Is the WSL title race over just yet? It’s hard to imagine Manchester City slipping up now but after dropping points to beleaguered Aston Villa after having lost to Arsenal last month, the Citizens may give the chasing pack some encouragement.
The Citizens have five games remaining and are currently on 43 points from 17 games played and currently enjoy a healthy goal difference that is unlikely to be topped. Should City manage to win three and draw one more of their remaining five games then the title is theirs.
53 points is theoretically the maximum Arsenal could reach but the Gunners would need to score a lot of goals to catch up to City’s +34 goal difference. For reference, Arsenal have a goal difference of +18, higher than Chelsea‘s +16 but one lower than Manchester United‘s +19.
With surprise-package Tottenham Hotspur losing at the weekend, only three teams have a faint hope of stopping Andrée Jeglertz‘s juggernaut.
City’s next two games will probably be decisive as they are the teams most likely to cause them problems.
Tottenham Hotspur visit at the weekend followed by the Manchester derby after that. Win those two and it would be easier to imagine the Citizens getting four points out of their final three games: Brighton (A), Liverpool (H), and West Ham (A) – even with Liverpool in 2026 being much improved compared to the 2025 vintage.
Of course, all three of City’s chasers have Champions League distractions, including Chelsea and Arsenal facing off against each other in the quarter-finals (while United take on Bayern).
Looking at the run-ins of each of the three teams, Arsenal’s seems the easiest with West Ham, Spurs, Villa, Leicester, Everton, Brighton, and Liverpool ahead – although such a busy schedule will be a big test for Renée Slegers‘ squad considering there is Europe and the FA Cup fixtures mixed in.
Chelsea meanwhile will be given confidence following their League Cup win on Sunday. Their remaining fixtures include Brighton, London City Lionesses, Villa, Everton, Leicester, and a United team who will be after revenge for that cup final defeat.
Indeed, the Red Devils may not win the title but considering they face both City and Chelsea (as well as Everton, Spurs, and Brighton) their results may well prove decisive.
After six seasons of Chelsea’s WSL dominance, City do look like they are going to win their first title since 2016 but drop any more points and the chasing pack may well smell blood.
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