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Emily Keogh
Ladies’s Tremendous League (WSL) champions Chelsea will open the 2025-26 season with a Friday evening house conflict in opposition to Manchester Metropolis, whereas Arsenal host newly promoted London Metropolis Lionesses.
The opening weekend will happen throughout a males’s worldwide break, with video games between Sept. 5-7.
The Ladies’s Tremendous League 2 (WSL2), previously the Championship, will start on the identical weekend.
The opening weekend additionally encompasses a heated Merseyside derby, with Liverpool internet hosting native rivals Everton. Brighton & Hove Albion tackle Aston Villa, Manchester United face Leicester Metropolis, nd Tottenham Hotspur start their season with a London derby conflict in opposition to West Ham United.
The problem of competitiveness was raised on the finish of final season as Chelsea secured their sixth consecutive league title — and their first beneath supervisor Sonia Bompastor — whereas Arsenal completed as runners-up and United in third.
The brand new season will see the arrival of Michele Kang’s London Metropolis Lionesses — the one unbiased membership within the WSL — ladies’s soccer — as they make their debut in England’s top-flight.
By way of rivalries, the 2 high-stakes London derbies between Arsenal and Chelsea are set for Nov. 8 and Jan. 25, and the Manchester derbies are scheduled for Nov. 16 and March 29.
The winter break will happen between Dec. 22 and Jan. 10. Arsenal and United are set to fulfill on Jan. 11 of their first recreation after the Christmas interval.
The 2025-26 WSL season can even be the final in its present format. The league will increase to 14 groups as of 2026-27, that means the bottom-placed WSL staff will face the third-place WSL2 facet in a playoff, with the highest two WSL2 groups gaining computerized promotion.
The playoff weekend is scheduled for Might 22-25.
In the meantime, the WSL is attempting to mitigate scheduling clashes with the Ladies’s Champions League and Europa Cup. Video games between early October that concerned Arsenal, Chelsea or United shall be scheduled on a Friday or Saturday to make sure they’ve finally two days of relaxation earlier than a European fixture.
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Final season, the league was compelled to postpone the title-deciding conflict between Chelsea and United resulting from battle with their European schedules.
Each WSL recreation shall be obtainable on Sky Sports activities or BBC within the coming season, and WSL2 matches shall be streamed on YouTube.
After session with followers and golf equipment, the late Sunday kick-offs have been scrapped, with most video games set for Sunday afternoon between noon and 4.30 p.m. Different broadcast slots embody Saturday noon and 5.15 p.m. and Friday 6 p.m.
The WSL season will finish between Might 15-17, throughout which Chelsea will host Manchester United on the ultimate day as soon as once more.
Arsenal will journey to Liverpool, and London Metropolis Lionesses face Aston Villa.
The WSL 2 season will conclude two weeks earlier through the first weekend in Might.
