Arsenal retained their unbeaten record under interim manager Renee Slegers by thrashing North London rivals Tottenham 3-0 in the Women's Super League on Saturday.

Slegers had overseen a return of four wins and one draw from her first five matches in charge of the Gunners following Jonas Eidevall's exit, and her team managed another statement victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

They needed just 63 seconds to open the scoring through Alessia Russo, who fired across goal and in after turning on the left-hand side of the area.

Arsenal continued to dominate and only a fine block from Amanda Nilden denied Katie McCabe from eight yards, but Tottenham's resistance was broken again in the 22nd minute. Frida Maanum exchanged passes with Kim Little before slotting her finish into the bottom-left corner, with a static Spurs defence applying no pressure whatsoever.

Beth England drew a full-stretch save from Daphne van Domselaar as Tottenham briefly improved, but Arsenal killed the contest 66 minutes in, substitute Stina Blackstenius breaking onto Mariona Caldentey's delicate throughball to finish when one-on-one.

The victory takes Arsenal fourth in the table with 15 points, one adrift of Brighton, who continued their impressive start to the campaign with a 3-2 victory over West Ham earlier on Saturday.

Fran Kirby scored an 82nd-minute winner for the Seagulls after West Ham had fought back from 2-0 down to level the contest, having also assisted Rachel McLauchlan's opener. That first goal involvement took Kirby to 100 in the WSL, making her just the fourth player to reach that milestone.

Data Debrief: Fast start key for Arsenal

Tottenham improved in the middle period of the game but a slow start cost them, which will be a particular blow to coach Robert Vilahamn after they conceded within 24 seconds versus Manchester City last time out.

Russo's goal, scored after one minute and three seconds, is the second-fastest in Arsenal's WSL history, after Jordan Nobbs' 28-second strike against Liverpool in October 2014. 

Just three sides remain without a defeat heading into matchday eight of the Women's Super League season, but two of the early pacesetters square off this Saturday.

Manchester City and Chelsea lead the way in the early-season standings, though Sonia Bompastor's Blues are yet to drop a point from their six games thus far.

That blockbuster encounter, set for Saturday, headlines the upcoming WSL weekend, but there is also plenty more to whet the appetite. 

Brighton will be looking to keep pace with the top two against West Ham, while a North London Derby is in the offing between Tottenham and Arsenal. 

Sunday's action sees winless Everton square off against Merseyside rivals Liverpool, while Manchester United travel to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City. 

But who does the Opta supercomputer predict will emerge victorious this time around? Here, we delve into the pre-match facts for each of this weekend's fixtures. 

BRIGHTON V WEST HAM

Brighton have been the surprise package of the WSL this term, sitting third in the standings, but they were on the end of a 5-0 defeat to a rejuvenated Arsenal last time out.

Despite the Seagulls' heavy defeat, they are handed a win probability of 51.3%, with West Ham given a 23.9% chance of following up their victory over Leicester with another three points. A draw is given a 24.8% likelihood of happening. 

Brighton have won six of their last eight WSL meetings with West Ham (D1 L1), with the Seagulls winning more games against the Hammers than any other opponent in the competition (seven).

They won four straight matches at the Amex between 2019 and 2022 but are winless in three games at the venue since (D1 L2), including a 1-1 draw with Manchester United last month. 

West Ham have won just one of their last 14 away games in the Women’s Super League (D3 L10), conceding in each of those matches; the Hammers could now equal their longest run of away matches in the competition without a clean sheet (15 in December 2020).

But Hammers boss Rehanne Skinner has won each of her last four WSL games against Brighton without conceding, a run that includes her biggest ever victory in the competition, winning 8-0 with Tottenham in October 2022.

TOTTENHAM V ARSENAL

Renee Slegers maintained her unbeaten start as Arsenal's interim head coach with arguably the most dominant display of her tenure, beating Juventus 4-0 in midweek. 

And she is predicted to continue her winning streak this weekend, with Arsenal handed a whopping win probability of 67.2%, the largest of any side on matchday eight.

