There are a lot of interesting fixtures to keep an eye out on across the Barclays WSL and Barclays WSL 2 this weekend, with crucial points on the line in title and promotion battles, plus local bragging rights are at stake with several derbies taking place.
With the big showdown between Chelsea and Manchester City, plus the second-city derby involving Aston Villa and Birmingham City amongst the local rivalriy clashes, as well as 'El Lassico' with Sunderland vs Newcastle and the East Midlands affair of Nottingham Forest against Leicester City, this weekend is sure to be one to watch.
Chelsea vs Manchester City
Saturday 14th November, Stamford Bridge, 1:30pm
A crucial match-up in this season’s Barclays WSL title race headlines this bumper weekend of league action, with leaders Manchester City travelling to Stamford Bridge to take on second-placed Chelsea.
As it stands in the table before this weekend, Manchester City currently sit two points clear of their opponents on 25 points, having won eight out of nine league fixtures this season so far, whilst Chelsea have seven wins and two draws to put them on 23 points.
Andrée Jeglertz’s side have continued along with how well they performed in their title-winning campaign for 2025/2026, and have a chance to go five points clear in the table if they were to win this big showdown with their closet challengers in the top-flight’s title battle. A victory on the other side for Sonia Bompastor’s side however would take them back to the top of the table after moving down a place due to dropping points last time out.
Chelsea were held at home vs Everton in a 1-1 draw, which allowed Manchester City to capitalise, and they did so in emphatic fashion after a 5-0 win at the Joie Stadium against West Ham United. That game also saw Bunny Shaw strengthen her place at the top of the WSL’s goal scorers charts with 12 goals in nine appearances for this season.
Shaw could also be on the brink of more history as she stands just two goals behind Vivianne Miedema’s total of 97 Barclays WSL goals. Although she will be up against a Chelsea defence that has been very solid across the nine games they have played so far in only conceding five league goals, with goalkeeper Hannah Hampton having five clean sheets to her name.
Looking back on the previous head-to-head meetings, Chelsea do have the most victories in their Barclays WSL encounters (8). However, the last time they faced off back in February, we saw Man City score five against this Chelsea side. Both sides have strong squads and will be well-matched when they meet this Saturday.
Aston Villa vs Birmingham City
Sunday 15th November, Villa Park, 2pm
The next fixture to look out for this weekend in the Barclays Women’s Super League is the first of three local derby match-ups, and this one comes from the second city as Aston Villa host Birmingham City for a first top-flight match between the two rivals since May 2022.
Heading into this Sunday’s fixture, Aston Villa are in the higher league position after an encouraging run of form under interim coach Brian Sørensen has them up in ninth, following a winless start to their opening five in the league. However, after going seven games unbeaten in all competitions, a 1-0 defeat last time out to Manchester United at home did give them a first loss under the Dane.
As for Birmingham City, Amy Merricks’ side also had to endure a winless start to their first season back in the BWSL in four years, but they did register their first league victory of the season three games ago when they beat Charlton Athletic by a single goal scored by their forward Wilma Leidhammar.
Since they claimed their first win though, Birmingham City have lost their last two league games by the same 4-1 scoreline vs Tottenham Hotspur and London City Lionesses. The recent leaks in defence have now left Birmingham City as the second-highest ranked team for most goals conceded (21), and Villa aren’t too far behind with 16 goals conceded themselves.
Most of Aston Villa’s goals conceded had come in the opening few fixtures to their campaign, with their defence having been tightened up in recent weeks. Where they have still had some struggles has been up front, as they have only scored ten times this season. By comparison, Birmingham have one more than their rivals, and the brunt of those have been scored by French international Océane Hurtré with seven out of the 11 coming from her.
Whilst it has been a while since the two West Midlands-based clubs played each other in the BWSL, they have squared off already in the Subway Players Cup in the last month, where it ended 1-1, following a late goal scored by Birmingham’s Martha Harris. Villa did go on to win the penalty shootout in that fixture to take an extra point, but both teams will be seeking a victory as they aim for derby-day bragging rights this weekend.
West Ham United vs Charlton Athletic
Sunday 15th November, Victoria Road Stadium, 2pm
Moving over to the first of two all-London clashes happening this weekend, West Ham and Charlton Athletic look to bounce back from their respective defeats in the BWSL last weekend and claim three points that will feel important to both teams.
For Karen Hills’ Charlton Athletic side, three points have been difficult to come by across their first nine games, as they have yet to win a single league so far, and have not yet earned a single point either. They went close last week against Crystal Palace after they turned a one-goal deficit around to lead 2-1 with less than 15 minutes left to go. But they conceded twice and lost 3-2 to their rivals in a devastating blow.
Meanwhile, West Ham United were on the end of that 5-0 hammering away from home against Manchester City, where they were left to soak up a lot of pressure that eventually was broken by their opponent’s attackers. This weekend’s game against Charlton should pose a different challenge for Rita Guarino’s side though as they would be expected to have a lot more of the ball in this fixture compared to previous ones.
The two teams played one another a couple of weeks ago in the Subway Players Cup, where West Ham ran away as 2-1 winners courtesy of two goals in quick succession by Welsh international Ffion Morgan. Even before that fixture, the two sides have only met on two other occasions, which West Ham also won both times.
Morgan has only featured three times in the Barclays WSL this season for West Ham, with much of West Ham’s attacking exploits usually relying on Viviane Asseyi, who is their top-scorer so far with five goals. That number does also happen to be the total number that Charlton players have scored collectively in the BWSL so far this season, leaving them needing to find their shooting boots if they are to end their pointless start.
