London City gelling, Man City flying - takeaways from WSL start

After five frantic weeks, the Women's Super League takes a two-week break, offering the perfect chance to take stock of a thrilling start to the season.

Here are five key takeaways from the opening weeks.

For the first time this decade, the established order of the WSL looks under threat.

London City Lionesses and Tottenham have been bullish about climbing the table, while Liverpool also sought to kick on this season.

After five games, London City look the most convincing, with Sunday's statement 6-1 win at Spurs a dazzling example of the talent and depth manager Eder Maestre has at his disposal.

Two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas headlined some eye-catching summer signings and she scored twice against Tottenham.

But it was the manner in which the whole team dismantled their previously impressive opponents that was so spectacular, with fellow forwards Kadidiatou Diani and Danielle van de Donk also looking a class above.

"This kind of win can be a game-changer," Maestre said.

No doubt. It is the kind of display that can lead to talk of a title charge.

For Spurs, a humiliating home loss is a reality check after promising early results.

Liverpool acquitted themselves well in narrow losses away to both Manchester clubs but, with key attacking players such as Vivien Endemann missing against United, they lacked creativity.

That points to perhaps the biggest thing both Liverpool and Spurs lack in comparison with London City: squad depth.

Five wins from five with 16 goals scored, defending champions Manchester City have picked up where they left off.

Sunday's comeback victory over Arsenal made it City's best start to a season since opening the 2017-18 campaign with seven straight victories, cementing their status as the team to beat.

In so doing, City also likely ended the Gunners' title aspirations even this early on.

It helps when their best players are performing. Khadija Shaw's contract renewal in the summer was key and the striker has five league goals already. England winger Lauren Hemp is also in fine form, contributing four goals and two assists.

After some quietly shrewd additions in Beth Mead, Carlotta Wamser and Niamh Charles, City look well set once again.

Their closest rivals are Chelsea, who have responded to an opening-day draw against Aston Villa by winning four straight games without conceding a goal.

While boss Sonia Bompastor wants them to be more clinical, their defensive strength is something they have over City.

As for Arsenal, the gap is 10 points to leaders City, and strong pre-season hopes of a first league title since 2018-19 are vanishing, with manager Renee Slegers conceding on Sunday: "At the moment, we are not in the conversation."

Manchester United's summer of upheaval bled into the start of the season, with Eva Olid's arrival from Hearts beginning with convincing defeats by London City and Chelsea.

The message from the club was that this would be a season of transition but recent performances suggest they are getting to grips with her style of play.

Saturday's 1-0 win over Liverpool was United's fourth straight victory in all competitions, with 18 goals scored in the process.

"I am so happy for the players - they deserve it," Olid said. "We have started to click in a lot of things and they fight for each other.

"But there is still a lot to improve. We created chances, but our last pass and our finishing needs to be better."

Summer signing Andrea Medina has been a huge positive on the left wing, with her contribution to the team more pronounced than a single goal suggests.

A trip to bottom side Charlton after the break is a presentable chance for more points before a stern test against Manchester City the following weekend.

This season is the WSL's biggest ever, literally, with the league expanding from 12 to 14 teams and three coming up from WSL 2.

But does bigger mean stronger?

Crystal Palace look the most comfortable of the promoted sides, boasting six points from five games and they moved to eighth in the WSL table by drawing at Aston Villa on Sunday.

But things are more difficult for the other promoted sides, Birmingham and Charlton, who prop up the table.

Despite some promising patches, WSL 2 champions Birmingham have just two points and one of those came against Crystal Palace.

At least France forward Oceane Hurtre looks suited to this level, sitting as joint top scorer in the WSL with five goals from five games.

Hurtre scored against Everton in defeat on Sunday but defender Neve Herron summed things up by saying Blues were "second to everything" after the game.

Meanwhile, it looks bleak for Charlton, bottom of the table with zero points, 15 goals against and only two goals scored.

After their 5-1 loss to Brighton on Sunday, goalkeeper and captain Sophie Whitehouse said: "It just wasn't good enough.

"It's a tough league. The jump up is so big. You can't make any mistakes."

Finally, it is too soon to draw conclusions but attendances at some of the league's biggest matches have been down on previous seasons.

For instance, Chelsea hosted Arsenal on 27 September in a fervent atmosphere, but the game had 36% fewer in Stamford Bridge than in January this year.

Similarly, Liverpool against Everton at Anfield was 19% down on last season, albeit the Merseyside derby was the first game of the 2025-26 season.

Three Saturdays ago, Arsenal kicked off against Manchester United at 17:30 in front of 29,853 fans. Last season, it was a lunchtime fixture that welcomed 37,627.

For balance, it ought to be highlighted that the Manchester City v Arsenal game on Sunday was promoted from the Joie Stadium to Etihad Stadium, and definitely had more than the 4,300 who attended the game last season.

Official figures have yet to be released for it.

Nevertheless, while this is a small sample size, paying customers is a potential trend to monitor as the WSL wrestles with the continued challenge of the schedule.