Tottenham, who were on the end of a 4-0 thrashing by Man City last time out, are given a 14.9% chance of victory, with the threat of a draw at 17.9%. 

Arsenal have won seven of their nine games against Tottenham in the WSL and have either kept a clean sheet (five) or conceded exactly once (four) in each of those meetings.

Following their 5-0 win over Brighton, Arsenal will be looking to win back-to-back WSL games for the first time this season. This is the Gunners’ longest wait for consecutive wins from the start of a WSL season since 2016 (ninth game).

Tottenham have won only one of their nine meetings with Arsenal in the WSL (D1 L7), but that sole victory did come in this fixture last season, winning 1-0 thanks to a Martha Thomas goal.

Only Vivianne Miedema (eight) has scored more WSL goals in the North London Derby than Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord. She has netted seven times in just eight league appearances against Spurs and will be looking to build on her goal against Juve in midweek. 

CHELSEA V MAN CITY

The standout fixture of matchday eight sees Stamford Bridge host Chelsea's top-of-the-table clash with Man City. 

Despite Gareth Taylor's side sitting at the summit of the standings, they are handed a 22.5% win probability, with the Blues' hopes of salvaging a point ranked slightly higher at 23.7%. Chelsea, meanwhile, won 53.7% of Opta's data-led simulations. 

Bompastor could become the first ever manager to win each of their first seven games in the WSL. Her Blues are aiming to become the third team in WSL history to win each of their opening seven games of a campaign after this weekend's opponents did so in 2017-18 (finished 2nd) and Arsenal did so in 2018-19 (finished 1st).

Chelsea have also won all six of their previous matches at Stamford Bridge in the WSL by an aggregate score of 17-4, the most games any team has ever played in the competition at a home venue while maintaining a 100% record.

However, City are unbeaten in their last three WSL meetings with Chelsea (W2 D1) while only Arsenal (10) have recorded more wins over the Blues in the competition than the Citizens (seven).

City have also won 17 of their 19 WSL games in 2024 (D1 L1) and could win 18 top-flight games in a single calendar year for the very first time.

ASTON VILLA V CRYSTAL PALACE

Aston Villa are one of only two sides in the division yet to record a win this season, but are predicted to get their first three points on the board at home to Crystal Palace. 

Opta's data-led simulations favoured the Villans in 51.1% of instances. A draw is given a 24.8% chance of happening, with Palace handed a win probability of just 24.1%. 

This will be the second meeting between the two sides already this season, with the Villans winning 2-0 at home in a League Cup group-stage game in October.

This will, however, be the first time Palace have faced Villa in a league game since September 2019, when the Eagles suffered a 6-0 home loss to the eventual 2019-20 Championship winners.  

Crystal Palace have won four points from their three away games in the WSL so far this season (W1 D1 L1), becoming just the third newly promoted side to do so after Tottenham in 2019-20 (six) and Aston Villa in 2020-21 (six). No such team has ever picked up seven points from their first four matches on the road in a single campaign. 

But Villa are unbeaten in six previous WSL games against newly promoted opposition (W4 D2), though they did draw their last two such home matches (3-3 v Liverpool, 2-2 v Bristol City), and have kept two clean sheets in their last four league games, the same number of shutouts as they managed across their previous 15 WSL matches.

EVERTON V LIVERPOOL

Everton's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace saw them pick up just their third point of the season, but they will be hoping to earn their first three points of the year against rivals Liverpool.

The Toffees are handed a 32.6% win probability compared to Liverpool's 41.9%, the closest margin between any two sides on matchday eight. A draw is given a 25.5% likelihood. 

Everton, however, have won four of their last seven meetings with Liverpool in the WSL (D2 L1), more than they managed in their first 10 Merseyside Derbies in the competition (W3 D3 L4).

But they have struggled at Goodison Park. They have not won a WSL game in four attempts at the iconic stadium (D2 L2), failing to score in three of those games. Their most recent such match came earlier this month, losing 5-0 to Chelsea.

