Barclays WSL Matchweek 19 Preview
It should be an interesting weekend in the Barclays Women’s Super League, with Matchweek 19 playing host to three derby match-ups all taking place on Saturday. It’s not just bragging rights at stake in these encounters, but also crucial points at both ends of the table involving the title race and an attempt to get closer to safety.
Heading into this weekend, there is a commanding eight-point lead for Manchester City over their rivals Manchester United, with Chelsea and Arsenal locked in to continue the battle to finish inside of the top three. It also remains close towards the bottom of the table with two important matches for West Ham and Leicester City this weekend as they both bid to avoid the relegation play-off.
Everton v Liverpool
Saturday 28 March, Goodison Park, 12:00pm
The Merseyside derby kicks off the Women’s Super League this weekend with a Saturday midday kick-off at Goodison Park. Everton are hoping to get back to winning ways following the late defeat last week to Manchester United, whereas Liverpool are looking to go four games unbeaten in all competitions.
One of the recent results in this mini-unbeaten run by Gareth Taylor’s side includes a victory over Everton when they faced off in the fifth round of the Women’s FA Cup last month. They won at the St Helens Stadium by two goals to one, with Mia Enderby and Beata Olsson scoring in the first half, and then a Jennifer Falk own goal pulled one back for Everton.
Outside of the Barclays Women’s Super League, Liverpool have picked up victories over Everton. But when it has come down to recent league fixtures between the two, Everton have recently had their number. Four of the last five Merseyside derbies in the Barclays WSL have been won by Everton, including earlier in the season on the opening day in that 4-1 victory that saw a debut hat-trick from Spanish forward Ornella Vignola. The last time Liverpool beat Everton in the league was less than seven years ago in May 2019 when they were 3-1 winners on that day.
Both teams will likely be boosted in this match by the return of some of their Japanese internationals, as Liverpool welcome back Risa Shimizu and Fuka Nagano, while Everton have Hikaru Kitagawa, Honoka Hayashi and Rion Ishikawa back, as well as Australian Clare Wheeler.
Both Gareth Taylor and Chris Roberts will want to see their teams perform well and end the season on a high at this late stage of the season. Liverpool go into the weekend five points ahead of Leicester in 12th with four league games left to go for them. Everton also have four remaining, and they are currently in the middle of the Barclays WSL table in sixth.
Manchester United v Manchester City
Saturday 28 March, Old Trafford, 13:30pm
The next derby match-up to kick-off on Saturday is one that will have more implications on it than just pride and bragging rights. Manchester United take on Manchester City with the two sides currently occupying the top two positions in the Barclays Women’s Super League table. Eight points separate them going into this weekend and a win would take Man City another step closer to being confirmed as champions for the 2025/26 season.
Last time out in the league, Manchester City were 5-2 winners against Tottenham following a ruthless first half performance by Andrée Jeglertz’s side, with Khadija Shaw scoring the quickest hat-trick in Barclays WSL history during that opening 45 minutes. Manchester United were winners last week as well, but left it late to beat Everton as Melvine Malard won it for them via a header in stoppage time.
Going into the big fixture at Old Trafford, Manchester United will be coming off the back of their first leg match in the UEFA Women’s Champions League against Bayern Munich, where they were beaten 3-2 on Wednesday evening by the Frauen-Bundesliga club. They will be aiming to keep the title race alive, but also be focusing on maintaining their current position inside the top three because of how tight the battle is between themselves Chelsea and Arsenal as three points is the difference ahead of this weekend.
In the previous ten Women’s Super League meetings of the Manchester derby, it has been Man City who have gained the most wins, with five won compared to Man Utd’s three. Earlier in the season in November, it was Manchester City who claimed a home win at the Etihad Stadium courtesy of a goal each for Rebecca Knaak, Lauren Hemp and Khadija Shaw. It was previously last season when United last won in their 4-2 thriller that saw Ella Toone bag a hat-trick.
In terms of team news, Ella Toone is likely to still be missing due to injury, but they should have Hinata Miyazawa back after her involvement in Japan’s successful Women’s Asian Cup squad. Man City’s squad will be boosted by the return of many players from that tournament as well, such as Yui Hasegawa, Ayaka Yamashita, Aoba Fujino and Mary Fowler.
Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday 28 March, Emirates Stadium, 17:30pm
The last of the rivalries coming to ahead on Saturday is the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and heading into this one, both sides have been differing spells of form with Arsenal unbeaten in the league since October, whereas Tottenham have recently suffered back-to-back defeats.
Momentum is firmly with Renée Slegers’ Arsenal after a strong performance in the midweek as they beat Chelsea 3-1 in the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter final. Even before then, a 5-0 victory against West Ham United sees them in a confident mindset heading into the North London derby on Saturday evening. Many of their players have hit form at the right time and are performing at their best levels at this stage of the campaign.
One player in particular who is playing well for the Gunners is Chloe Kelly, who scored a hat-trick last week against West Ham, and scored in the UWCL on Tuesday. Her hat-trick last Saturday was the tenth hat trick to be recorded by an Arsenal player in the league’s history. It was also more than a year ago when her second debut for Arsenal happened in the previous North London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
On that day, Arsenal were 5-0 winners against Spurs. However, the away side managed to avoid a defeat the last time out when it ended 0-0 in the encounter at Brisbane Road back in November. Tottenham’s overall record in the North London derby against Arsenal isn’t great considering they have only ever registered one win in all the times they have faced in the Barclays WSL.
If Martin Ho’s team are to win this weekend, they will have to end Arsenal’s unbeaten run at home which has now lasted for 16 matches. It meant that Renée Slegers has gone on the longest run as a head coach in having not lost a home match since the start of her WSL managerial career.
