Everything left to play for in the WSL: A twist in the title race & the battle for Europe
There are just two more matchdays (and some games in hand) left in the 2025/26 WSL season, but nothing is decided quite yet.
By Jamie Spencer
Man City title charge stalls
It was a run of 13 consecutive WSL wins from September to February that put Manchester City in a strong position to finally end a 10-year league title drought. But since humiliating Chelsea 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium on 1 February, an undeniable wobble has set in.
City have only taken maximum points from three of their last six WSL games, beaten unexpectedly against Brighton over the weekend. Victory there would have put Andrée Jeglertz’s team on the brink of the title, potentially as soon as Wednesday, but a profligate first half proved costly.
“Sometimes we don’t score our chances and sometimes they score on their chances and that’s how it is in this league,” Jeglertz later reflected, after his team failed to build on Kerolin’s early goal in a dominant first half. Brighton equalised in first-half stoppage time through Madison Haley, before Kiko Seike and Haley added two more clinical goals in the first 20 minutes after half-time.
Khadija Shaw pulled one back towards the end that reduced the deficit to 3-2, a 19th goal in the league this season that effectively cements a third consecutive WSL Golden Boot for the Jamaican.
But the slip up means City, with two games to go, still have more work to do than they would have liked. Chelsea’s seven-year title reign is almost certainly over, only able at best to match’s City current points tally and too far behind on goal difference to realistically get ahead. The danger instead comes from Arsenal, whose three games in hand (five to play overall) gives them an opportunity to breeze past City should the leaders fail to win their two remaining fixtures.
Both teams must also still balance other commitments in the final month of the season. Seeking to defend last season’s Champions League title, Arsenal hold a 2-1 aggregate lead over OL Lyonnes after leg one of the semi-final, while City face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals on 9 May.
The race to the UWCL
Manchester United’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for the second year running – having admirably reached the quarter-finals in their debut run in the main draw this season – are out of their own hands. It follows Sunday’s 0-0 against Tottenham, which saw the latter dominate in north London but fail to make the most of opportunities that came their way. “Aggression” and “speed” to create chances for United were lacking, Marc Skinner assessed.
The Red Devils have endured a marathon season that began in August with Champions League qualifiers and their next fixture will be a 40th across all competitions – the previous club record in a single season was 33 (2023/24), surpassed weeks ago. Navigating four different competitions with injuries stretched the squad thin in the early months of 2026 and results began tailing off in March.
In second, Chelsea can guarantee a place in next season’s Champions League with victory away at Leicester on Sunday, potentially rendering a final day visit from United a dead rubber. Meanwhile, fourth-place Arsenal will expect to leapfrog United over the coming weeks. Three wins from five guarantees European football for the Gunners.
Only top three is good enough to qualify and the advent of the Women’s Europa Cup – an equivalent to the men’s Europa League – does not represent a second chance via the domestic league. The only route in for WSL clubs is elimination from Champions League qualifying rounds.
Fifth-place Tottenham are too far back at this late stage to challenge the top three. But it has been a positive debut season in charge for Martin Ho, who is only one win away from delivering the club’s highest ever WSL points tally.
Relegation picture fills in
As part of plans to expand the WSL to 14 teams for 2026/27, there is no automatic relegation this season. That said, the club in last place is still vulnerable to dropping into WSL 2. After the weekend’s results, Leicester are now virtually guaranteed to finish bottom of the pile. They lost heavily to London City Lionesses, while West Ham emerged victorious over Liverpool.
To avoid 12th place, the Foxes pretty much have to win all three remaining fixtures – they trail West Ham by seven but have an inferior goal difference. This is a team that has only won two of 19 in the league all season and the seemingly impossible task begins with Arsenal away on Wednesday.
West Ham and Liverpool have both looked in danger at times this season, but each club has strung together better results in 2026 to pull away. Leicester, meanwhile, have lost eight on the spin and haven’t added any points to their tally since December.
As far as the threat of relegation, Leicester will have the chance to preserve top-flight status in a playoff against whoever finishes third in WSL 2. First and second place equates to automatic promotion. Right now, WSL 2’s top three are separated by just a single point going into the final matchday, so it could be any combination of Charlton, Birmingham and Crystal Palace.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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