While the Reds are winless in their last three trips across Stanley Park, they are enjoying their longest ever unbeaten run away from home in the WSL, going eight without defeat since losing to Man City in January (W6 D2). Only Chelsea (nine) and City (eight) have won more times on the road in the top flight in 2024 than the Reds (six).

The Reds' Marie-Therese Hobinger will be the player to watch. She has created more chances from set-pieces than any other player in the WSL this season (10), while each of her seven assists in the competition have come via corners.

LEICESTER V MAN UTD

One of two games that conclude the weekend's action takes place in the East Midlands, with Man United, the third team without a loss this term, taking on Leicester. 

The Red Devils are, unsurprisingly, favoured by Opta's data-led simulations and are handed a 66.7% chance of emerging victorious. Leicester are given just a 15.2% chance of winning, with a draw valued at 18.1%.

Though they are unbeaten in the WSL this season, United have drawn their last three league matches. The last team to draw four in a row in the competition was Aston Villa in May 2021 (five in a row).

United have conceded just twice in their opening six league games this season, with only Man City in 2016 (0) and 2019-20 (one) and Arsenal in 2022-23 (one) ever leaking fewer goals at this stage of a campaign. The Red Devils’ opponents have by far the worst conversion rate in the competition this term, however (2.9%).

The Foxes are winless in six previous meetings with United in the WSL (D1 L5), only facing Arsenal (P7 L7) and Villa (P7 D2 L5) more often in the competition without winning.

Elisabeth Terland has scored three goals in her last two WSL appearances against Leicester, with the striker only netting in more games in the competition against Tottenham (four different games).

Khadija Shaw believes Manchester City are "unstoppable" when they raise their level after securing a resounding 4-0 win over Tottenham in the Women's Super League.

Shaw made history, overtaking Vivianne Miedema as the player with the most WSL hat-tricks and becoming the first player in the league to net three separate trebles against the same side.

The Jamaican opened the scoring after just 23 seconds, robbing Clare Hunt of the ball, before adding to her tally in the 15th and 67th minutes to take the match ball home. Jill Roord had added City's third 91 seconds before Shaw wrapped up her hat-trick.

City dominated throughout, with Lauren Hemp also unlucky not to end up on the scoresheet after hitting both posts and the bar with a pacy strike from inside the box.

It was a win that moved City four points clear at the top of the WSL table ahead of Chelsea's match at Liverpool on Sunday.

Shaw was delighted to walk away with the match ball, but especially with the quality that City have shown so far this campaign.

"We really enjoyed that one," Shaw told Sky Sports. "We spoke as a team that we wanted to come out here and be on the front foot.

"Fortunately for me, with my pressing that I've been working on, we managed to get the goal. It was a good night.

"With the players that I have around me, I know that I’m going to get crosses, it's just making the right movements in the box and they will find me. I've just been getting better and growing, so I'm happy.

"At the back end of last season, we just fell short with the goal difference. It's about staying consistent, because we know we have the quality.

"Once we go at every game on the front foot from the first whistle, we're really good at that. We have to keep going and see where we can raise the level even better, so when we get to that level, we're unstoppable."

City have won their last nine matches in all competitions, scoring seven goals without reply in their last two WSL outings.

Despite their emphatic win at the Etihad Stadium on Friday though, Gareth Taylor still believes there is room for improvement from his side, especially with reigning champions Chelsea next up for them in the league.

"I said to them, I think we can be better," Taylor told Sky Sports.

"I thought at times tonight we were a little bit loose. A little bit slow with our play. It's really difficult to be critical because it's a different environment for us."

Manchester City moved three points clear at the Women's Super League summit following a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

Jess Park, Jill Roord and Khadija Shaw were all on target as Gareth Taylor's side extended their unbeaten start to the season, moving onto 16 points after their opening six games.

City quickly established authority in their 200th WSL match, and took the lead five minutes before half-time through Park's long-range strike.

The visitors doubled their advantage within five minutes of the restart, as Roord pounced on a loose ball and calmly slotted home.

Katie Stengel struck the post for the hosts before City put the contest to bed 17 minutes from time, with Shaw heading home Park's cross for her fourth goal of the season.

