Key events
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 West Ham (Yu Endo OG, 1)
Well, that’s a nightmare start for West Ham.
Lauren James plays Ellie Carpenter through on the overlap. The full-back drills the ball into a dangerous area and Yu Endo accidentally taps it into her own net.
Kick-off
We’re under way in each of the four games!
You can click here for daily updates on every transfer in women’s football this month:
We have also seen plenty of transfer movement in recent weeks, particularly from Tottenham and Manchester United.
Spurs have signed Julie Blakstad, Maika Hamano, Matilda Nilden, Hanna Wijk and Signe Gaupset so far in the winter window. Meanwhile, club legend Ashleigh Neville left to join Leicester City.
Manchester United have added Hanna Lundkvist and Lea Schüller to their ranks so far, with Hannah Blundell joining Everton on loan.
Elsewhere, Arsenal have signed Smilla Holmberg – who made her WSL debut yesterday – with Jenna Nighswonger joining Aston Villa on loan.
Meanwhile, London City Lionesses cut ties with Jocelyn Prêcheur despite being sixth in the table. Prêcheur had been in charge of the club since the summer of 2024 and led them to the Championship title last term.
Eder Maestre took over as the club’s new head coach on New Year’s Day. Upon his arrival, he said: “I am delighted to join London City Lionesses. I love English football and representing this club is a real honour. In my opinion this project is now the best project in women’s football. The ambitions are very aligned with my values and I’m very excited.”
Rehanne Skinner was sacked by West Ham last month following a poor start to the WSL season. Her dismissal came three days before the club’s 5-1 League Cup quarter-final loss to Manchester City.
Rita Guarino was appointed as the club’s new head coach just before Christmas. Today marks her first game in charge.
Plenty has happened in the WSL over the last month, so let’s quickly recap some of the main talking points and headlines…
Ashleigh Neville STARTS for Leicester against Tottenham this afternoon, just a few days after leaving Spurs for the Foxes.
Team news – Aston Villa v Brighton
Aston Villa starting line-up: D’Angelo, Maritz, Patten, Parker, Wilms, Kendall, Taylor, Maltby, Hijikata, Hanson, Daly.
Substitutes: Roebuck, Kelly, Sallaway, Deslandes, Staniforth, Kearns, Salmon, Mullett.
Brighton starting line-up: Baggaley, Vanegas, Minami, Kafaji, Symonds, Seike, Kirby, Olislagers, Haley, Tsunoda, Rule.
Substitutes: Nnadozie, Poulter, Noordam, Hayes, Tvedten, Camacho, McLauchlan, Martin.
Team news – Tottenham v Leicester City
Tottenham starting line-up: Kop, A. Nildén, Gaupset, England, Holdt, Rybrink, Vinberg, Hunt, Spence, Summanen, Koga.
Substitutes: Heeps, Jackson, Bartrip, M. Nildén, Wijk, Hamano, Thomas, Gunning-Williams, Dennis.
Leicester City starting line-up: Clark, Kees, Tierney, Van Egmond, Ale, Mayling, Cain, McLoughlin, O’Brien, Neville, Swaby.
Substitutes: Leitzig, Thibaud, Payne, Las, Jansson, Ayane, Goodwin, Mouchon.
Team news – Manchester City v Everton
Manchester City starting line-up: Yamashita, Rose, Knaak, Greenwood, Casparij, Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa, Hemp, Kerolin, Miedema, Shaw.
Substitutes: Keating, Clinton, Coombs, Wienroither, Ouahabi, Beney, Prior, Thomas, Murphy.
Everton starting line-up: Brosnan, Pacheco, Fernández, Mace, Holmgaard, Wheeler, Hayashi, Van Gool, Payne, Vignola, Vignola.
Substitutes: Ramsey, Blundell, Hobson, Gago, Kitagawa, Lawley, Galli, Weir, Momiki.
Team news – Chelsea v West Ham
Chelsea starting line-up: Hampton, Carpenter, Bright, Buurman, Girma, Baltimore, Nüsken, Cuthbert, Kaneryd, Thompson, James.
Substitutes: Spencer, Peng, Reiten, Kaptein, Kerr, Bronze, Potter, Sarwie, Shooter.
West Ham starting line-up: Szemik, Morgan, Endo, Nyström, Hanshaw, Belloumou, Siren, Gorry, Ueki, Asseyi, Martinez.
Substitutes: Walsh, Csiki, Brasero, Wandeler, Cascarino, Houssein, Taylor-Brown, Cemal, Piubel.
Today’s fixtures (12pm GMT kick-off unless stated otherwise)
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Chelsea v West Ham
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Tottenham v Leicester City
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Aston Villa v Brighton
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Manchester City v Everton
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Liverpool v London City Lionesses (2:30pm GMT)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to another WSL clockwatch! The winter break is finally over and the league is back in full swing. Arsenal and Manchester United kicked off the new year with a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium yesterday, leaving them third and fourth in the table respectively. Manchester City and Chelsea will have the chance to extend the gap at the top of the league this afternoon, which could all-but make it a two-team title race.
It is also a huge day for Gareth Taylor and Liverpool, who will be determined to kick off 2026 with their first WSL win of the season.
I’ll be guiding you through the 12pm GMT kick-offs – join me!
#Manchester #City #Everton #Chelsea #West #Ham #WSL #clockwatch #live #Womens #Super #League