Both teams will welcome back individuals from the Women’s Asian Cup as Tottenham have two of their key players back in Tōko Koga and loanee Maika Hamano, but will be without Clare Hunt after she sustained an injury at the tournament. Arsenal will look to have their Australian trio of Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney Cross back in the squad, with neither player featuring in the UWCL quarter-final first leg win.
Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Sunday 29 March, Kingsmeadow, 12:00pm
Two games kick off at midday on Sunday this weekend, one of which is Chelsea vs Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow, and for Sonia Bompastor’s side, it is a chance to bounce back from two recent matches where they drew with London City Lionesses last Saturday in the Barclays WSL, and then lost their first leg tie against Arsenal. As for Aston Villa, they will be aiming to continue some positive momentum in their season after a draw against Man City and a win over Leicester City last time out.
Some good strides have been taken in recent weeks by Natalia Arroyo’s team after they had been on a bad losing run, but last weekend saw them manage to complete a victory away from home after trailing at half-time for the first time in WSL history. They previously had lost 20 and drawn two of their last 22 matches in the league away from home when they were losing at half-time.
At this stage last season, Aston Villa had begun a run that saw them win their final five league games which helped them ended the season on a huge high, and they’ll look to end the season just as brightly, even up against a Chelsea side they have never beaten since they were promoted back into the Women’s Super League a few years ago.
Chelsea have won every single encounter in all competitions when they have faced Aston Villa. But Villa did test them last time they met earlier in the season. Chelsea won 3-1 at Villa Park, however Aston Villa had on the back foot a couple of times before the away side in that encounter found a way to win as they have done so many times.
Pressure has been building on Chelsea currently with the title race having looked like it has slipped away from them, they are fighting to stay in the top three currently, as well as continuing to compete in other competitions. They have also had to deal with many injuries to a lot of players and heading into this weekend, Sonia Bompastor could potentially be without Aggie Beever-Jones as the latest player out in their squad.
They did get to have Ellie Carpenter on their bench last Tuesday following her return from Australia at the Women’s Asian Cup. Sam Kerr could return as well having not been a part of Tuesday’s squad. Aston Villa will also have Maya Hijikata back with them having been involved at the same tournament as well with the winners Japan.
West Ham United vs London City Lionesses
Sunday 29 March, Chigwell Construction Stadium, 12:00pm
The other 12pm kick-off on Sunday is an all-London tie between West Ham United and London City Lionesses, which will also see a first meeting between the two head coaches Rita Guarino and Eder Maestre after both were appointed at their clubs before they came back from the winter break at the start of 2026.
In terms of each head coach’s starts to life in the Barclays Women’s Super League, Rita Guarino has had the most wins as West Ham have won twice under her so far, whereas Eder Maestre has only recorded one league win so far at London City Lionesses since he came in. These are definitely two sides on the lower end of the form table heading into this Sunday’s fixture, with eight points separating the two teams as London City sit in seventh compared to an 11th-place position for West Ham currently.
West Ham are in and amongst a battle to avoid playing in the relegation play-off at the end of the season, and three points is how the gap stands ahead of Leicester City before they play at the weekend. They will hope to respond after last week’s crushing 5-0 loss to Arsenal in which they ended the match with only one shot in total across the 90 minutes. The scoreline took them back into the position as being the team that have conceded the most goals of anyone else in the league this season (40).
After claiming a draw last weekend over Chelsea, London City Lionesses became just the fifth newly promoted team to avoid defeat against Chelsea in a Barclays WSL match. It was a result that came after a run of three straight league defeats by them, and they will be hopeful of it being one that can spur them on to finish the season on a high and avoid slipping down the table further.
In the Women’s Super League, these two have only faced off on one occasion which in mid-October towards the start of this season. London City were the winners at the Copperjax Community Stadium via a 1-0 scoreline as a 68th minute goal by Kosovare Asllani separated the two teams.
Both teams will have at least two players each back into their squads from being involved in the Women’s Asian Cup. West Ham will have their Japanese forward and Women’s Asian Cup Golden Boot winner Riko Ueki back in the squad, as well as their club captain Katrina Gorry. As for London City, the return of the tournament’s MVP Alanna Kennedy and also Saki Kumagai will be a boost to their options.
Leicester City vs Brighton and Hove Albion
Sunday 29 March, King Power Stadium, 15:00pm
The final match of the weekend is Leicester City taking on Brighton and Hove Albion at the King Power Stadium at 15:00pm, and this fixture is one that both teams will be hoping to win considering how both teams have been on their own respective winless runs as of late in the Barclays WSL.
Despite a defeat in their previous match, Brighton are without a win in the league since they beat Everton away from home back in January. But they do come up against a Leicester City with no league winsince December when they got the better of London City Lionesses at home.
Ever since that last WSL win, Rick Passmoor’s side have lost every match they have played, and last time out their defeat to Aston Villa would have been their most disappointing given they had led the match after the first half before conceding twice and losing in the second. This weekend is the start of an important run of their final five league games with some tough matches to come for the WSL’s lowest scorers this season.
The previous meeting between the teams earlier in the season saw Brighton put on one their best attacking displays of the season as they beat the Foxes, with four different goal scorers on the day for the Seagulls. In the last ten head-to-head matches between Leicester and Brighton, they aren’t too different in terms of one team having won on more occasions, but it is Leicester who have five wins compared to Brighton’s four.
With the team news for this one, Brighton have a massive boost in the expected return of their top scorer Kiko Seike, plus another Japanese player in defender Moeka Minami who has been a regular in her debut campaign with the club. Emily van Egmond will be back for Leicester City having returned from Australia as well.