Taylor's side are three points clear of Brighton and Hove Albion, who leapfrogged Chelsea to second place after Nikita Parris scored the only goal as they edged out Leicester City.

West Ham remain rooted to the foot of the WSL table after Camila Saez's bizarre late own-goal condemned them to a 2-1 defeat against Tottenham.

Riko Ueki's opener was cancelled out by Beth England early in the second half, before Saez unwittingly lobbed her own goalkeeper from 18 yards to hand Spurs the points in stoppage time.

The winless Hammers remain on two points with an inferior goal difference keeping them below Aston Villa, who are also still seeking their first win of the campaign after losing 2-1 to Liverpool.

Taylor Hinds' first-half brace did the damage for the Reds at Villa Park, where Gabi Nunes' strike soon after the restart proved a mere consolation for the hosts.

Manchester City moved three points clear at the Women's Super League summit following a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

Jess Park, Jill Roord and Khadija Shaw were all on target as Gareth Taylor's side extended their unbeaten start to the season, moving onto 16 points after their opening six games.

City quickly established authority in their 200th WSL match, and took the lead five minutes before half-time through Park's long-range strike.

The visitors doubled their advantage within five minutes of the restart, as Roord pounced on a loose ball and calmly slotted home.

Katie Stengel struck the post for the hosts before City put the contest to bed 17 minutes from time, with Shaw heading home Park's cross for her fourth goal of the season.

Taylor's side are three points clear of Brighton and Hove Albion, who leapfrogged Chelsea to second place after Nikita Parris scored the only goal as they edged out Leicester City.

West Ham remain rooted to the foot of the WSL table after Camila Saez's bizarre late own-goal condemned them to a 2-1 defeat against Tottenham.

Riko Ueki's opener was cancelled out by Beth England early in the second half, before Saez unwittingly lobbed her own goalkeeper from 18 yards to hand Spurs the points in stoppage time.

The winless Hammers remain on two points with an inferior goal difference keeping them below Aston Villa, who are also still seeking their first win of the campaign after losing 2-1 to Liverpool.

Taylor Hinds' first-half brace did the damage for the Reds at Villa Park, where Gabi Nunes' strike soon after the restart proved a mere consolation for the hosts.

In just five weeks, there have already been unexpected major twists and turns in the Women's Super League.

Arsenal, tipped to be title contenders, are in search of a new manager following Jonas Eidevall's departure and sit in fifth, while Chelsea are breathing down Manchester City's neck at the top.

Manchester United and, perhaps unexpectedly, Brighton are pushing them, while it is also tight at the bottom, with three sides yet to earn their first win.

But what, or who, have been the biggest stories so far? We take a look at the Opta data to find out.

The surprise package

Before the season began, Brighton, under new manager Dario Vidosic, were the favourites to be relegated, with the Opta supercomputer giving them a 26.4% chance of finishing bottom of the table.

Instead, the Seagulls have blown away the competition, occupying fourth spot heading into the international break. They are unbeaten in three, with Nikita Parris haunting her old club to earn a 1-1 draw with Man United before the break.

Brighton have scored the second-most goals in the WSL (10, level with Tottenham), but from the fifth-fewest shots (48), proving just how clinical they have been by outperforming their 8.48 expected goals (xG).

Only Manchester City (3,273) and Arsenal (2,792) have completed more passes in the WSL this season than Brighton’s total of 2,467. This average of 493 passes completed per game is comfortably their most in a single campaign (their previous best was 296 per game last season).

Unsurprisingly, their chances of being relegated have now dropped to just 0.7%, and Vidosic will be eager to kick on.

Revitalised United not missing Earps

Lots of talk in pre-season centred around United's high-profile departures, including club captain Katie Zelem, Lucia Garcia, Parris and, perhaps most importantly, goalkeeper Mary Earps.

After a disappointing 2023-24, in which they finished fifth and conceded 20 goals more than in the season prior, it looked like the Red Devils might endure another campaign without a title fight.

However, those worries may have been for nought, with United making an unbeaten start and only dropping their first points in last weekend's draw with Brighton.

