International football has passed for at least another month and the Barclays Women's Super League action returns across this weekend with the fixtures for matchweek six.
Just the one fixture is happening this Saturday as the Emirates Stadium plays host to Arsenal against Birmingham City, with both teams aiming for a win in the 12:45 kick-off.
It's also another busy Sunday with the six other fixtures taking place, and teams are looking to get momentum going again after the opening five games of the season.
Arsenal vs Birmingham City
Saturday 17th October, Emirates Stadium, 12:45pm
Opening the weekend’s action is the game at the Emirates Stadium between Arsenal and Birmingham City. Both teams find themselves in the lower half of the league table after five games, with Arsenal down in 10th and Birmingham City currently 13th.
Arsenal’s season has not gone how they would have liked, with Renée Slegers’ side having won just once, and then drawn and lost on two occasions. Before the international break, they were beaten 4-2 by league leaders Manchester City. Heading into this weekend, they will want to try and end their four-games winless run in the Barclays WSL, which is the joint-longest streak they have had in the competition since October 2023.
As for Birmingham City, they also find themselves on a winless run, but that has come from having yet to have won a league game this season, with two draws and three defeats on their record so far. Amy Merricks’ side have shown themselves to be capable of causing problems for their opposition, and have scored more goals in the Barclays WSL so far than their opponents this Saturday.
In terms of where both teams have had their best attacking threats, both have been able to rely on their wingers to come up with key moments. One of Arsenal’s scorers against Manchester City Lisa Baum has so far scored twice in her debut campaign, whereas Océane Hurtré for Birmingham City has enjoyed a fantastic start to her season.
The French forward goes into the game as one of three top-scorers so far this season, and the recent winner of the September Barclays WSL Player of the Month award. She also made her debut internationally with the France senior national side, and also registered a goal and an assist on her debut start.
This does have the makings of an interesting fixture, and their past meetings have often thrown up some big scorelines that have gone in Arsenal’s favour. Birmingham City have only ever beaten Arsenal twice in the Barclays WSL, with the most recent win coming in January 2022.
Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur
Sunday 18th October, Stamford Bridge, 12pm
One of two 12pm kick-offs this Sunday is Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, with this being a fixture that sees the team with the best defensive record go up against one of the teams with the joint-most goals scored.
Chelsea are yet to have been beaten in any of their league games so far, with four wins and one draw to their name. It was a 3-0 victory last time out for Chelsea in dominant fashion over West Ham United, but Spurs saw their unbeaten start brought to an end before the international break by London City Lionesses.
September Manager of the Month award winner Martin Ho will look for his side to bounce back from the heavy defeat at home two weeks ago, and if past encounters are anything to go by, it could be a challenge for them to instantly respond with a victory. In 13 league meetings since Spurs were promoted to the top flight, they have lost all 13 fixtures they have had against Chelsea.
Spurs midfielder Victoria Pelova is sure to play a key role for her team, and she goes into Sunday’s fixture looking to make it a fourth-straight Barclays WSL fixture that she has scored in. Her league form was also replicated with the Netherlands over the international break after scoring a hat-trick against Hungary.
Defensively, Chelsea’s backline has played a key role in their unbeaten start, and goalkeeper Hannah Hampton has four clean sheets to her name, which is two more than the next keeper in that stat. The own goal conceded back on the opening weekend against Aston Villa remains the only goal that Sonia Bompastor’s team has conceded this season.
Crystal Palace vs West Ham United
Sunday 18th October, Borough Sports Ground, 12pm
The next early kick-off on Sunday comes from Borough Sports Ground for another all-London clash between Crystal Palace and West Ham as both teams look to target a second league win of the season this weekend.
Having drawn their previous two league fixtures, Jo Potter’s Crystal Palace look to win for the first time since beating Everton on the opening weekend. They have drawn three of their five games so far, with Aston Villa being the team they recently drew away from home against after Abbie Larkin’s goal helped them get back level at Villa Park.
West Ham though had a much tougher Sunday afternoon in their last fixture after losing 3-0 to Chelsea in a game where they weren’t able to get much going in attack whatsoever, registering zero shots in total and also not having a single touch in Chelsea’s penalty area.
Both of these sides are ones that look to build upon a solid defensive structure, but stats so far have not reflected much solidity, with both having conceded double-figures in terms of goals this season.
Even in average possession, they are two teams that are ranked towards the lower end, with West Ham’s 41.3% being slightly more than the 35.1% that Palace have registered. If there is a winner in this fixture, it does mean that this game could come down to which attack ends up being the more effective, and Palace just edge West Ham so far for this season with five goals scored.
They have not met too many times in the Barclays WSL, as the only two fixtures between them took place in the 2024/25 campaign. West Ham had won both of those ties and they were also some high-scoring affairs that ended 5-2 the first time around, and then 7-1 in the last meeting back in April 2025.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool
Sunday 18th October, Keys Park, 2pm
Moving onto the 2pm fixtures, and taking place at Keys Park for this weekend is Aston Villa against Liverpool, where the home side are aiming to finally get a win on the board, but will face a Liverpool side that has begun the campaign with some mixed results despite solid performances.
Brian Sorensen has remained in interim charge of Villa heading into Sunday’s fixture as he comes up against the team he went up against in countless Merseyside derbies when Everton manager.
