Resurgent Arsenal target Chelsea's dominance in new WSL season
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Women's Champions League - Final - Arsenal v FC Barcelona - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - May 24, 2025 Arsenal's Alessia Russo, Leah Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions League REUTERS/Rodrigo Antunes/ File Photo
MANCHESTER, England :The Women's Super League season promises to be one of the most transformative yet - both on and off the pitch - with sweeping structural changes, record-breaking investment and a fierce title race that could finally see Chelsea dethroned.
Arsenal, fresh off an historic Champions League victory over Barcelona in May, enter the new campaign with momentum, belief, and a clear mission to end Chelsea's domestic dominance.
Arsenal, who have not hoisted the league trophy since 2019, have long been chasing their London rivals, winners of six successive WSL titles, but last season's European triumph has shifted the narrative.
"As soon as you win something as big as (the Champions League), there is a target on your back," Arsenal defender Steph Catley told the BBC. "There is an expectation that you should go on and do amazing things. Domestically, we haven't won nearly as much as we probably could have and we probably should have.
"There are really no excuses. We have the team. We have everything in place. It's about putting it together on the field and matching up to those expectations."
Chelsea, however, will not relinquish their crown easily. Sonia Bompastor's side host Manchester City on Friday, setting the tone for a blockbuster WSL opening weekend.
"I wouldn't say there will be a big difference from last season," Bompastor recently told reporters. "This season, we will go further and in more detail on what we were trying to achieve last season.
"Last season was about getting to know each other on the pitch," added the manager, who replaced Emma Hayes at the beginning of last season. "Now, we are in a better position to go into the details of how we want to work together."
Manchester City, who have a new manager in Andree Jeglertz, would also love to unseat Chelsea. Can the Blues be stopped?
"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be sat here if I thought something else," Jeglertz said ahead of his team's trip to Stamford Bridge.
"It's definitely something for the club that they really want us to do. I believe in us, but also there's something about patience too."
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The WSL had the world's most expensive women's player when Canadian Olivia Smith moved to Arsenal from Liverpool in July, when they smashed the million pound ($1.35 million) threshold.
That record has since been broken by the NWSL's Orlando Pride, who signed Lizbeth Ovalle for 1.1 million pounds.
This season will mark the biggest structural overhaul since the WSL expanded to 12 teams in 2019-20.
An end of season shake-up will see the WSL expand to 14 teams for 2026-27, with the top two sides in WSL2 earning automatic promotion and the third-placed team facing off against the WSL's bottom club in a playoff.
Promoted London City are also poised to shake up the WSL, fuelled by backing from billionaire owner Michele Kang.
Rather than settling for survival, they have ambitions to break into the top four and avoid the usual relegation battle faced by promoted sides.
The Lionesses face an immediate litmus test on Saturday, when they take on Arsenal at The Emirates Stadium.
Another change will see alcohol - banned for decades at men's games in England to curb hooliganism - allowed in the stands for seven clubs as a trial.
($1 = 0.7402 pounds)