Parris' goal was the first they had conceded this season, as Phallon Tullis-Joyce has seamlessly filled Earps’ place between the sticks. She has faced 15 shots on target and has prevented 2.7 goals, according to Opta's expected goals on target model (xGoT).

With Maya Le Tissier and Millie Turner forming a strong partnership in front of her, they have conceded the second-fewest shots in the WSL (41) and with Grace Clinton firing up top, Marc Skinner looks to have found a solid balance in his team.

Rytting Kaneryd propels Chelsea forward

Sonia Bompastor has picked up where Emma Hayes left off with Chelsea, but she already knows she is in a title battle, even after Arsenal's surprisingly slow start.

With the likes of Khadija Shaw and Vivianne Miedema in strong form, City currently have the advantage, sitting top of the pile, though they have played a game more.

But the Blues have a driving force of their own in Johanna Rytting Kaneryd – she scored the first goal of the Bompastor era and was also the star of the show in their 5-2 win over Tottenham last time out. 

She has already racked up a league-high five goal contributions, half of what she managed across the whole of last season. Her six chances created are the second-most in the Chelsea team, making 1.7 per 90 minutes, and she will be key to their title hopes if she can maintain this level.

Lower table struggles

There is also an intriguing look to the foot of the table, with West Ham, Aston Villa and Everton all sitting level on two points.

The Hammers have not been able to put last season's struggles behind them yet and have netted just twice, underperforming their 3.51 xG – the lowest total accumulated by any team so far.

Villa will feel the most hopeful of the group, with Rachel Daly seemingly back to her best with three goals so far, but they need to start seeing out wins – they have dropped eight points from winning positions after being pegged back by City last time out, more than any team.

Everton's season, meanwhile, has been hampered by fitness woes, with Inma Gabarro and Aurora Galli suffering anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in the first two games.

They have scored just once, an own goal by Camila Saez against West Ham, meaning they have the biggest xG underperformance, having created 4.42.

Can Liverpool or Spurs put themselves in the fight?

At the moment, the middle of the table is tight, with Leicester City and Crystal Palace recording one win apiece, with the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham unable to make a statement start despite promising ends to last season.

The Reds did beat Spurs, only to drop points against West Ham and Palace to make life tricky. They have also conceded as many goals as they have scored (seven), leaving Matt Beard with questions to ponder over the break.

Spurs have a similar problem, having conceded 11 times in their last three outings alone.

They are scoring goals though, outperforming their xG of 7.74 with 10 goals, but Robert Vilahamn knows they need to shore up their defence if they want to challenge the sides above them.

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor has called for goalline technology to be introduced in the women's game following a controversial incident in Sunday's win over Tottenham.

The Blues continued their fantastic start under Bompastor with a 5-2 Women's Super League victory at Kingsmeadow.

However, the match was not without incident, as Spurs' first goal, which cancelled out Maika Hamano's opener, came in contentious fashion.

Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton was adjudged to have bundled the ball over her own goal-line from Amanda Nilden's wayward pass.

Hampton received a yellow card for her protests, with replays showing the ball had not crossed the line, and Bompastor believes the introduction of goal-line technology must be forthcoming.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Bompastor said: "I just think in this type of situation we just need to help the referees. From what I was watching the game it's difficult to say if the ball was in or out. I just feel like if the technology is in for the men's game why don't we have the same?

"I think it will help the referees and for the assistant referee I think that's a hard call to make. If you're unsure it's really difficult but that's the way it is. The referee takes some decisions, and we have to accept that.

"If the technology is here we should use it. It's about having a budget - it costs money. If we want to look professional we just have to have the same thing as the men's game."

Chelsea regained the lead when Nilden put through her own net just before half-time, and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's magnificent volley put them two goals to the good in the 70th minute.

Sandy Baltimore made it 4-1 four minutes later, slotting home a rebound after Guro Reiten's penalty came back off the post, with Rytting Kaneryd having the final say in stoppage time after Eveliina Summanen had pulled one back for Spurs.

Rytting Kaneryd got all three of her shots on target, while she also laid on the assist for Chelsea's opener.

