The Barclays Women’s Super League 2 is getting into full swing, with the third round of fixtures taking place this weekend. The action will kick off with a Friday evening game between two promoted sides - Wolves and Burnley - under the lights at New Bucks Head Stadium.
Five BWSL2 games will take place on Sunday with one 12 pm kick-off, three 2pm kick-offs and a 3pm game between unbeaten sides. You can watch all six matches live via the Barclays Women’s Super League 2 YouTube channel.
Wolves vs Burnley
Friday, 18th September, New Bucks Head, 7:30pm
Wolves will be full of confidence when they host Burnley on Friday evening after securing their first BWSL 2 victory last weekend with a 3-1 home win over Sheffield United. Daniel McNamara’s side impressed, scoring three second-half goals, despite having just 39% possession.
The National League play-off winners have won their last 10 home league fixtures - a record that stretches back to September of last year - though it was Burnley who last left New Bucks Head Stadium with points of their own.
Burnley, who pipped the Black Country side to the Northern Premier Division title last season by a single point, and remained unbeaten throughout the full campaign, earned a 0-0 draw at Wolves in August 2025.
The Clarets are still searching for a maiden BWSL 2 victory, having earned one point from their first two games. Jackie Bachteler’s side were moments away from winning their second point of the campaign last Sunday, only to fall to a 98th-minute winner from Sunderland.
Burnley’s players will also be hoping to score their first league goal of the season, too, as it was an Elise Hughes own goal that drew them level with the Black Cats in gameweek two.
The last meeting between the sides was won by Burnley, with Charlie Chadwick’s first-half strike securing a 1-0 victory at Turf Moor in March 2026.
Durham vs Nottingham Forest
Sunday, 20th September, Maiden Castle, 12:00pm
No team in the BWSL 2 has conceded more goals than Durham (seven), and they will want to right that record when they host a so-far unbeaten Nottingham Forest at Maiden Castle in Sunday’s early kick-off.
Durham were beaten 4-2 at Leicester City last Sunday, but there were encouraging signs against the Foxes - Durham could have been 2-0 up as Beth Hepple scored and hit the crossbar on her 300th club appearance before the relegated side’s firepower proved too strong.
The Wildcats will look toward chief threat Jade Pennock, who scored and assisted against Leicester, as a source of goals but will have to work hard off the ball when they host a Forest side who have started the campaign with back-to-back draws with Ipswich and Watford.
Tom Mallinson’s Forest have averaged the most possession in the division (67.1%), nearly 50 more passes per game than their closest rivals and the third-highest number of shots on target per 90 minutes (6.5).
A slow start cost them two points at the City Ground against Watford, and they can ill afford to start in the same way as they hunt for only a third away league win since November. Eye-catching Australian midfielder Alana Murphy is one to watch in this game as she bids to score in a third successive outing.
Forest were 2-1 winners when these two met in March 2026, with Joy Omewa and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah scoring for the hosts on that afternoon.
Newcastle vs Sheffield United
Sunday, 20th September, Gateshead International Stadium, 2:00pm
Newcastle United have started the new campaign in fine form, beating Wolves and Bristol City without conceding a goal, and will rate their chances of maintaining a perfect start against a winless Sheffield United at the Gateshead International Stadium.
The Magpies are the only side yet to concede a goal in both of their first outings - while the Blades are one of four teams to score just once this season - and have ambitions of winning promotion to the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Tanya Oxtoby has her side playing fun, attacking football, and Newcastle’s dangerous front line is capable of stretching the opposition with balls in behind. In fact, no side has averaged more long passes per match than Newcastle (35).
Sheffield United have carried their poor form from last season into the new campaign, and a win at Newcastle would be only their third league victory in 2026, the last of which came against Portsmouth, who went on to get relegated, in March.
The last three league games between Newcastle and Sheffield United have finished in 1-1 draws, and it was the Magpies that earned the last victory, beating the Blades 2-0 in September 2024 with goals from Beth Lumsden and Shania Hayles.
Sunderland vs Southampton
Sunday, 20th September, Stadium of Light, 2:00pm
Sunday’s clash between Sunderland and Southampton will be a meeting of former players. The Black Cats signed three players from Saints over the summer - Fran Stenson, Tara Bourne and Atlanta Primus - and the trio have enjoyed a perfect start to life in the north east of England.
Another summer signing, Elise Hughes, hit an unwanted hat-trick when Sunderland beat Burnley 2-1 last time out, scoring all three goals, including a 98th-minute winner. That result leaves them top of the table as we head into the third round of fixtures.
With six goals in their first two games, Sunderland have scored the most goals in the division, but face stern opposition in Southampton, who have averaged the most interceptions (16) and the third most tackles (23.5) per game this season.
Saints - who signed Grace Molony and Libbi McInnes from Sunderland in the summer - felt they should have beaten Ipswich last weekend but were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw after failing to convert any of their 23 shots. That said, Simon Parker’s side will have preferred to spurn several chances than create nothing at all.
Mary Bashford, who has added goals to her game over the past 12 months, looked most likely to score against the Tractor Girls, while club captain Emma Harries is nearing a return to full fitness after an injury-hit first campaign.
Historically, Southampton have not fared all too well against Sunderland in the second tier, winning just one of the last six league meetings between the sides, a record which includes a 1-0 defeat at Eppleton Colliery Ground last season.
Watford vs Bristol City
Sunday, 20th September, Vicarage Road, 2:00pm
Bristol City’s early-season struggles have been a surprise at the start of the campaign, and Charlotte Healy will be eager to snuff out any doubt about her side when they visit promoted club Watford on Sunday.
There will be concerns after The Robins, who finished fourth last season, lost 4-1 at Sunderland and 1-0 at home to Newcastle, during which they were unable to carve out many meaningful chances. Things can change quickly, though, in this division.
Watford will be much happier with their start to the season, even though they threw away a 2-0 lead to Forest on the weekend, as they are yet to taste defeat following back-to-back draws. Safia Middleton-Patel has been key to their unbeaten start, saving eight shots.
This will be only the fifth league meeting between the two sides since 2016. Bristol City won each of the last four games, scoring 12 goals to Watford’s two and are unbeaten in their last three games against promoted BWSL2 sides.
Leicester vs Ipswich
Sunday, 20th September, King Power Stadium, 3:00pm
Rounding out this week’s BWSL2 fixtures is another clash between unbeaten sides, as promotion hopefuls Leicester City host Ipswich Town in a 3pm kick-off which promises to be entertaining.
The goals flowed for the Foxes in their last outing, a 4-2 win over Durham, while Ipswich were rather fortunate to leave Southampton’s Silverlake Stadium with a point, thanks in large part to the heroics of their goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx.
Leicester want to return to the WSL and have made a good start on that aim, winning both of their games so far with goals spread evenly across defenders, midfielders and forwards. After scoring her first last weekend, Paulina Nyström will be targeting more goals against Ipswich.
The Tractor Girls are unbeaten across their last five games - a run which includes a 3-0 win over promoted side Birmingham - and will look to soak up Leicester’s pressure and catch them on the break.
This is to be the first league meeting between the two sides, but they did face off in last season’s Women’s League Cup when Leicester thumped Ipswich 5-1 under the lights in September 2025.