They will have been encouraged by registering their highest xG of the season last week against Crystal Palace (2.01), but defensively they will also need to hold their opponents off from scoring, which is something they have only done once in all comps this season.
Arsenal vs London City Lionesses
Sunday 15th November, Emirates Stadium, 4:30pm
The next all-London clash is one that holds stakes in a chance for Arsenal to keep themselves closely within the battle to aim for a top-three finish when they come up against high-flying London City Lionesses, the team currently occupying that third-place spot before this weekend’s fixture.
Results have looked better for Renée Slegers’ side in recent weeks, with the Gunners going unbeaten in all competitions since they were beaten by Manchester City over a month ago. They beat Liverpool 2-1 last weekend, after Alessia Russo scored two crucial goals and continued a fantastic run of form that England’s striker has found herself on for a short while now.
Russo has scored in her last three BWSL appearances, which is a scoring run she hasn’t gone close to since a six-game scoring run between November w024 and January 2025. She’s also scored all of Arsenal’s last seven goals in all comps, making her a key player ahead of an important fixture for Arsenal to get some points from.
London City Lionesses bounced back from a loss to Manchester City the week before and scored four goals against Birmingham City to keep them firmly in the top three, with a three-point gap separating themselves and Tottenham Hotspur currently in fourth place.
Going into Sunday, they hold a six-point gap on their opponents and they will want to continue where they left off from last week’s clinical performance after registering an xG of 1.66 from the four strikes they had to claim a sixth league victory of the season.
It is a big test for Eder Maestre’s side and how they can fare against a side that prior to this season had been consistently battling among the top positions, plus one that were on the winning side in both of last season’s BWSL fixtures between the pair. They will look to the likes of Alexia Putellas, Daniëlle van de Donk and Grace Geyoro for their quality to get them over the line for a result that could boost their chances of European qualification at the end of the campaign.
Sunderland vs Newcastle United
Sunday 15th November, Stadium of Light, 2pm
Looking at the first of the two derby-day offerings in the Barclays WSL 2 this weekend, one of them carries stakes not just for local bragging rights, but also crucial points in the battle for promotion.
Sunderland vs Newcastle United — or ‘El Lassico’ as it has been named in recent years sees the two teams with the best records so far in the second-tier, with Tanya Oxtoby’s Newcastle side currently top of the standings on 19 points without having lost any of their opening seven games. Sunderland on the other hand coached by Melanie Reay have lost one game this season, and are behind their local rivals in second place.
The head coach of ‘The Black Cats’ recently took charge of her 250th game for the club, having been in her role for the last ten seasons since she was promoted from her position as their assistant head coach. She will be feeling encouraged about her side’s chances after they recently claimed a first win over Newcastle in their history of previous encounters after winning 1-0 in the Subway Players Cup.
Before playing in that cup fixture last month, Newcastle United had won three times against Sunderland, with a draw only occuring in last season’s fixture in March when Oona Sevenius scored late on off the bench to salvage a point for the Magpies.
Both sides are the top-two ranked in the league for goals scored, and boast players who have been among the best performers individually this season in the BWSL2. Newcastle striker Martha Thomas leads the scorer’s chart with seven goals and at least one goal scored in her last five BWSL2 appearances. Up front for Sunderland, Elise Hughes has been key with five goals to her name.
Eyes will be on many of the creative midfield players they both have as well, with Beth Lumsden enjoying a strong campaign that has seen her register five assists and create more chances (22) than any other Barclays WSL 2 player. Katy Watson’s 12 chances this season are closer than any Sunderland player has gotten to Lumsden’s tally for this season.
The promotion credentials of each side will be challenged in this showdown on Sunday afternoon at the Stadium of Light, where a win for Newcastle away from home could strengthen their gap at the top, whilst a Sunderland win in their home stadium would make things very close around those top positions.
Nottingham Forest vs Leicester City
Sunday 15th November, The City Ground, 2pm
The second derby-fixture of the weekend in the Barclays WSL2 involves the two East Midlands clubs, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City, with each side on very different spells of form over the last few weeks in terms of their results.
Managed by Tom Mallinson, Nottingham Forest are also yet to have lost a league game in this campaign, with a record three wins and four draws that leaves them in fourth place heading into this fixture. Last week was arguably their best performance so far after beating Wolves 4-1, where Tuva Espås continued her strong first season with the club by scoring twice to showcase her goalscoring abilities once again.
Espås has four goals in seven appearances for Forest, and is only bettered in overall contributions for her team by Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah (6), who has been consistently among the strongest performers in the second tier this season. Defender Abbie Lafayette also stood out for her display on Forest’s left-hand side, providing an impact on both the defensive and attacking aspects for them.
Looking at Leicester City, things have not been going well following another defeat which now has left them without a win in all competitions in their previous eight games. Before this winless run, they had began the league campaign with two wins from their opening two, yet since then they have found wins hard to come by and are currently down in ninth place.
The familiar feeling of losing that affected Rick Passmoor’s side terribly in their relegation campaign last season in the Barclays WSL has crept back up on them, and they face a tough challenge to try and turn their fortunes back around this weekend. Although if they were to claim a first league win in five games, then to do it against their rivals could inspire them for the rest of the campaign.
The City Ground could be well-attended this weekend for this fixture between these two East Midlands rivals, and a win feels hugely important for both of them in different ways. With it also being the first fixture between these two sides in over eight years, both of them will want to get the bragging rights over the other.
