The WSL appears to have a serious 2025/26 title race on its hands, after No. 1 Manchester City cemented their six-point lead on six-time reigning champs No. 2 Chelsea with Sunday's lopsided 6-1 win over No. 8 Aston Villa.
City striker Bunny Shaw scored four times in the victory, bringing her all-time club tally to 103 goals — and becoming the first woman to reach the century scoring mark in the team's modern era.
"Coming into this game, I knew that if I scored it would have been a really good milestone for me," she told BBC Radio.
Manchester City have been perfect since dropping their 2025/26 season opener — a 2-1 loss to six-time champions Chelsea — with the Citizens now carrying a 10-match WSL winning streak into 2026.
While Chelsea and No. 3 Arsenal have ample ground to make up on the WSL table, both managed to keep pace by snagging their own multi-goal wins over the weekend.
After No. 10 Everton snapped the Blues' 34-game WSL unbeaten streak last week, goals by France international Sandy Baltimore and USWNT star Alyssa Thompson shot Chelsea past No. 7 Brighton 3-0 on Sunday.
Arsenal is also back to their winning ways, taking down Everton 3-1 on Saturday to hold off No. 4 Manchester United as captain Leah Williamson returned from injury.
How to watch the WSL in 2026
Now on holiday break, the WSL will return at 7:30 AM ET on January 10th, when Arsenal will kick off 2026 play against Manchester United at Emirates Stadium, airing live on ESPN+.
The USWNT is eyeing another 2025 victory, with US Soccer announcing the finalists for the federation's end-of-year awards on Monday, including the five women nominated for US Soccer Female Player of the Year.
After stellar runs for both club and country, Arsenal defender Emily Fox, Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey, Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle, and Chelsea FC forwards Alyssa Thompson and Catarina Macario headline the 2025 shortlist.
The youth national teams' Young Female Player of the Year award also tapped top finalists in Angel City forward Riley Tiernan, Chicago Stars forward Micayla Johnson, Seattle Reign defender Jordyn Bugg, Gotham FC defender Lilly Reale, and University of Virginia freshman defender Pearl Cecil.
The USWNT also earned a Game of the Year nomination, with US Soccer recognizing the team's dominant 3-0 victory over North American rival Canada in July.
While national team play is paramount in determining the honorees, club performances also factor into the awards, with several Player of the Year nominees significantly adding to their resumes away from the international pitch in 2025.
In May, Fox helped Arsenal to the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League title and Macario lifted the WSL trophy with Chelsea, while Gotham stars Lavelle and Reale finished their NWSL season as league champions late last month — with Reale also taking home the 2025 NWSL Rookie of the Year trophy.
How to vote for the 2025 US Soccer Player of the Year Awards
Players, coaches, media, the US Soccer board, and fans will determine the ultimate winners, with fan picks making up 15% of the final tally.
Fans can submit their votes online now through Friday, December 12th, with US Soccer slated to announce the winners in January.
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman is defending the league's salary cap, addressing growing concerns about player retention this week — just days before soon-to-be free agent Trinity Rodman takes the San Jose pitch for Saturday's 2025 Championship match.
"We want Trinity in the NWSL, and we will fight for her," said Berman about the Washington Spirit star, responding to a report in The Athletic claiming that competing US top-flight outfit Gainbridge Super League has offered Rodman a contract surpassing the NWSL's current salary cap limitations.
"She is representative, or a proxy, of our broader point, which is that we want top players to play here, and we believe that we are already doing that and can continue to attract those players," Berman added.
The NWSL's hard salary cap approach has come under fire amid recent high-profile departures of US talents like now-Chelsea FC teammates Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson, but Berman insists that the mechanism remains crucial to the league's parity.
"There are teams in other leagues that could compete in our league, but there are no leagues that could compete with our league," she explained, emphasizing the unique position the NWSL holds in the global soccer landscape.
"Compensation is not the only thing that players consider when deciding where to play," she continued. "We look at a whole host of factors, on the basis of the conversations that we have with players from our league and from players around the world."
The NWSL also confirmed Berman's multi-year contract extension this week, with executive committee chair Carolyn Tisch Blodgett saying in a statement that "[Berman's] vision for sustainable growth, along with her ability to fuel enduring momentum, has positioned the league for long-term success."
Chelsea FC's £1 million gamble is paying dividends, as USWNT rising star Alyssa Thompson continued her goal-scoring momentum for the six-time defending WSL champs on Sunday.