"I hope she's going to grow again," Bompastor said of Rytting Kaneryd, whose first goal came from an expected goals (xG) value of 0.04.

"She scored some great goals and her performance was really high. I think she's confident right now on the pitch, understands exactly what I expect from her, has good chemistry with her team-mates and I think she's really helping the team to perform and get the good results."

Asked if it was the best performance of her career, Rytting Kaneryd told Sky Sports: "I feel like I keep on taking steps every day, every game. I feel like I'm in a good shape right now so maybe it was, who knows."

Johanna Rytting Kaneryd scored twice as Chelsea overcame Tottenham 5-2 at Kingsmeadow to make it four wins from four in the Women's Super League.

Maika Hamano and Sandy Baltimore were also on target for Sonia Bompastor's side, who maintained their perfect start to the league season and moved to within a point of leaders Manchester City.

Rytting Kaneryd was involved as the Blues broke through in the 10th minute, racing into the area before pulling the ball back for Hamano to tuck away.

Spurs levelled in controversial fashion 11 minutes later when Hannah Hampton was adjudged to have palmed the ball over her own goal-line while attempting to retrieve Amanda Nilden's wayward cross.

The hosts regained the lead when Nilden put through her own net just before half-time, while Rytting Kaneryd's magnificent volley put them two goals to the good in the 70th minute.

Baltimore made it 4-1 four minutes later, slotting home a rebound after Guro Reiten's penalty came back off the post following a Clare Hunt handball.

Spurs pulled one back through Eveliina Summanen's neat free-kick, but Rytting Kaneryd had the final say with a wonderful individual goal in stoppage time, putting the icing on the cake.

Data Debrief: Bompastor continues perfect start

Bompastor appears to have made a seamless transition into the Chelsea dugout since taking over the reins from Emma Hayes.

The Frenchwoman has become only the third manager to win her first four WSL matches in charge, along with David Parker (with Birmingham City in 2011) and Jonas Eidevall (in 2021 with Arsenal).

Tottenham, meanwhile, are without a win since the opening day of the season and have now conceded a league-high three penalties in five games.

Erling Haaland may have hit unprecedented heights for Manchester City but Marc Skinner believes Manchester United have a similar talisman in Elisabeth Terland.

United boss Skinner likened Women's Super League star Terland to City's Premier League hero Haaland after the Norwegian scored twice in Sunday's 3-0 victory over Tottenham.

That marked her first two goals for United since joining from Brighton, having first blasted a volley home before looping another header over Becky Spencer.

Asked to describe Terland, Skinner said: "Intense in a good way. She is a person who is always focused, she doesn't dip off her focus whether it's pressing or whatever the task is, she's all in.

"I think she knows Haaland personally and I don't want to compare the two but the immense and intense action of both of them, that's how she performs."

Terland's heroics helped to ensure United's 100% record in the WSL this season stayed intact, with three wins and three clean sheets from three games.

The former Brighton forward, who found the net 13 times in the league last season, appeared all over the place against Spurs, attempting a game-high five shots with three of those on target.

Her two goals came from an expected goals tally of just 0.65, though, suggesting superior finishing from lower quality chances, something that will delight Skinner.

"I came to a club that wants to achieve big things. I know playing in a better team will make me better," Terland told Sky Sports.

"Part of my job is to score goals, it is great to get the first one for the club. A good win and I am proud of the team."

United finished fifth last campaign and lacked a regular scorer, with Nikita Parris finishing the term as the club's top scorer in the WSL with only eight goals.

Skinner knows the tide may now turn, however, with Terland firing up top.

"I just think she's an incredible talent," Skinner added.

"The beauty of her is I think she slows the moment and sees the opportunity under the most immense pressure."

Manchester United made light work of Tottenham as Marc Skinner's side continued their perfect start to the 2024-25 campaign with a 3-0 win.

Skinner's team moved level on points with Chelsea at the top of the Women's Super League thanks to goals from Elisabeth Terland and Maya Le Tissier on Sunday.

