The Cutback's WSL 2025-26 season guide
Everything you need to know about all 12 teams in the WSL
Get ready for the start of the 2025-26 WSL season with this special guide.
Taking you through every team, their summer transfer activity, formation and style of play.
Keep across all the transfers in the WSL with The Cutback’s transfer tracker.
Download the season guide as a PDF.
Arsenal
Finished last season: 2nd; Manager: Renée Slegers; Captain: Kim Little
Key player: Mariona Caldentey
Most used formation: 4-2-3-1
Playing style: Possession-based; central build-up; blend of technical and fast attackers.
Arsenal head into this season off the back of a monumental Champions League victory against Barcelona back in May. Renée Slegers’ side were the overwhelming underdogs in that clash, but thanks to a Stina Blackstenius goal, they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in European history.
Fans will be expecting a big title challenge after a successful window that saw the signing of record WSL transfer Olivia Smith from Liverpool. She joins an already stacked squad that has also added the permanent signing of England’s Euro 2025 hero, Chloe Kelly.
European success for Arsenal definitely brings more pressure, but this season could be the year they finally unseat Chelsea at the top of the WSL for the first time since 2019.
Aston Villa
Finished last season: 6th; Manager: Natalia Arroyo;
Most used formation: 4-2-3-1
Playing style: Transition-based; central hold-up play with pacey wingers running in behind; very direct.
Aston Villa overcame a rocky start to last season to finish sixth in the WSL. It’s been a summer of change, with several players moving on, including club captain Rachel Corsie, who has retired. Highly rated coach Natalia Arroyo replaced Robert De Pauw in January and took a while to get going. She got the best out of her team at the end of the campaign, with Villa winning their last five games of the season to climb the table. This season is all about consolidation and building consistency after several rollercoaster campaigns in the WSL.
Brighton & Hove Albion
Finished last season: 5th Manager; Dario Vidošić; Captain: Maisie Symonds
Key player: Fran Kirby
Most used formation: 3-4-3
Playing style: Gegenpressing; fluid-positional system; attacking-minded with high line.
Brighton finished last season in fifth place, impressing neutrals as the WSL's 'best of the rest', taking points off each of the top three in the process. Manager Dario Vidošić made a strong impression in his first season in English football, but recent history shows that teams outside the so-called big four have struggled to sustain top-five finishes, with the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa unable to follow up on impressive campaigns in recent years.
This summer has seen something of a reset in terms of the age profile, with Guro Bergsvand (31), Nikita Parris (32), Maria Thorisdóttir (32) and Vicky Losada (34) all leaving the club, while six of the club’s seven summer signings are under the age of 25. These include two-time CAF goalkeeper of the year Chiamaka Nnadozie, 22-year-old French defender Maelys Mpomé signed from Chelsea, and the double loan swoop of Arsenal’s Rosa Kafaji (22) alongside returning Euros hero Michelle Agyemang (19).
Chelsea
Finished last season: 1st; Manager: Sonia Bompastor; Captain: Millie Bright
Key player: Lauren James
Most used formation: 4-2-3-1
Playing style: Play focused down the wings; high pressing line and counterpress; attacking fullbacks on both flanks who are heavily involved in possession.
Chelsea are looking to achieve a magnificent seven in WSL terms, having enjoyed their most dominant domestic season yet in Sonia Bompastor’s debut campaign. Unlike previous seasons, when they were pushed all the way to the wire by their nearest rivals, Chelsea won last season’s WSL title at a canter, becoming the first team to go an entire WSL season unbeaten and finishing 12 points ahead of their closest rivals in the process. On top of this, they claimed the domestic treble for the second time in their history and have now won 13 of the 18 domestic trophies available since the start of the 2019-20 season.
This season, Bompastor will look to continue to mould a Hayes-shaped side in her image and build on the domestic success achieved since the turn of the decade.
Chelsea kicked off their transfer window with the acquisition of attacking full-back Ellie Carpenter, who will be reunited with Bompastor after their time together at Lyon. They then made a dramatic late addition, signing USA forward Alyssa Thompson from Angel City in a deadline-day move reportedly worth around £1 million plus add ons.
Everton
Finished last season: 8th; Manager: Brian Sørensen; Captain: Megan Finnigan
Key player: Kelly Gago
Most used formation: 4-4-1-1
Playing style: Play focused down the wings; defensively solid; pacey forwards who can stretch the defence.
The Toffees have quietly built a reputation as a solid WSL outfit. As the second longest-serving manager in the division, Brian Sørensen has built a side that is hard to beat. Everton finished eighth for the second season running in 2024-25, but they did so with the best defensive record of any team outside the top four, conceding 32 goals – just four more than Manchester City.
