The return of the Barclays Women’s Super League is right around the corner. As we look ahead to a thrilling season with an action-packed 22 games, here are some key talking points ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.
Women’s Super League: Reigning Champions
Current WSL champions, Chelsea, kick off the new season on Friday night, hosting top six hopefuls, Aston Villa. Chelsea will be looking to start strongly as they defend their title for a fifth consecutive year, proving to be giants of the WSL. After departing at the end of last season, after a staggering 12 years in charge, Emma Hayes had agreed with the Chelsea board to pursue a new opportunity outside of the WSL after the 23/24 season finished.
As of May 2024, Chelsea had landed their new boss, French legend Sonia Bompastor. Ending her illustrious footballing career in 2013 with Lyon, Bompastor became the manager of Lyon Academy and 8 years later, made the move up to Lyon’s first team. During this time, she won 3 consecutive league titles and the UEFA Women’s Champions League in the 2021/22 season. Bompastor and Chelsea have wasted no time so far, making some statement signings such as Lioness legend Lucy Bronze from Barcelona and French winger Sandy Baltimore from PSG.
Aston Villa will be looking to improve on last season’s 7th-placed finish as they welcome new manager, Robert De Pauw, to the helm after departing German side Bayern Leverkusen. Like Chelsea, Villa has made some ambitious new signings, such as midfielder Missy Bo Kearns from Liverpool, winger Katie Robinson from Brighton, and Dutch winger Chassity Grant from Ajax. The additions of these three talents could be the key to a successful season for both Aston Villa and Robert De Pauw, who will want to impress in his debut season for the club.
A Sunday Special
Sunday starts with a huge fixture as Arsenal host Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium. Both teams took home 3 points against each other last season, making them equally as desperate to take all 6 points this season. It has not happened between the two sides since the 2020/21 season.
Arsenal has an already talented squad, but they have bolstered it even more with the new additions of the vastly experienced Mariona Caldentey, who signed from Barcelona after featuring for over 300 games with the Catalonians, and the young, exciting Rosa Kafaji, a Swedish international from BK Häcken. With these new assets, the Gunners hope they can help guide them to their first WSL title since 2019.
Manchester City will have a fire in their belly for this new season after they narrowly missed the title last year. Despite finishing on the same number of points as eventual champions, Chelsea, they fell short by being 7 goals behind them on goal difference. Impressive duo Khadija Shaw and Khiara Keating will hope to continue their fine form from last season. Shaw finished top scorer in the WSL, with 21 goals, winning her the Golden Boot, and was also named WSL player of the season thanks to her performances. Keating picked up the golden glove after an impressive nine clean sheets.
However, Manchester City will have a secret weapon ahead of the clash on Sunday: new signing and former Arsenal player Vivianne Miedema. In July, following the expiry of her Arsenal contract, Miedema signed a 3-year deal after being purchased for free. It has already been the perfect start for the Dutch attacking midfielder, who scored on her debut in a 5-0 victory against Paris FC in the UWCL 2nd round qualification on Wednesday. She will hope to continue this scoring run against her former side of seven years.
A London Derby Clash
The fixture closing out the first match week of the new season should prove to be an exciting affair. Tottenham Hotspur host newly promoted Crystal Palace in the first of several London derbies of the season. The Eagles will be hoping to make an impact on the league following their promotion last season. They won the Women’s Championship title by 1 point, and what better way to make an impression than against rivals, such as Tottenham? Palace, whilst keeping the main core of their squad, have made some positive reinforcements for the new season with talents Jorja Fox, signing on loan from Brighton, Dutch international Ashleigh Weerden from Ajax and Indiah-Paige Riley, who joins from PSV Eindhoven.
Tottenham finished 6th last season and will be wanting to push on and aim for a European spot this season. On top of this, they will be hoping to go one further in the Women’s FA Cup after falling at the final hurdle in last year’s competition, losing 4-0 to Manchester United in the final. Tottenham have been busy this summer too, boosting their defence with two new signings. Centre-back and Australian international Clare Hunt signed a three-year deal ahead of a move from French side PSG, and left-back Amanda Nilden permanently joins the club from Juventus following a loan spell with Spurs earlier in the calendar year.
With some vast fixtures for WSL fans to feast their eyes on, we could be in for a tremendous, rollercoaster of a season. Will Chelsea win their 6th consecutive title under new management? Or can we find ourselves a new champion? Strap in.