Terland, a summer signing from Brighton, opened her account for United with a quickfire double at the end of the first half at Leigh Sports Village.

The Norway international drilled in after Celin Bizet hit the crossbar, and the latter subsequently teed up Terland's second five minutes later.

United captain Le Tissier settled the contest from the penalty spot following Ashleigh Neville's handball just before the hour mark.

The Red Devils thrashed Spurs 4-0 in their last competitive meeting - the FA Cup final in May - and are now unbeaten in 11 WSL matches against them.

Indeed, this was their ninth win over Spurs in the competition, with United having only beaten Everton on as many occasions.

Data Debrief: United's pristine record

As well as picking up three wins from as many WSL matches, United are yet to concede a goal this season - the only team to have shut all of their opponents out so far.

Skinner continued his impressive record against Spurs, and is now unbeaten in his last eight meetings with them.

It has been a poor start for Spurs, meanwhile. After beating Crystal Palace 4-0 in their opener, they are now winless in three (D1 L2). Only in 2020-21 (0) have Tottenham had one or fewer wins across their opening four top-flight matches of a campaign.

Arsenal missed the chance to keep pace with Women's Super League leaders Manchester City on Sunday, but Liverpool grabbed the standout result.

Liverpool edged Tottenham 3-2 thanks to Marie-Therese Hobinger's last-gasp penalty.

Having netted her first goal of the season in the 75th minute, Hobinger doubled up to win it for the Reds deep in stoppage time.

Ashleigh Neville fouled Sophie Roman Haug, and Hobinger made no mistake to seal Liverpool's first win of the season.

Neville had turned provider for Tottenham's second equaliser of the game at Gaughan Group Stadium, when she crossed for Clare Hunt to score in the 83rd minute.

Liverpool took the lead early on through Cornelia Kapocs, before Taylor Hinds' own goal handed Spurs a leveller.

The Reds' Merseyside rivals Everton, meanwhile, frustrated Arsenal by holding the Gunners to a 0-0 draw.

Everton have been hit by serious knee injuries to Inma Gabarro and Aurora Galli this season, but the Toffees showed plenty of resilience to pick up their first point of the campaign at Emirates Stadium.

Emily Fox went closest for Arsenal when she hit the post early in the first half, but in spite of having 21 shots, the Gunners accumulated only 0.74 expected goals (xG).

Annabel Blanchard, meanwhile, netted twice to propel Crystal Palace to their first victory of the season, as they beat Leicester City 2-0.

Earlier in the day, Man City defeated West Ham 2-0.

Khadija Shaw opened her account for the Women's Super League season as Manchester City beat Brighton 1-0 to get their first win on the board.

Shaw was the runaway top scorer in the WSL last season, and she got up and running for the 2024-25 campaign with a neat close-range finish from Kerstin Casparij's low cross late in the first half of Sunday's clash at Joie Stadium.

Her goal was one of seven shots the Jamaican had throughout the contest, with Shaw having gone close on three occasions prior to breaking the deadlock.

Mary Fowler and Jessica Park both went close to extending City's lead after the break, while Lauren Hemp stung the palms of Sophie Baggaley.

The only disappointment for Gareth Taylor will have been that his side failed to make their dominance count for a second goal, with City mustering 3.03 expected goals (xG) to Brighton's 0.76.

"We got the job done," defender Alex Greenwood told BBC Sport.

"Sometimes in this league, you have to win ugly. I thought off the ball today we were better. Against Arsenal, we struggled with that at times, but we have worked really hard on that, and I thought we saw an improvement in that.

"This league is getting tougher and tougher every year, and we saw that with Brighton, it was a tough game. We take the win and the clean sheet all day."

Arsenal, who drew 2-2 with City last week, also got their first win on the board, with Frida Maanum's second-half strike proving decisive in a 1-0 defeat of Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Alessia Russo capitalised on an error from Catherine Bott, with the former Manchester United forward keeping her cool to set up Maanum for a simple finish, as Arsenal claimed a seventh straight WSL win over Leicester.

There was a thrilling finale in Aston Villa's clash with Tottenham, as three goals in 20 minutes saw the points shared in a 2-2 draw.

