Where will Arsenal finish in the WSL title race?

An expanded 14-team league, major squad changes and ambitious recruitment elsewhere could make the Champions League race far less predictable.

The 2026/27 season is upon us and the expanded 14-team league will bring more games and a little more jeopardy at the bottom of the table. There will be one automatic relegation place and one play-off place, while the same three spots available for the Champions League.

A lot of teams have recruited well, while others have made some curious recruitment decisions, to say the least.

London City Lionesses are the outlier, having recruited heavily and added considerable quality and experience in an attempt to accelerate their progress towards the Champions League places. They are effectively trying to do in two seasons what Brighton and Tottenham have been doing over five or six years.

Who should be involved in the battle for the top three?

I still see the usual trio of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in the race.

Arsenal went through a changing of the guard at the end of last season, with multiple new recruits, and the team will need time to gel.

Chelsea have gone through a similar process, with several long-serving players leaving. That change might help after the internal struggles of last season and their disappointing third-place finish.

Manchester City had a more measured recruitment window. They added quality and depth to the title-winning squad in preparation for Champions League football.

Beyond those three, I think four teams could compete for a top-three place.

We know London City Lionesses are ambitious. The big question is whether they can gel quickly enough to compete for a Champions League place.

There is no doubt the ownership want to get there, and the pressure will be high on both the coaching staff and the players. Their opening match may give us an early indication of how they cope with that pressure.

Manchester United will be away to London City Lionesses, and they begin the season with a new manager in Eva Olid and a new business plan. It is very similar to PSG, with the club looking towards youth and academy players rather than paying big fees and competing with the highest-spending sides.

They can certainly challenge for third after a transfer window in which a lot of experience left the club and some good players came in, but depth remains a problem.

Tottenham Hotspur have been building a quality squad step by step over several years and have a fantastic manager. It is interesting to note that they currently do not have eight homegrown players. As things stand, they have five, so they will probably add three youngsters to their 25-player squad. They have decided to look abroad for quality, although they have also signed a top-quality non-English homegrown player.

Brighton and Hove have also been building a strong squad over several years and have excellent infrastructure. Dario Vidosic‘s departure and his late replacement bring uncertainty, as well as a new style of football to implement. Brighton have been highly disruptive against the leading sides over the past two seasons. I would expect them to cause problems again if the new manager can impose his ideas quickly enough.

At the bottom, it seems logical to include the three promoted teams in the relegation discussion.

The question is whether they have brought in enough quality to survive.

Crystal Palace have added plenty of WSL experience, including two previous title winners, and I believe they have done enough to stay up.

Birmingham City have also added quality and experience.

Charlton have recruited seven players, and it will be interesting to see whether that proves sufficient.

West Ham have brought in quality and experience too, but will that be enough to move them away from the relegation battle?

Liverpool were certainly an improved side after a difficult first half of last season under Gareth Taylor, who was gradually implementing his vision. An excellent January transfer window allowed him to develop the team and improve quickly.

The question now is whether they can continue that progress and reach mid-table safety without being dragged into trouble.

Everton went through a summer of major change, with nine departures and seven arrivals. It was clearly the end of a cycle, with several defenders and forwards signed, presumably in the areas identified as needing improvement.

They will also be boosted by the return of captain Megan Finnigan after a very long ACL lay-off.

Aston Villa should also be around mid-table after six departures and six arrivals. They will continue trying to improve under Natalia Arroyo, whose style is built around playing football and dominating the opposition.

There is also an interesting balance among the managers this season, with eight women in charge of the 14 teams. There are six English coaches, four Spanish coaches, one French, one Dutch, one Swedish and one Italian.

This is probably one of the most open Champions League races for many years.

I expect the leading three teams to drop more points than usual because the gap between them and the rest has narrowed.

The overall level of the league has improved greatly over the past two seasons.

Can Arsenal return to their previous position at the top of the league? They have enough quality to do it, but will they have the consistency against both their old rivals and the new threats?

We will have the answer in early May.

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