The young forward found the back of the net in the ninth minute of the Blues' 1-1 Sunday draw with Liverpool, solidifying her status as a decisive attacking threat for her new club.
"You can see how much talent she has and the quality she brings to the team," Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said of Thompson earlier this month. "She's improving game after game, becoming more connected to her teammates, and understanding the way we want to play better."
Thompson left NWSL side Angel City for Chelsea on a then-record £1 million transfer fee in early September, with the 21-year-old going on to notch three goals and one assist in four matches across both WSL and Champions League play.
"Being able to play with players that are the best in the world is an amazing opportunity," said the striker. "I want to learn, grow, and develop a lot. I feel like Chelsea is such an amazing environment to do that in."
Beyond individual accomplishment, Thompson's success underscores Chelsea's depth as they continue to hunt domestic and continental honors on a now-34 match WSL unbeaten streak — while also looking to potentially draw more USWNT stars away from the NWSL.
Two rising US stars made their European marks this week, as both OL Lyonnes midfielder Lily Yohannes and Chelsea FC forward Alyssa Thompson registered their first-ever UWCL goals in the second week of 2025/26 Champions League play on Wednesday — mere hours after earning call-ups to October's USWNT roster.
First, Yohannes launched a 57-yard screamer in the 51st minute of the French club's 3-0 win over Austrian side St. Pölten, with the 18-year-old helping lift Lyonnes over the competition after spotting the keeper out of her goal.
Later on Wednesday afternoon, recent WSL addition Thompson piled onto the Blues' eventual 4-0 thrashing of Paris FC, firing in her debut Champions League goal off a low cross from England mainstay Kiera Walsh.
"She brings a lot of speed up front," Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said of Thompson. "She also is a player who is really comfortable on the ball."
How to watch 2025/26 Champions League action on Thursday
The second matchday of the 2025/26 UWCL league phase continues on Thursday, as WSL side Manchester United — anchored by USWNT goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce — faces Spanish club Atlético Madrid at 12:45 PM ET before reigning champion Arsenal looks to bounce back from their Champions League opening loss by defeating Portugal's Benfica at 3 PM ET.
All 2025/26 Champions League matches will air live on Paramount+.
Chelsea FC star striker Sam Kerr made headlines on Sunday, as the Australian international scored her 100th goal for the six-time reigning WSL champions in the waning minutes of the Blues' 3-1 win over Aston Villa — Kerr's first competitive match in 634 days.
Kerr subbed into the match in the 75th minute before slotting in the historic goal amid a corner-kick melee three minutes into stoppage time.
"I feel like it's nice to finally be out there and have people stop talking about an injury," Kerr said postgame, referring to the 2024 ACL tear that kept her sidelined for more than 18 months. "Now they can start talking about goals."
Kerr is now chasing Chelsea FC's all-time leading scorer Fran Kirby on the career stat sheet, with the attacking midfielder notching 116 before leaving the Blues to sign with Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2024.
"For me, she's an idol," Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor said about Kerr after Sunday's match. "It's a lot of positives, a lot of confidence for her, for the team."
Along with Kerr's return, Sunday's clash also saw blockbuster new signing Alyssa Thompson make her Chelsea debut, with the USWNT rising star taking the pitch as a halftime substitute.
Chelsea FC is playing it close to the chest, with big-name new signing Alyssa Thompson and previously injured superstar Sam Kerr waiting in the wings as manager Sonia Bompastor teases a 2025/26 WSL season debut for the pair.
Kerr joined the 18-player game-day roster for Chelsea FC's opening-day victory over Manchester City last Friday, but saw her season debut delayed as the Australian remained an unused sub while Thompson greeted fans from the stands.
This Sunday's matchup against Aston Villa provides another chance for the standouts to take the pitch, as the six-time reigning WSL champs hunt another result.
"With Alyssa, we are looking for her to be able to play. We don't have the confirmation yet, but we are hoping for her to be able to play in this game," Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor said earlier today. "I think she has already shown some good things this week in training, and we can see what she can bring to the team."
Bompastor went on to call last week's decision to keep Kerr on the bench "my choice," saying "She's doing everything she can to be available for the squad and available to start…. The next step for her is to be involved in a short game in the league, and maybe we'll see that on Sunday."
USWNT fans will not get a glimpse of defender Naomi Girma, however, as the January 2025 Chelsea addition sat out last Friday's clash with a calf injury and remains unavailable.