Spurs led through Eveliina Summanen's 23rd-minute penalty at Villa Park, but Adriana Leon and Rachel Daly flipped the match on its head.

However, Villa's hopes of claiming a memorable victory were dashed when Bethany England netted deep in second-half stoppage time.

Manchester United made it two wins from two as Grace Clinton's fourth-minute goal downed her former club Everton 1-0.

United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce made good stops to deny Karoline Olesen and Inma Gabarro before the latter had to be taken off following a lengthy treatment for an injury.

West Ham, meanwhile, hit back late on to frustrate Liverpool in a 1-1 draw.

Liverpool's club-record signing Olivia Smith had put the Reds ahead early on, but a fine header from Riko Ueki ensured the spoils were shared.

Robert Vilahamn has committed his future to Tottenham by signing a three-year contract to keep him at the club until 2027.

Vilahamn initially joined Spurs last year from Swedish side BK Hacken and enjoyed an impressive first campaign in charge.

He led Spurs to a top-six finish for just the second time in the Women's Super League and a first-ever FA Cup final, which they lost 4-0 to Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.

"To sign a new contract with the club feels amazing," Vilahamn told SPURSPLAY.

"My first contract here and moving to London was a big thing, but now I have been here, met people at the club, I feel the potential is a good match.

"I just want to stay and keep working to make sure this team are taking the steps to the top."

Spurs won eight of their 22 league games under Vilahamn last year, and went on an eight-match unbeaten run under him in all competitions in the first half of the season.

They will begin their next WSL campaign against Crystal Palace on September 22. 

The accolades of Jamaica and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw continue to mount, as she was voted the 2023/24 Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Player of the Season, on Friday.

This announcement came on the heels of Thursday’s Football Writers’ Association (FWA) awards gala, where Shaw was officially presented with the FWA Women Footballer of the Year trophy, alongside fellow Manchester City star Phil Foden.

To say these individual acclaims are very much deserving would be an understatement given her exploits this season, as she has been a key figure in City’s push for the WSL title.

The 27-year-old, whose season was cut short due to a broken leg, has registered 21 goals in just 18 appearances, while also providing three assists. She’s on course for another prestigious honour of finishing as the league’s top scorer, having incredibly averaged a goal every 66 minutes this season.

And it is just rewards for another phenomenal campaign in which she once again broke new ground in Gareth Taylor’s side.

Shaw is the first player to score three WSL hat-tricks in a calendar year, last year, and between November 2023 and January 2024, the forward again registered three trebles in just four matches.

Finding the net in both WSL Manchester derbies, the Jamaican’s clinical finish at the Etihad Stadium in March also saw her become City’s record goalscorer, as she swept past Georgia Stanway in the process.

Another crucial strike from Shaw came in City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in February, as they secured the honour of being the first away side to take three points off the reigning champions at Kingsmeadow, in over three years.

In securing the Player of the Season title, the prolific Jamaican fought off the sizeable challenge of City teammate Khiara Keating, who won the Golden Glove, as well as Chelsea duo Lauren James and Niamh Charles. Arsenal’s Lotte Wubben-Moy, Tottenham Hotspurs youngster Grace Clinton, Leicester’s Jutta Rantala, and Brighton’s forward Elisabeth Terland, were also in the mix.

Chelsea go top of the Women's Super League table after edging to a 1-0 victory over Tottenham on Wednesday.

Maika Hamano scored the winning goal in the 37th minute, tapping in from the goal-line after meeting Guro Reiten's whipped cross.

The Japan international almost opened the scoring before that, sending a diving header over the bar.

Ashleigh Neville scuffed Spurs' best chance over the bar from close range just after half-time, but the Blues regained their control to see out a vital victory.

Data Debrief: In their hands

Chelsea are on course to lift their fifth consecutive WSL after securing back-to-back wins against Bristol City and Spurs, scoring nine goals without reply.

Spurs' hangover from their FA Cup defeat may have carried over here, but they were up against a Chelsea side that have only failed to score in one of their 21 league games this seaosn.