Women's Super League: Why title race is still open despite Manchester City's big advantage over Chelsea
Digital journalist Laura Hunter pens a new Sky Sports column which analyses the big talking points from across the WSL; this week assessing whether defending champions Chelsea have actually played their way out of the title race by January
Monday 26 January 2026 17:30, UK
Sky Sports columnist Laura Hunter analyses the big talking points from the latest Women's Super League matches, bringing you closer to the key stories at the heart of the women's game.
Title race over? Think again
"We know the title race is probably gone," conceded Sonia Bompastor after Chelsea lost to Arsenal on Saturday. A frank admission from the Blues boss, but not something we have not heard before. Bompastor's concession evokes an interesting sense of deja vu.
Back when Emma Hayes told us the WSL title was Manchester City's in her farewell season in 2023/24, everyone believed her statement to be true. She is a compelling character, besides, it was May and Chelsea had fallen six points behind leaders City with two games left to play.
Plausibly, City were victors in waiting. But this is Chelsea, eight-time champions, and they are well versed in how to stage a comeback. Bompastor knows that just as well as Hayes did when she pipped City to that particular title on goal difference.
Bompastor's rhetoric is clever and deliberate. Inside the walls of Cobham there will be no acceptance that the title is gone, only the determination to wrestle back control by any means. To allow outsiders to believe Chelsea have admitted defeat, though, is a useful play ahead of next weekend's pivotal meeting with the league leaders. The mind games have started.
Remember we are only in January and nothing is decided despite Andree Jeglertz's side taking a commanding nine-point lead into Sunday's showdown at the Etihad. It was only five days ago that Chelsea dumped City out of the League Cup. This saga has plenty of legs yet.
Since the start of last season in games between the traditional top four, Chelsea average 2.1 points per game - City's record for the same period is 0.9, and they face Chelsea and Arsenal in consecutive weekends to start February. A nine-point cushion could be reduced to just three very quickly.
Of course, for all this surmising, it is worth pointing out that Chelsea have been way off their best all season. Their 34-game unbeaten league run was ended by 10th-placed Everton last month, with struggles in front of goal a consistent theme. In defeat to Arsenal they wasted five big chances, landing just one of 18 efforts on target, and have underperformed against their xG total by a factor of 4.89 - the worst ratio of any side in the league.
But do not be deceived. Chelsea do not think their race is run and nor should frontrunners Manchester City. Sunday's clash will be telling.
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Hanson at heart of Arroyo's approach
Aston Villa's Kirsty Hanson is giving every WSL forward a run for their money this season. Her latest strike against Manchester United might have been in vain but was a reminder of the talent being honed by head coach Natalia Arroyo.
After going 33 consecutive appearances without scoring between May 2023 and March 2025, Hanson has since netted 10 times in 16 outings; only Bunny Shaw (13) and Shekiera Martinez (11) have scored more during that run.
Last week marked the one-year anniversary of Arroyo's appointment at Villa Park and Hanson's upturn neatly coincides. Her transformation has been significant, allowing Villa to press and counter in the systematic style of Arroyo's design.
It is no surprise Hanson is one of only two players in the league (alongside Everton's Ornella Vignola) to score more than once from a fast break this term, nor is it by accident that both her and team-mate Ebony Salmon rank top for total number of fast breaks (six each).
Such a tactical shift suits Hanson's directness and ability to progress the ball quickly, stretching defences in ways that make Villa more unpredictable. She had 10 touches in the opposition box against Man Utd, the joint-most of any player across the WSL weekend, and is making an impact in the final third more consistently, scoring in three of Villa's four wins so far.
Lucky No 13 for Liverpool
At the 13th time of asking, Liverpool have landed a first win of the season. The result will be a relief for under-pressure boss Gareth Taylor, albeit two goals after the 93rd minute is hardly a stress-free way to win a football match. Still, Taylor is in no position to grumble.
The interesting takeaway is how they did it, conceding more possession to Tottenham but winning the xG battle by a greater margin than they have all season. Not exactly a perfect advert for Taylor's ball-centric blueprint.
Liverpool made 132 fewer passes than Spurs, but played a higher-than-usual percentage of long balls, yielding 35 touches in the opposition box to the visitors' 11 - no side managed more all weekend, nor could any team top their xG value (2.03).
Food for thought, then. Surely less possessional dominance in favour of better top-end threat is the only way to move off the foot of the table? Taylor might have to accept that, for now, substance is vastly more useful than his preferred style.
Read the last WSL column
Last time's column analysed the ways Taylor had to adapt his style to pick up points for Liverpool and the new approach making Manchester City tick.