Having been the manager of Everton Women since 2022, the way Sørensen sets up his side is no great mystery, but the challenge remains finding a reliable source of goals to propel the team up the table. The January addition of Kelly Gago, who scored four goals in 10 WSL appearances for the Toffees, will help in this regard, while Honoka Hayashi is the team’s technical leader in the middle of the park. A major challenge will be replacing one of their key players from last season, Sara Holmgaard, who provided seven goal contributions from full-back. Coming in as Holmgaard’s replacement is Hikaru Kitagawa – one of three Japan internationals signed this summer.
Leicester City
Finished last season: 10th; Manager: Rick Passmoor (interim); Captain: Janice Cayman
Key player: Janice Cayman
Most used formation: 4-2-3-1
Playing style: Direct team; fast counters employing multiple players; inverted wingers often cutting inside.
Leicester will go into the new season without a permanent manager in post after Amandine Miquel was sacked just 11 days before their season opener. That has been the latest chapter in a chastening summer for the Foxes, who have seen key players such as Sophie Howard, Yūka Momiki and Saori Takarada leave the club. Besides the signing of 18-year-old Irish goalkeeper Katie Kean, the only other arrival at the King Power this summer has been experienced midfielder Celeste Boureille, from Montpellier.
Having finished 10th in each of the last three seasons, this may be the Foxes’ toughest WSL campaign, with off-field problems exacerbated by club-wide financial issues, not helped by the men’s team’s relegation from the Premier League last season. No automatic relegation in the WSL this season, due to the expansion to 14 teams from 2026/27, may just be a saving grace.
Liverpool
Finished last season: 7th; Manager: Gareth Taylor; Captain: Grace Fisk
Key player: Marie Höbinger
Most used formation: 3-5-2
Playing style: Build-up play from the back; both central midfielders need to be aggressive going forward; set-piece specialists.
It has been a summer of change for the two-time WSL winners, with key players leaving the club. The departure of Taylor Hinds, who captained the team in place of the now-retired Niamh Fahey for most of last season, will be felt keenly. Even harder to replace will be Olivia Smith, one of two players to have left for Arsenal this summer, the other being Hinds. No Liverpool player provided more direct goal contributions in the WSL last season than Smith, whose efforts were recognised when she was named last season’s PFA young player of the year.
A cause for concern for those of a Liverpool persuasion will be the relatively modest nature of their incoming business. The headline additions of Lily Woodham, who joins from Crystal Palace, and the young Scottish midfielder Kirsty Maclean, signed from Rangers, do not feel particularly ambitious. Beyond that, Liverpool’s only other business has seen the Scotland international Sam Kerr join permanently, having spent the second half of last season on loan at the club, while the German goalkeeper Rafaela Borggräfe will compete with Rachael Laws for the No 1 jersey.
Looking to piece things together is Gareth Taylor, finally appointed as head coach in August following the dismissal of Matt Beard back in February. Known for employing free-flowing, possession-based football at Manchester City, it will be interesting to see how he adapts at a club unlikely to dominate possession from week to week as his former side did.
London City Lionesses
Finished last season: 1st (WSL 2); Manager: Jocelyn Prêcheur; Captain: Kosovare Asllani
Key player: Nikita Parris
Most used formation: 4-2-3-1
Playing style: Structured build-up play from the back; fast, short passing to control games; physicality in defence.
The league’s only independent women’s football club, the new kids on the block in the WSL, are truly an unknown quantity. While promoted clubs have struggled in recent seasons – the last two promoted clubs managed just three wins between them across the last two seasons – London City Lionesses, financed by the billionaire businesswoman Michele Kang, have shown unprecedented ambition in the transfer market following promotion and will be targeting more than mere survival.
In all, 14 players have come through the door. Some of those signings, such as Daniëlle van de Donk, Nikita Parris, Katie Zelem and Alanna Kennedy will bring much-needed WSL experience. At the other end of the spectrum, the acquisitions of Freya Godfrey from Arsenal, Paula Partido (Real Madrid) and Wassa Sangaré (Lyon) show that this is a club building for the future. Their ranks could be further bolstered by the signing of teenage Barcelona defender Lucía Corrales, for whom they have triggered a release clause worth a reported €500,000.
With so much squad turnover, the challenge for the former PSG manager Jocelyn Prêcheur will be gelling the squad while keeping teething problems to a minimum. Key to this could be the performances of players carried over from last season’s Championship campaign. Among these players is captain Kosovare Asllani, who at the age of 36 will play in the WSL for just the second time in her illustrious playing career, following a one-season stint at Manchester City nine years ago.
Manchester City
Finished last season: 4th; Manager: Andrée Jeglertz; Captain: Alex Greenwood
Key player: Khadija “Bunny” Shaw
Most used formation: 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3
Playing style: Attack-minded football; tactical flexibility to adapt to the squad’s strengths; high pressing and counter-pressing for quick ball recovery.
