.

Six players have left the club permanently. Leah Galton (free agent), Hannah Blundell (Everton), Gabby George (Brighton), Melvine Malard (Chelsea), Millie Turner and Lisa Naalsund (both to Birmingham City) have all moved on to pastures new, with the latter four fetching transfer fees. The majority of the departures on paper follow the lines coming out from the club of refreshing the team to be younger and looking to develop the next generation of players. The outlier is Malard’s departure, albeit receiving a big fee - she topped the charts when it came to goal involvements in the United squad. The departures this summer will more likely be felt off the pitch, with most of those being big personalities and a big part of the team over the last few years.

Four players have arrived in their places. Andrea Medina, Janina Leiztig, Monica Jusu Bah and Rebeca Bernal. Each player brings something different to the side, all positions needed to help bolster the squad. Medina on a free transfer is a smart pick up by United, covering both left-back, left wing-back and centre-back.

Left winger Jusu Bah fills a position United needed to recruit, with Malard and Galton’s departures, United only had one natural left winger (Fridolina Rolfo) - so to add a younger player to that left side of attack was crucial this summer.

The signings of Medina and Jusu Bah line up with the club’s new direction of signing players to develop, building a squad of players in their early 20s - which United will hope to pay dividends in a few years. Bernal was the final signing of the window but one of the most important. Being a versatile player, she can slot in at centre-back and central midfield, and adds vital experience to a younger squad. Overall it’s been a quieter window than most fans expected.

The change of manager midway through pre-season undoubtedly had an impact, which was noted by Olid in the pre-match press conference ahead of United’s opener against London City Lionesses on Friday. Olid said: “The thing is that the players I need are different from the players the previous manager needed. That puts us in a situation that has been a short-period to react for the players that I need. We have some plans in January about signing players that I really need for my style of play and model game. It was not about signing players quick this summer”. Olid also added that the club are already planning mode for the January window.

Goalkeepers Saf Middleton-Patel and Kayla Rendell have also gone on loan, with United signing Leitzig as a back up to Phallon Tullis-Joyce, both loans make sense for them to get game time elsewhere. Rendell is yet to play a competitive game for United since joining in January 2025, while Middleton-Patel has a handful of appearances, most notably a run of three fixtures last season when Tullis-Joyce was out with an injury. Both keepers need game time to develop further and Leitzig’s arrival adds the experience needed to support Tullis-Joyce.

Ones to watch

After three seasons spent on loan, this could be Emma Watson’s time to shine. The 20-year-old Scotland midfielder is coming off the back of an impressive loan spell in Mexico and her development is at the right stage to break into this United first team.

The style of play Olid will employ this season will likely suit Watson’s game, with quick one- or two-touch passing and fast movement off the ball. New assistant coach Gavin Beith has worked with Watson through her time at youth level for Scotland and knows her talent well.

A more straightforward pick for this season is Monica Jusu Bah, who arrived at United from BK Hacken for a fee of just under £400,000. Her pace and skill on the left wing will be exciting to watch in this United team, especially in games where she has space to run into. Her ability to beat a player one-on-one and deliver into the box could be crucial for strikers like Elisabeth Terland, who thrive on having natural wingers like Jusu Bah outside of her.

The speed and link up of United’s Swedish left side, with Anna Sandberg the likely starter at left back, will get the best out of Jusu Bah this campaign.

The game you’ve marked in your calendar

It’s hard not to look past the opening game against London City Lionesses as a key test of where both sides are at.

It will be the first time seeing Olid’s United in a competitive match, opening the season against a tough opposition who have strengthened this summer. The first three fixtures also include a home game against Chelsea and an away fixture at Arsenal.

These games will be a tough start for the new manager and team, but will give fans an early insight into what can be expected from United this season after a relatively late change of manager and limited activity in the market compared to the rest of the WSL.

Prediction

United have a new manager, a new style of play and a new club direction, making this season a hard one to predict.

I think United will once again finish fourth this season in the WSL. The starting 11 still has enough quality to compete at the top but the lack of depth, especially in attack, will cost United points throughout the season. They will likely finish a few runs behind the top three. Although the teams below United last season have strengthened this summer, the team should have enough quality and experience to solidify fourth position.

I’m expecting United to reach the final of the Subway Players Cup at a minimum. Anything less, I believe, is a failure in that competition.

Patience will be required this season, and success can be measured in different ways. Providing United stay within the top four and the team looks to be playing better football, I think this season can be looked back on as a successful one.