Manchester City ended a 10-year title drought last season. Keeping hold of it will be harder. Arsenal are loaded, Chelsea have rebuilt, and London City Lionesses have spent like a club with something to prove — because they have.
The Women's Super League kicks off this weekend in its most expanded form yet: 14 teams, more games, and a title race that looks genuinely open for the first time in years.
City's challenge: winning twice is the hard part
Manager Andree Jeglertz put it plainly: "Winning in one year is one thing, but being able to win in the next year, that is even tougher." He's right, and he knows it. The WSL calendar is relentless now — four additional league games plus European campaigns mean squad depth isn't a luxury, it's a requirement.
City's answer is Khadija "Bunny" Shaw, freshly signed to a contract extension until 2030 and still the most dangerous striker in the division. She'll get her first run-out against promoted Birmingham City on Sunday. If she fires early, City's title odds will look hard to argue against.
Arsenal are the most credible threat. Renee Slegers has quietly built something serious at the Emirates — WSL runners-up and Champions League semi-finalists last season — and she's not hiding her ambitions: "The next step is to be even closer and to be up there to compete for the first place." Alessia Russo leads a squad with genuine depth. Arsenal open at Brighton on Sunday.
London City Lionesses could be the real wildcard
Chelsea's summer has been one of transition. Millie Bright retired. Sam Kerr left for Gotham FC in the NWSL. Katie McCabe arrived from Arsenal. One League Cup from a team that won a treble the season before? That's a regression, and the squad overhaul suggests the club knows it. They host Aston Villa on Saturday.
But the story everyone in the division is watching is London City Lionesses. Owner Michele Kang has spent aggressively — eight new signings, headlined by two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas, Barcelona teammate Mapi Leon, and former England goalkeeper Mary Earps. They're not just building a team; they're making a statement about where women's football is heading in this country. Friday's curtain-raiser against Manchester United will give the first real read on how quickly this group can gel.
Leon, on why she chose London City: "Seeing another woman doing so much to help women's sports and women's football grow — I think it's impossible not to value that."
The Golden Boot race shapes up as Shaw versus Russo again, with Putellas lurking as a wildcard if she settles quickly. The three promoted sides — Birmingham, Crystal Palace, and Charlton — add fresh storylines but will mostly be fighting for survival.
The WSL has rarely looked this competitive across the top four or five positions. City are champions. Staying there is the whole question.
