A roundup of Sunday’s Barclays WSL Matchweek 17 action
This is the roundup of yesterday’s games in the Barclays Women’s Super League to kick off Matchweek 17, with four games having taken place on Sunday due to Chelsea and Manchester United’s involvement in the Subway Women’s League Cup final.
They will both be in action this upcoming Wednesday when Chelsea face Brighton and Hove Albion, and Manchester United travel away to West Ham United on the same day.
Yesterday saw the league leaders Manchester City increase their gap on Manchester United to nine points after a draw with a spirited Aston Villa side. Arsenal closed the gap on the top three to one point, while Everton have risen up the table again, as have Liverpool as they grabbed a big win to boost their chances of avoiding the relegation playoff.
Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester City
It ended in a 0-0 draw at Villa Park between ninth-placed Aston Villa and league leaders Manchester City, and it meant a missed chance for Man City to go eleven points clear of their nearest title rivals, having played a game more than them.
For much of the first half, Aston Villa had been the team that looked more composed and assured when in possession, plus they were creating more chances than their opposition. Man City keeper Khiara Keating was called upon a few times in the opening 45 to make some important saves from chances by Kirsty Hanson and Chasity Grant to keep the game level at 0-0. It was only Keating’s third start for City this season following an injury-hit season and falling down the order behind Ayaka Yamashita.
Manchester City did improve on their first-half performance when they came out in the second period. Vivianne Miedema looked to break the deadlock for Man City with one header that went just over the bar towards the later stages of the game. Other big opportunities for the away side included a back-post header by Rebecca Knaak that forced a save from Ellie Roebuck, and an Alex Greenwood corner that would have gone straight in had it not been for Chasity Grant chesting it off the line.
The draw for Manchester City meant that they recorded a draw on their record for the first time this season in the WSL. With 14 wins and two losses, they hadn’t ended a game level with anybody until yesterday in this league campaign. The last draw they had in fact was when it ended 2-2 against Manchester United in May 2025.
Getting this draw means that Aston Villa have halted a run of defeats in the WSL, and it also meant they managed to achieve a clean sheet for the first time since they beat Liverpool in December last year. Getting a point against the league leaders will have boosted their confidence as they look to end the season on a high note.
Liverpool 2-0 Leicester City
This fixture held significant implications for the lower end of the WSL table, where a win for either one of these sides would boost their confidence and help them avoid the end-of-season relegation playoff. On the day, it was Liverpool who claimed a vital three points with a 2-0 victory over Leicester City to take them four points clear of the Foxes in the process.
Gareth Taylor’s side made a strong start to the game and took the lead in the 10th minute. Their striker Beata Olsson scored her sixth league goal of the season in what was her first league start since December after an injury kept her out of action. She seamlessly returned to form, finishing from close range to put her team ahead and showcase how crucial she has been for Liverpool with her goals this season.
Impressively, her current scoring rate in the Barclays WSL is the best out of any player in the league’s history out of players with a minimum of two starts. Olsson has scored in six of her eight WSL starts for Liverpool (75%). A rather incredible stat that proves how impactful she has been for them, even if she has not been a player who has played as many minutes this season.
Leicester City were creating a flurry of chances throughout, with Alisha Lehmann having two efforts, one of which was on target but didn’t test Jennifer Falk too much. In the second half, the additions of Noemie Mouchon and Missy Goodwin brought some energy to their play. Although, they were second-best against Liverpool for the most part, and the game was put out of reach in the 89th minute after Ceri Holland scored from the penalty spot following a foul by Asmita Ale on Aurélie Csillag.
Defeat for Leicester City means that their run of losses in 2026 is extended further, with every league game they have played so far in 2026 ending in a defeat. Their goal-scoring issues continue to be weighing on them as well, with the Foxes having now gone 319 minutes without a goal in the WSL. The last goal they scored came from an own goal scored by West Ham’s Eva Nyström back at the end of January.
London City Lionesses 0-2 Arsenal
Another three points for Arsenal this weekend helped them to continue to apply pressure on those in the top three, and in front of a crowd of 5,414 at the Copperjax Community Stadium, they scored at least one goal in each half to beat London City Lionesses and win by two-goals-to-nil.
Strong winds meant that there were some tricky conditions in Bromley, and even Arsenal’s first goal was a scrappy one that was finished off by Olivia Smith to continue her scoring form in the WSL, making it four goals in the Canadian international’s last five league games.
The assist for the opener came from a delivery across to the near post by Chloe Kelly, who was starting for just the second time in a league game this season. Despite the minimal starts, Kelly has an impressive minutes per goal involvement rate of 95 minutes. Only former Arsenal players Vivianne Miedema and Jodie Taylor have a better goal or assist rate for Arsenal in the history of the Barclays WSL.
Renee Slegers’ side did have a good portion of control for much of the proceedings given their 58.6% possession, with London City only really getting a couple of shots off that weren’t overly testing towards Anneke Borbe in goal. A shot from Sanni Franssi in the 57th minute was one of a few that London City Lionesses will have regretted missing as the home side failed to make the most of the few positive moments they managed to create.
In the 76th minute of the game, the result was made safer for the Gunners, as Alessia Russo and Stina Blackstenius continued their partnership which has proven fruitful for Arsenal at times this season. Alessia Russo first received a ball from Mariona Caldentey before driving into the penalty area and found Stina Blackstenius, who then placed the shot into the net first time to make it 2-0 and extend their lead, which was held until the final whistle. Arsenal are one point off Chelsea in third place, whereas this weekend saw London City Lionesses drop down to seventh.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Everton
Everton’s revival continues as they managed to win their fourth consecutive Women’s Super League match by beating Tottenham 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The result made it four wins out of five in all competitions for Scott Phelan as interim head coach, and it is the first time Everton have won four league games in a row since October 2020.
They are one of the in-form teams right now in the Barclays WSL with only Manchester City and Manchester United having gained more points in 2026 than themselves (13), and they started this game off on the front foot before catching Tottenham out once the home side started to gather momentum. Yuka Momiki scored her second of the season when Zara Kramžar managed to find her outside the box with the Japanese midfielder finding the bottom right corner with her effort.
Spurs were finding their way back into things as the second half grew, and it took until the 76th minute for them to find an equaliser. Signe Gaupset scored her second WSL goal for the club to make it goals in back-to-back games now for the Norwegian. However, the game wasn’t to stay level for more than a couple of minutes.
Everton felt the impact of two of their second-half substitutions, as Inma Gabarro came on and ended up creating a finish from close range for fellow substitute Kelly Gago to restore Everton’s lead, and subsequently win them the game to continue this excellent run of results.
The upturn in form since they changed head coaches has now taken them up to sixth place in the Barclays WSL table, which puts them behind Tottenham by nine points with five games remaining for both sides. Everton are firmly clear of any battle towards the bottom now with an 11-point gap on Leicester City.