Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
The Women’s Super League is back, and the competition’s new superstar is in line to get the new season up and running.
London City Lionesses host Manchester United on Friday in the 2026-27 curtain-raiser, and Alexia Putellas is set for her WSL bow.
The league is bigger and better than ever, with 14 teams now involved.
Saturday sees Chelsea open their campaign against Aston Villa, while there are five games on Sunday, including champions Manchester City taking on newly promoted Birmingham City.
But, how does the Opta supercomputer see the WSL’s opening weekend panning out?
LONDON CITY LIONESSES V MANCHESTER UNITED
London City have made waves this summer, and they have secured arguably the biggest signing in WSL history.
Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Putellas joined on a free transfer after leaving Barcelona, where she enjoyed a trophy-laden stint.
Now, Putellas will be tasked with taking on Man Utd in her first WSL game. There is also set to be a reunion for Mary Earps with her former club, with the ex-England goalkeeper having also joined London City.
Earps has played more games (188) and kept more clean sheets (63) than any other goalkeeper in WSL history. She kept the second most clean sheets in the French top-flight last term (nine), though did rank 11th out of 16 for save percentage (62%) among those to play 5+ games.
Putellas could become the second-oldest player to score on their WSL debut (32 years, 212 days), behind only Vicky Exley for Doncaster Rovers Belles on the first day of WSL action in April 2011 (35 years, 173 days vs Notts County). She has scored on her first league start under three of her last four managers.
London City were a breath of fresh air last term, setting a record points tally for a newly promoted team in a WSL campaign (27). United, meanwhile, ended the campaign winless in their last four games.
United are also under new management, with Marc Skinner having been replaced by Eva Olid. However, they are still seen as favourites by Opta’s model, which ranks their chances of victory at 57.8%, compared to London City’s 20.8%.
London City lost both of their WSL meetings with United last season, conceding more goals to the Red Devils (seven) than any other opponent in 2025-26.
Chelsea’s title defence did not go according to plan last term, but they are the supercomputer’s favourites to win the WSL this time around (39.9%).
And the Blues are expected to get off to a winning start at home against Villa, with the model handing them a whopping 83.4% win probability.
Villa’s chances come in at just 6.2%, with a 10.4% likelihood of a draw.
Chelsea have won all 12 of their WSL meetings with Villa and the only team to have a better 100% win rate in the competition against one opponent are the Blues themselves (P13 W13 v Tottenham).
Since losing their first WSL game 1-0 to Arsenal in 2011, Chelsea have gone unbeaten in nine consecutive top-flight campaigns when playing at home on matchday one (W7 D2).
Only relegated Leicester City (0) won fewer points in the WSL in 2026 than Villa (seven – W2 D1 L8), and a trip to Stamford Bridge does not make for an ideal start to the new season.
Secure your ticket for our @BarclaysWSL opener against Villa this Saturday!
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) September 1, 2026
Spurs have won their opening fixture in four of the last five WSL campaigns (L1), including a 1-0 home win against West Ham last season. And they are expected to beat the Hammers again on Sunday.
They have a 53.1% win probability compared to West Ham’s 22.9%.
West Ham have won only one of their seven away matches against Spurs in the WSL (D2 L4), losing three in a row since a 2-0 win in December 2022.
Indeed, Spurs have won five of their last six WSL games against West Ham (L1) and against no side do they have more wins in the competition overall than the Hammers (eight).
Spurs were one of only four teams to avoid defeat in both of their final two WSL games last season (W2), along with the final top three sides. However, they have not won three league matches in a row since October 2023.
Arsenal are expected to finish third in the WSL this term, and Opta’s model is also predicting a strong start for the Gunners away at Brighton.
Renee Slegers’ team come out on top in 65.3% of the data-led simulations, while Brighton triumph in 16%. The draw threat is 18.7%.
Since Slegers took charge of her first WSL game with Arsenal in October 2024, only Chelsea (100) have won more points in the English top-flight than the Gunners (94), who also boast the most goals (111) and best goal difference (+75) in that period.
Brighton lost 12 consecutive games against Arsenal between January 2020 and January 2025, but have since lost just one of four meetings with the Gunners across all competitions (W2 D1).
And Arsenal have failed to beat Brighton away from home in both of the last two WSL seasons (D1 L1), so Brighton certainly have some hope.
WSL debutants Charlton Athletic kickstart their season with a home game against Liverpool.
It was a nervy relegation/promotion play-off for Charlton, who edged out Leicester on penalties at the end of last season.
This will be the first league meeting between Charlton and Liverpool since March 2022, when the two sides met twice in a week in the WSL2. Liverpool won 1-0 away before playing out a goalless draw at home.
Liverpool are unbeaten against Charlton in all competitions across the WSL era (W4 D2 since 2011), most recently winning 1-0 after extra time at the Valley in last season’s FA Cup quarter-finals.
Charlton, who are the supercomputer’s favourites to finish bottom, will become the 21st different side to play in the WSL. Excluding the inaugural campaign, only one of 12 teams have won their first game in the competition (D1 L10), with Sunderland beating Liverpool 2-1 in 2015.
The supercomputer is forecasting a tight game, but Liverpool have the edge (45.1% to Charlton’s 30%). There is a 24.9% chance of a draw.
Another of the promoted teams also starts off at home, with Crystal Palace hosting Everton.
Goodison Park’s newest hero awaits…
Holly McNamara and goals is just a natural combination, just ask the @aleagues fans! @EvertonWomen pic.twitter.com/QoruYKuxdr
— Barclays Women’s Super League (@BarclaysWSL) August 30, 2026
Palace have signed one of the WSL’s all-time leading scorers in Bethany England, who has netted on her league debut for two of her previous four clubs (Chelsea and Spurs), with no player doing so for three different teams.
England could also be the third player to score for three different London sides overall in the competition after Gilly Flaherty and Gemma Davison.
Palace’s win probability comes in at 31.2%, with Everton’s chances ranked at 43.6%.
Everton won a greater share of their total points in the 2025-26 WSL away from home than any other team (61% – 14/23) – the Toffees ranked sixth in the away table compared to 10th in the home table.
The opening weekend rounds off with the WSL champions taking on the second-tier champions at Joie Stadium.
This will be the first matchday one meeting between the reigning champions and a newly promoted team in the WSL since champions Chelsea lost 2-1 to Liverpool in 2022-23.
Man City are anticipated to finish second this term, but they will be eager to prove the supercomputer wrong and make a flying start to their title defence.
They have won each of their last 10 meetings with Birmingham across all competitions, since a 0-0 draw in the League Cup in August 2018.
Birmingham have won just three of their last 36 WSL matches (D8 L25), though they did win their most recent 1-0 at Villa in May 2022. The Blues’ last defeat in the competition was a 6-0 away loss at Man City, their joint-heaviest loss in the competition.
Khadija Shaw has committed her future to Man City, and she has scored against 14 of the 15 opponents she has faced in the WSL, with the exception being Birmingham (two apps in 2021-22); the Jamaican has, however, scored seven goals in six WSL starts against newly promoted clubs.
Man City have an 89.9% win probability, and Birmingham have just a 3.5% chance of taking all three points.
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