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Roundup of the opening eight matchweeks of the 2023-24 Women’s Super League season.
Following a busy summer of transfer business amidst an entertaining Women’s World Cup, the WSL returned with two months of thrills and spills across the eight opening matchweeks.
Chelsea entered this season seeking to defend their title against a hot chasing pack of Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City, whilst Aston Villa, Liverpool and Tottenham headed those seeking to disrupt the dominant four.
Now, here is a roundup of all the action across the eight opening matchweeks of the 2023-24 WSL season.
Week 1
Jutta Rantala’s second-half brace fired Leicester top of the table on the opening matchday with a 4-2 triumph at Bristol City, with Aimee Palmer and Lena Petermann also on the scoresheet for the Foxes in a comeback win after Carrie Jones put the Robins ahead.
Laia Aleixandri provided assists for Lauren Hemp and Jill Roord in the space of eight minutes early in the second half, as Manchester City scraped past West Ham 2-0 in East London.
Elisabeth Terland’s early brace saw Brighton win 2-1 at Everton, despite Megan Finnigan’s second-half strike for the hosts.
Mia Fishel and Lauren James netted for Chelsea in a 2-1 home win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, despite Zecira Musovic having gifted Martha Thomas a 76th minute consolatory goal for Spurs.
Rachel Williams struck a 92nd minute winner as Manchester United prevailed 2-1 at Aston Villa in a comeback win, after Lucia Garcia cancelled out Rachel Daly’s opening goal with Villa down to 10 women after Kirsty Hanson had been red carded for a high tackle on Hayley Ladd.
Miri Taylor netted a 48th minute winner as Liverpool stunned Arsenal 1-o at the Emirates Stadium.
Week 2
Petermann’s 69th minute strike saw Leicester stay top with a 1-0 win at home to Everton.
Marie Hobinger and Natasha Flint’s goals saw Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0 to go second in the table.
Guro Reiten’s 96th minute equaliser saw fifth-placed Chelsea snatch a 1-1 draw at nine-woman Manchester City, as the Cityzens stayed third courtsey of Chloe Kelly’s seventh minute opening goal before Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp were controversially red carded.
Cloe Lacasse struck a 93rd minute equaliser to rescue Arsenal a 2-2 draw away at Manchester United, who had fought back to lead through Leah Galton and Melvine Malard after Stina Blackstenius had put the visitors into a 14th minute lead.
Eveliina Summanen set up Olga Ahtinen’s opening goal before she herself scored after Martha Thomas in Tottenham’s 3-1 home win over rock-bottom Bristol City, whilst Amali Thestrup pulled a goal back for the Robins with a 64th minute consolatory penalty.
Kirsty Smith and Riko Ueki fired West Ham to a 2–0 away win at Brighton.
Week 3
Braces from Jill Roord and Khadija Shaw saw Manchester City hammer rock-bottom Bristol City 5-0 at home, with Aleixandri also on the scoresheet to send the Cityzens top.
Aileen Whelan’s strike was cancelled out by Maya Le Tissier’s equalising header as Leicester slipped to second with a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
Strikes from Sam Kerr and Erin Cuthbert saw Chelsea beat West Ham to move up to third in the table.
Second-half goals from Grace Clinton and Ria Percival saw Tottenham complete a comeback 3-1 win at Brighton, after Thomas cancelled out Terland’s first-half goal before half-time.
Finnigan’s 31st minute bullet-header saw Everton defeat Liverpool at Anfield in the Merseyside derby.
Injury-time goals from Katie McCabe and Alessia Russo saw Arsenal come from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 for their first league win of the season, having fell behind to Maz Pacheco’s 25th minute header.
Week 4
Kelly’s 10th minute strike proved enough for Man City to beat Leicester at the King Power Stadium to stay top of the table.
Chelsea moved up to second as Sjoeke Nusken’s hat-trick and Aggie Beever-Jones’ late strike saw them come from behind to beat Brighton 4-2 at Kingsmeadow, with Pauline Bremer and Terland having scored for the Seagulls in the opening and last goals of the match.
Thomas’ hat-trick saw Tottenham come from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-2 to go third after Daly had put Villa into a fifth minute lead, with Ashleigh Neville also netting for Spurs whilst Lucy Parker headed in her first Villa goal in injury-time.
Second-half races from Williams and Nikita Parris saw Man Utd win 5-0 away at Everton with Malard having opened the scoring in the 14th minute.
Hobinger’s 52nd minute effort was cancelled out by Ueki as West Ham fought back to hold Liverpool to a 1-1 draw.
McCabe’s brace saw Arsenal claim a 2-1 win away to rock-bottom Bristol City, despite Rachel Furness having equalisd for the Robins in the 16th minute.
Week 5
Millie Bright, Fran Kirby, Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd, Ashley Lawrence, Beever-Jones and Niamh Charles all netted as Chelsea thrashed Aston Villa in a 6-0 away triumph to move top of the table.
