Man City and Man Utd slip up in Women's Super League - and the consequences could be big
Digital journalist Laura Hunter pens a Sky Sports column which analyses the big talking points from across the WSL; this week assesses the impact of a woeful weekend for both Manchester clubs and the consequences of two poor results in the context of respective league campaigns
Monday 27 April 2026 12:34, 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.
Man City show vulnerable side at worst possible time
Manchester City might have had the title wrapped up by Wednesday, without needing to play again. Had Arsenal slipped against Leicester - unlikely, but possible - City's lead at the top could have been unassailable in the few games that remain. But that eventuality is now void. City's title party is on ice.
Their dramatic defeat to Brighton at the weekend means both Chelsea and Arsenal have the capacity to reach their current points total (49), albeit Sonia Bompastor's Blues are realistically out of the running given their inferior goal difference. The Gunners, though, are not.
What was offered up as a one-per-cent chance before the weekend has now climbed to five without Arsenal even kicking a ball. Regular readers of this column will be aware of the symbolic handing over of the trophy I declared as early as February. Might this have been a mistake?
It would still be difficult for the mighty Man City to lose it from here but as Fran Kirby indulged on Saturday: "We're happy to keep the title race going for a little bit longer." The brilliance of Kirby in the free role was the difference in a shock 3-2 defeat.
- Live WSL table | All of this season's WSL highlights
- Got Sky? Watch the WSL on the Sky Sports app 📱
- Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺
Andree Jeglertz's side need a minimum of five points to push this title over the line and now, as long as Arsenal win their games in hand, cannot secure it until the final day. That fact does not seem to bother Jeglertz but a reminder that Renee Slegers' side have only lost once this term - to City. Any further stumbles are likely to be punished.
City host Liverpool and travel to West Ham in their final two league outings, with an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea sandwiched in between. Neither are gimmes with the pressure so high and momentum dented by defeat in a game they could have decided in the first half. It is the first time City have dropped points from a winning position all season.
Captain Alex Greenwood talked a good game post-match. She emphasised how positively her side have responded to setbacks this season despite conceding "this one hurts because we were in control". Across a remarkable 90 minutes at Brighton, City created seven big chances and contrived to miss them all. It was evident they had not played together for 19 days following the international break.
The schedule has been friend and foe to City across a campaign where they have undoubtedly benefited from the absence of European games and the fatigue that brings, but at times missed the rhythm of back-to-back competition. City's squad has been carefully designed to cope with the rigours of three-game weeks. Gaps between fixtures have been enormous at points this season.
Clearly now is not the time to panic, though. City have been off-the-charts good for the majority of 2025/26 and deserve to be crowned champions for a level of consistency no other team has managed. And yet they cannot assume this to be a formality from here. Nightmares of tripping over the finish line will be vivid for the likes of Greenwood, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp.
The torment of missing out to Chelsea on goal difference in 2023/24 lingers.
Surely it couldn't happen again, could it?
Have Man Utd reached their limit?
Manchester United were the other big losers of matchweek 20. And not because they lost their game - labouring to a goalless stalemate with Tottenham - but because they have now lost all sense of initiative. A side that once looked favourites to finish second behind cross-town rivals City are going to struggle to end inside the top three at all.
Marc Skinner's side have won just one of their last eight in all competitions. Goals have dried up. Performance levels have fallen off a cliff. Is this slump indicative of the limitations of Skinner's squad - smaller in size than direct rivals - or can the drop-off be attributed to other constraints?
Man Utd have failed to win any of their matches against teams that currently occupy the top five, which includes Spurs. City, Arsenal and Chelsea are comparatively all averaging 1.5 points per game. Perhaps that suggests a gap in quality exists. Not even Ella Toone's long-awaited return from injury on Sunday could reignite the spark.
There were some worrying trends at Spurs. All of the offensive metrics were dominated by Martin Ho's side. The xG battle was a whitewash: 2.58 vs 0.47. It took United 56 minutes to even land a shot on target, while Spurs managed over double their opponents' touches in the box (42-20). Goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce was United's saviour.
Where does all this leave Skinner, then? The longest serving manager is the WSL is never far from scrutiny given the demands placed on his side by the magnitude of the badge. He is only ever one poor result away from talk of pressure and tension.
But he must also accept that much of this recent criticism is self-inflicted. He will be the first to admit results since losing to Chelsea in the FA Cup and then again in the League Cup final the following month have not been good enough. It is clear they have run out of steam after trying to balance a first appearance in the Champions League with domestic commitments.
"We have to do some changes in the summer," Skinner, who has another year remaining on his current deal, declared on Sunday. Only time will tell if one those changes might actually be him.
Read the last WSL column
Last time's column analysed Alessia Russo's best position for Arsenal after switching between No 9 and No 10 in recent outings.