Following a disappointing season that led to Gareth Taylor’s sacking, City will be looking to rebuild. The club have drifted in recent years, finishing outside of top three in two of the last three seasons and failing to win a trophy of any kind since early 2022. The man tasked with turning around their fortunes is Andrée Jeglertz, who led Denmark at this summer’s Euros.
In the transfer window, defender Jade Rose and midfielder Sydney Lohmann represent quality additions. The latter will bring much-needed defensive depth, while young Swiss forward Iman Beney, who joins from Young Boys Frauen, showed flashes of her immense talent while representing her country over the summer.
Above all, City will hope for better luck with injuries this time around. An injury crisis in the latter part of 2024-25 truly saw their season unravel – they were able to name only five substitutes for the second leg of their Women’s Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea. Fail to make the top four again, and questions about the direction in which the club is headed will continue to be asked.
City ended the transfer window with a bang, securing midfielder Grace Clinton from Manchester United. While Jess Park headed to the red side of Manchester. A box-office transfer window move.
Manchester United
Finished last season: Third; Manager: Marc Skinner; Captain: Maya Le Tissier
Key player: Elisabeth Terland
Most used formation: 4-2-3-1
Playing style: Very solid man-marking defence; one central midfielder focuses on playmaking while the other on box-crashing; narrow shape to overload central areas.
Stability is not usually a term associated with Manchester United Football Club, but it is something the women’s team are experiencing right now. Marc Skinner is the WSL’s longest-serving manager and will look to build on a second top-three finish in three seasons. There has been minimal turnover in terms of outgoings this summer, with Aoife Mannion the only player who started a WSL game for United last season to depart.
In terms of incomings, the Swedish pair of Julia Zigiotti Olme and Fridolina Rolfö come in. Zigiotti Olme returns to the WSL after a one-season stint at Bayern Munich, having previously played for Brighton, while the addition of Rolfö from cash-strapped Barcelona represents a major coup. Having been converted to play as a fullback for Barça, she has been earmarked to play in an advanced role for United.
United fans will be hoping that the arrival of Park will give them much-needed midfield and attacking depth, although it might sting to see Clinton now playing in sky blue.
A potential challenge for United this season is the prospect of juggling domestic competitions with a full European campaign. Having successfully negotiated the second qualifying round with victories over PSV and Hammarby, they will play in the Women’s Champions League proper for the first time, should they overcome Norwegian side SK Brann in the third qualifying round.
Tottenham Hotspur
Finished last season: 11th; Manager: Martin Ho; Captain: Bethany England
Key player: Bethany England
Most used formation: 4-3-3
Playing style: Central build-up; high pressing intensity on the opposing backline; overloading the edge of the box.
Things can surely only get better for Tottenham, who endured a dismal season last time out. Having cracked a top-half finish in 2023/24, Spurs came crashing down to earth last season. Only relegated Crystal Palace – the last team Spurs beat in the WSL, back in January – finished lower than the north London club. Ultimately, a run of seven defeats from their final ten games left the club with little choice but to dismiss Robert Vilahamn at the end of the season.
Martin Ho comes in to try and rebuild the club’s fortunes. He arrives from Brann with plenty of admirers, having played a brave, possession-based brand of football that included a run to the Champions League quarter-finals, where his side went toe to toe with Barcelona. Like Vilahamn before him, the challenge will be translating the brand of football he wants to play to a side that struggled for much of last season. Ho will largely have to make do with the same squad in what has been a quiet transfer window for Spurs, but their sole summer signing, 19-year-old Japan defender Tōko Koga, is an exciting talent.
West Ham United
Finished last season: 9th; Manager: Rehanne Skinner; Captain: Katrina Gorry
Key player: Shekiera Martinez
Most used formation: 4-4-2
Playing style: Play focused down the wings with wide overloads; exploiting crosses; direct team with fast attackers.
The Hammers enjoyed a respectable showing in the second half of last season, climbing two places to finish ninth. Rehanne Skinner’s side were able to build real momentum between early March and late April, going on a five-match unbeaten run which saw them take points off Chelsea, City and United, having also given Arsenal a scare in a 4-3 defeat at Meadow Park. Key to this upturn in form was Shekiera Martinez, with the German forward enjoying an astonishingly impressive start to life in the WSL, scoring nine times in 10 league appearances following her arrival from the Frauen Bundesliga in January. West Ham will hope the combined attacking firepower of Martinez and Viviane Asseyi, who also scored nine times last term, will help them move up the table rather than look over their shoulders.
Among the incoming signings, the most intriguing addition is Leila Wandeler. The forward is one of a cohort of young Swiss talents to impress at the Euros over the summer. Another player who appeared at Euro 2025 is Ffion Morgan. The Welsh forward joins from Bristol City. In terms of outgoings, the most significant departure is that of the vastly experienced Dagný Brynjarsdóttir, who leaves the club after making 86 appearances across four and a half seasons in East London.
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