How to watch Aston Villa vs. Chelsea FC this weekend
With the possibility of Thompson and Kerr taking the WSL pitch, Chelsea will visit Aston Villa at 7 AM ET on Sunday, with live coverage of the match streaming on ESPN+.
The NWSL salary cap has become a hot topic in recent weeks, with big-name — and big-money — transfers like Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson's overseas move to Chelsea and North Carolina Courage striker Jaedyn Shaw's reportedly imminent trade to Gotham raising concerns about the league's financial edge.
While Shaw's reported league-record $1.25 million trade proves that US teams are willing to pay a premium for top talent, the disparity between flashy transfer fees and salary limitations could be holding the NWSL back.
"I know that in the NWSL there are ambitious clubs that want to be able to compete with the likes of a Chelsea, with the likes of a Barcelona," retired USWNT star Tobin Heath said on last week's episode of The RE—CAP Show. "These teams are capped out, they can't compete. They're going to lose their best players."
The league's most recent collective bargaining agreement sets each NWSL club's current salary cap at $3.3 million, which will titrate up to $5.1 million by 2030 while also adding potential revenue sharing options.
In 2024, the average league salary was $117,000. However, with 22- to 26-player rosters, teams often low-ball some athletes in order to afford to pay out for superstars.
Soft salary cap overseas lures soccer's top players
In comparison, the UK's WSL and second-tier WSL2 operate with soft caps, recently shifting to a framework that allows teams to spend up to 80% of their revenue plus a capped contribution from club owners on player salaries.
"We have no intent to kind of 'cap' any players' earnings," WSL Football COO Holly Murdoch told The Guardian earlier this month. "We're at the investment stage of women's football, so we don't want to deter investment. We don't want to put in rules that don't make us an attractive investment."
With NWSL top earners Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman becoming free agents in 2026, the US league might need to rethink its model to stay competitive in an increasingly aggressive global market.
The WSL hit some opening day snags over the weekend, with a last-minute media deal causing broadcasts Stateside to generate confusion and widespread technical difficulties as the UK league's big-name US talent pool took the pitch.
First, in Friday's 2025/26 season kick-off match, ESPN+ served fans an error screen during the first 15 minutes of six-time defending WSL champion Chelsea's 2-1 win over Manchester City.
Then on Saturday morning, skips and lags continuously interrupted Arsenal's 4-1 victory over the recently promoted London City Lionesses.
Notably, the WSL media rights extension deal with ESPN+ — the 2024/25 US carrier of the top-flight UK league —came together at the very last minute.
As such, the WSL left fans in the dark by omitting US coverage details from all promotions in the lead-up to the 2025/26 season's opening weekend — possibly missing out on a big Stateside moment as USWNT stars like Naomi Girma, Catarina Macario, Emily Fox, and Alyssa Thompson kick off their club campaigns in the UK.
"The delays weren't about lack of interest so much as the sheer number of changes the league has been managing," former head of broadcast at WSL Football Andrea Ekblad told The Athletic this week.
"Of course, nobody wants a broadcast deal announced only hours before kickoff. That's not ideal," she continued. "But continuing the [ESPN] partnership makes great sense."
A high-stakes coastal clash tops this weekend's NWSL bill, with results directly impacting the increasingly tight league standings as No. 8 Gotham tries to hold off a No. 9 Angel City side sitting just one point outside of postseason positioning.
The pair last met in April, when Gotham shutout ACFC 4-0 at LA's BMO Stadium behind a brace from the NWSL's current Golden Boot leader Esther González.
"That's the key — everyone knows their role, their responsibilities, and they're willing to sacrifice for the team defensively while also bringing their quality in attack," Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós said earlier this week.
As they try to rise above the crowded mid-table traffic, both teams have seen positive results in recent weeks — along with challenging levels of upheaval.
Angel City recently lost defender Alanna Kennedy, midfielder Katie Zelem, and star forward Alyssa Thompson to midseason overseas transfers, while Gotham's had little room to breathe after defeating Concacaf W Champions Cup opponent Alianza 2-0 in El Salvador on Tuesday.
"You need to be loyal to your style, cement it, and make sure the players know it," said Amorós. "That's critical when you're playing three games in seven days and traveling almost around the world."
How to watch Gotham vs. Angel City this NWSL weekend
No. 8 Gotham will host No. 9 Angel City this Sunday, kicking off live at 5 PM ET on ESPN.