Blackstenius struck a 87th minute winner as Arsenal beat second-placed Manchester City 2-1, after Steph Catley’s opening goal for the Gunners was cancelled out by Kelly’s equaliser.
Grace Clinton’s 43rd minute goal was cancelled out by Aurora Galli’s penalty as Everton fought back to draw 1-1 at third-placed Tottenham.
Hobinger netted a 84th minute winner from Mia Enderby’s cut-back pass as Liverpool beat Leicester 2-1, despite Melissa Lawley’s opening goal having been cancelled out by Missy Goodwin.
Williams’ 98th minute equaliser saw Man Utd snatch a 2-2 draw at Brighton who had led through goals from Terland and Guro Bergsvand, either side of Ella Toone’s initial equalising goal.
Brooke Aspin’s 55th minute header saw Bristol City move off the foot of the table with a 3-2 win at West Ham, having fought back through Thestrup and Ella Powell to lead after Viviane Asseyi put the hosts ahead before Ueki pulld the Hammers level at half-time.
Week 6
Jessie Fleming’s opening strike plus goals from Kerr and Beever-Jones saw Chelsea beat Everton 3-0 away from home to stay top.
Arsenal came from 2-0 down at half-time to thrash Leicester 6-2 in a dominant comeback away win to go second, with Lacasse, Russo, Caitlin Foord, Victoria Pelova, Blackstenius and Lina Hurtig all on the scoresheet whilst Sam Tierney and Janice Cayman scored for the Foxes.
Lucia Garcia produced a goal and assist as Manchester United thrashed West Ham 5-0 to go third, with Geyse, Millie Turner, Parris and Malard also on the scoresheet.
Tottenham slipped to fourth after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool, as Celin Bizet’s goal was cancelled out by Sophie Roman Haug’s 66th minute header.
Lee Geum-min combined with Bremer to score a shock 81st minute winner for Brighton away to their former club, Manchester City.
Megan Connolly’s 77th minute own-goal and Ebony Salmon’s 86th minute strike saw Aston Villa win 2-0 away at Bristol City, which lifted them off the foot of the table at the Robins’ expense.
Week 7
James’ hat-trick fired league leaders, Chelsea to a 5-1 triumph at home to Liverpool with Beever-Jones and Nusken also finding the net, after Jess Carter’s 13th minute own-goal had briefly pulled Liverpool level following James’ opening goal two minutes earlier.
Blackstenius, Foord and Frida Maanum scored for second-placed Arsenal in a 3-0 win away to Brighton.
Comeback goals from Roord, Kelly and Shaw saw ten-woman Man City defeat Man Utd 3-1 in the Manchester derby to move above their local rivals into third after Katie Zelem’s penalty had put the Red Devils ahead, despite Aleixandri’s 72nd minute red card.
Bizet cancelleted out Cayman’s 18th minute opening goal as Tottenham battled back to draw 1-1 at Leicester.
Daly struck a 92nd minute winner as Aston Villa won 3-2 at West Ham in a thriller which saw the Hammers lead through Asseyi before Anna Patten and Adriana put Villa ahead, only for Lisa Evans to had dragged the host level with a 80th minute volley.
Bristol City twice fought back to eventually draw 2-2 at Everton through Amy Rodgers and Thestrup, after Martina Piemonte and Finnigan had put the Toffees ahead in both halves.
Week 8
James’ brace plus goals from Kerr and Beever-Jones plus Courtney Nevin’s fifth minute own-goal saw Chelsea hammer Leicester 5-2 at Kingsmeadow to stay top, whilst Rantala and Tierney netted for the Foxes in an entertaining five-goal first half thriller.
Beth Mead scored for the first time this season as her brace plus Maanum’s second minute strike saw Arsenal beat West Ham 3-0 to stay three points behind Emma Hayes’ Blues in second place.
Shaw’s first-half hat-trick plus second-half goals from Hemp, Roord and Laura Coombs’ brace saw Man City thrash Tottenham 7-0 at home to stay third in the table.
Hinata Miyazawa and Parris struck in the space of five minutes early in the second half as Man Utd snatched a 2-0 win at Bristol City.
Gemma Bonner, Shanice van de Sanden, Ceri Holland and Roman Haug struck for Liverpool in a dominant 4-0 home win over Brighton.
Nathalie Bjorn’s 74th minute penalty saw Everton clinch a 2-1 win at Aston Villa after Patten’s own-goal had put them ahead in the 54th minute, only for Daly to equalise for Villa a minute later.
| Position | Team | Played | Points | Goal Difference |
| 1 | Chelsea | 8 | 22 | +21 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 8 | 19 | +12 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 8 | 16 | +15 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 8 | 15 | +11 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 8 | 14 | +3 |
| 6 | Tottenham | 8 | 12 | -2 |
| 7 | Leicester | 8 | 8 | -6 |
| 8 | Everton | 8 | 8 | -8 |
| 9 | Brighton | 8 | 7 | -11 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 8 | 6 | -10 |
| 11 | West Ham | 8 | 4 | -12 |
| 12 | Bristol City | 8 | 4 | -13 |
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