Aston Villa made improvements in their 1-1 draw with Palace, which saw them register their highest number of shots (16) in a league game since November 2025. If they were tow gain their first three points of this campaign, they would avoid going on what would be their longest winless run in the Barclays WSL since they failed to win a league game between February and May 2021, which was ten-games straight without victory.
Liverpool meanwhile, they go into Sunday’s fixture hoping to bounce back themselves after a narrow 1-0 defeat against Manchester United before the international break. Gareth Taylor’s are currently near-mid table in 6th place, with the win over Everton almost three weeks ago being there only other win since beating Charlton on the opening weekend.
Since a first Barclays WSL meeting in November 2022, results have gone back-and-forth whenever these sides have met, however Liverpool have had the slight edge given they won the previous meeting back in February last season by four goals to one. Liverpool’s away record vs Aston Villa has also largely been in their favour, with one loss happening in that timeframe.
Charlton Athletic vs Manchester United
Sunday 18th October, The Valley, 2pm
Bottom of the table Charlton Athletic are coming back off the international break looking to gain their first points of this league campaign, and they welcome Manchester United to The Valley, with the away team aiming to continue the morale boost they have gained from recent positive results.
The Addicks managed by Karen Hills have lost all five of their games so far, and last time out against Brighton they were beaten in a heavy 5-1 loss to Brighton despite having taken the lead early on in the game through Cassandra Korhonen’s first Barclays WSL goal.
Charlton also head into this weekend as the team currently ranked towards the bottom for goals conceded (15) and also average possession (23.9%) compared with everyone else in the league.
Manchester United’s players return from the international break looking to get back to the winning ways they left off with after beating Liverpool on matchweek five, courtesy of the only goal scored in that game by their top scorer so far this season Julia Zigiotti Olme (two goals).
After a first clean sheet in this campaign for United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Eva Olid’s side will be look to do the same against Charlton on Sunday and extend what is currently a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions since losing 5-0 to Chelsea earlier last month.
This fixture has not happened all too often, and in fact it will be the first time these two teams have played each other in the top flight, with only two other meetings happening back in the 2018/19 season when Charlton and Manchester United were both in the second-tier. Man Utd were winners on both occasions back then and will look to keep up that record against their opponents.
London City Lionesses vs Everton
Saturday 18th October, Copperjax Community Stadium, 2pm
London City Lionesses and Everton will face each other at the Copperjax Community Stadium, with both teams aiming for victories again like they managed to do so in their previous league games.
A statement win was made by London City Lionesses after they had beaten Tottenham Hotspur in a 6-1 win away from home, which saw both Alexia Putellas and Kadidiatou Diani score a brace each, with Daniëlle van de Donk also on the scoresheet for her team again this season, plus Delphine Cascarino also scored the last of those goals for them.
The attack of London City has thrived this season, with only Manchester City and Tottenham’s 16 goals scored overall being better than the 15 registered by Eder Maestre’s side. In her last two Barclays WSL matches, Alexia Putellas has scored three times, which is the joint-most in the squad overall along with van de Donk, and even Kadidiatou Diani’s impact in this team has begun to be felt, as the French forward has the joint-most assists in the league so far (3).
Whilst the home side have performed well on the attacking front, Scott Phelan’s Everton haven’t been able to show that same impact for the most part this season, even though they have won three of their five league games so far, all of which have been won by a one-goal margin difference.
Midfielder Ruby Mace’s two goals against Birmingham City last time out are also the only two goals out of Everton’s four this season that have been from open play, plus their expected xG is the ninth-lowest total in the league at this point of the season (4.6).
The efficiency in front of goal could be key for both of these sides and if last season’s two fixtures are anything to go by, then it has the chance to go either way as both won one fixture each.
Manchester City vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Saturday 18th October, Joie Stadium, 2:30pm
The last fixture to kick-off Sunday’s action is at the Joie Stadium as Manchester City seek to continue their impressive run of results at home under Andrée Jeglertz when they take on Brighton and Hove Albion managed by Arturo Ruiz, who will have used the international break to get his team settled in further to his style of play.
Man City have been almost comfortable with how they have begun this season’s campaign based on their 100% record of five wins out of five so far. They are only the 10th team to have won every one of their first five, but out of nine other teams that have started that well in previous seasons, only three went on to win the title at the end of the campaign.
The resilience they have shown across 90 minutes has been a key part of their run, having come from behind in four of their previous five games in all competitions to avoid losing. No team has also won more points in the Barclays WSL this season from losing positions than Manchester City (6).
Brighton got their first win of the season over Charlton Athletic in the last game before the international break, and did so in confident fashion with the attacking ruthlessness they showed to score five goals in that one. The Women’s FA Cup final was the last meeting they had against Manchester City, which in ended in defeat, however they have a win in 2026 over their opponents after their 3-2 victory back in April.
This is a fixture that has often guaranteed goals to be scored within it, and the attacking players on both sides will no doubt be key heading into it. Lauren Hemp has stood out for her fantastic start to the season for Manchester City, registering four goals and two assists. Khadija Shaw with her five goals putting her joint-top of the scorers’ charts has been business as usual for the Jamaican forward.
On the Brighton side of things, Kiko Seike’s three goals make her their top scorer so far, with Olivia Garcia also having impressed and potentially looking to have an impact again this Sunday after a strong performance in her first start against Charlton.
