Man City Women beat Everton Women to maintain WSL lead as Chelsea Women thump West Ham Women - WSL round-up
Manchester City showed their appetite for going the distance in this year's title race with a 2-0 win against Everton and Chelsea heaped more woe on West Ham with a 5-0 thrashing; Spurs and Aston Villa also made winning starts to 2026; Liverpool remain the only winless side in division
Sunday 11 January 2026 17:31, UK
Formidable Man City pick up where they left off
Manchester City had too much quality for Everton as they maintained their six-point lead at the top of the Women's Super League with a controlled 2-0 victory.
Goals from Kerolin and Vivianne Miedema either side of the break capped a professional performance, despite leaving leading scorer Bunny Shaw frustrated after she missed several opportunities to make the scoreline more favourable.
Such are Shaw's standards, she was understandably disappointed to have generated a personal xG value of 1.58 from 12 efforts - a third of Man City's overall total - and fail to find the net. The hosts generated eight big chances in total and six were missed by Shaw.
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Still, Andree Jeglertz's side were never in danger of conceding the outcome - after losing their first outing under Jeglertz to Chelsea, they have since won 11 league games on the bounce and will romp to the title if that momentum is maintained.
They face a testing few weeks with two meetings against Chelsea to come across two different competitions, akin to last season, where they met each other four times in quick succession. The Londoners were easily on top back then, but you suspect this latest edition will produce far more of an even heat.
City have scored at least 10 more goals than any other WSL challenger this season and only Chelsea have conceded fewer. The league's best attack vs the best defence could be the ultimate settler in this year's race.
Baltimore nets double as Chelsea thrash West Ham
Sandy Baltimore scored twice as Chelsea thrashed West Ham 5-0 as the Hammers lost their first game under new manage Rita Guarino.
The tone was set inside 46 seconds when Yu Endo turned home Ellie Carpenter's cross into her own net.
It was another defensive mistake for the second just before the half-hour; goalkeeper Kinga Szemik's attempted pass out hit Lauren James on the thigh before ending up in the back of the net.
Two more goals came before the end of the half. Alyssa Thompson was lurking at the back post to turn home a rebound from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's shot. Then, a stunning strike from Baltimore opened her account for 2026.
She surged towards the box before unleashing an unstoppable volley, scoring in back-to-back games for Chelsea.
There was a bizarre moment at the start of the second half where West Ham began with ten players. They had wanted to bring on Estelle Cascarino for her debut, but she was not allowed onto the pitch due to an earring.
As she attempted to come on, she had a plaster covering the whole of her left ear, but was still not allowed to enter the field of play. It was unclear what the issue was or where the earring was situated. Ines Belloumou - who was supposed to have been taken off - came on a few minutes into the half and played the entire game.
The Blues continued to see the better of the play in the second half and were awarded a penalty in the 69th minute. Viviane Asseyi was penalised for handball - albeit harshly, having her arms by her side as Rytting Kaneryd's shot hit her.
But with no VAR, the referee's decision stood. Baltimore then buried a wonderful spot-kick, going to her left and sending Szemik the wrong way.
The win sees the Blues keep pace with Man City at the top of the WSL and have now kept the most clean sheets (six) of any side this season.
Spurs show new strength to edge Leicester
Tottenham edged Leicester 1-0 in a tight contest to open their account for 2026 with the same positivity they ended last year on.
Spurs have already surpassed their points total from 2024/25, but needed an own goal from former captain Ash Neville to see them over the line against Leicester after wasting a multitude of chances.
Despite showing sluggishness in the final third, they limited their visitors to very little, with Emily van Egmond drawing the best save from Lize Kop.
Spurs have won each of their last 12 home matches when taking the lead, and sneak above Manchester United to disrupt the top four thanks to their seventh victory of the campaign.
Martin Ho's influence on this side has been quite remarkable. Sustaining this elevated level until May is now the next challenge.
Quick-fire Aston Villa goals beat Brighton
Two quick-fire goals from Aston Villa saw them beat Brighton 2-1 at Villa Park.
The Seagulls had gone ahead early after an error from Sabrina D'Angelo. Her attempted pass was intercepted by Fuka Tsunoda, who cooly finished past the goalkeeper on her first Brighton start.
But after the break, Rachel Daly and Kirsty Hanson scored within a minute of each other to hand Villa three points.
Daly nodded home from a set-piece, before Hanson's curling strike from the top of the area found the back of the net.
Both sides will rue missed opportunities for another goal, with Villa moving above Brighton into sixth place.
Liverpool's struggles continue
Liverpool were held to a goalless draw with London City Lionesses, as a first win of the season remains elusive.
Neither side managed a shot on target during a subdued 90 minutes, where the combined xG value was just 0.58 - a reflection of the lack of final-third quality.
The hosts tried harder to score, with a half-chance falling to Ceri Holland, which she ballooned over, and new signing Alice Bergstrom showing promise on her debut. The problem remains for Gareth Taylor, though, that Liverpool are winless, having played over half of their WSL games.
The issue of scoring goals is equally worrying. Liverpool are averaging 0.6 goals per 90 this term, the worst ratio of any side, and were unable to properly impose themselves yet again. Taylor must get his side firing or the risk of relegation will become greater by the week.
