Well, somehow it is the weekend again already, and another gameweek is upon us. This weekend Tier 3 takes a break for the final group stage fixtures in the FA WNL Cup, so we focus on some of the big games in WSL and WSL2. First though, a review of some of the big results last weekend.
All change in the North – Tier 3 roundup
One of the biggest results of last weekend happened at The Alexander Stadium, where a 95th minute winner gave West Bromwich Albion 3 points, ending Rugby Borough’s 4 game winning streak in the league, in a game where Rugby Borough also failed to score for the first time in the league since 2nd April. For West Brom, who started the season a little shakily, it secured a 3rd league win in a row. The result allowed Huddersfield Town, who remain unbeaten in the league this season, to leapfrog Rugby Borough and take first place in the Northern Premier Division following a 2-1 home win against Hull City.
Derby County won 0-3 at Peterborough, scoring 3 goals in an away league game for the first time since April 2025 (when they beat Stourbridge 0-4), to put Peterborough back into 12th spot, once again having a worse goal difference than Hull City. Elsewhere, Norwich City secured their 3rd draw in 5 league outings – more than any other team in Tier 3, drawing 1-1 with Stoke City.
There was less change in the Southern Premier Division – it seemed likely there would be only one outcome when the league’s highest scorers, Oxford United hosted the league’s leakiest defence, Plymouth Argyle. As expected Oxford came out on top, securing their 3rd 5-0 win in a row, but it perhaps says something about the change in Argyle’s fortunes this season that the last result between these 2 teams, in April, was 5-0 the other way, with the result having been one of the key fixtures in Plymouth’s race for the playoffs at the end of last season.
With Fulham’s game postponed, AFC Bournemouth knew a win would take them into 2nd, at least temporarily, and they duly delivered with a 0-1 win away at Exeter – a team they failed to beat on both attempts last season.
Hashtag United secured their first win of the season – 4-2 against Swindon Town, scoring 4 goals in a league fixture for the first time since February – whilst the last time they matched that number in a home league fixture was in a 7-0 win against Billericay Town almost a year ago, in October 2025.
WSL and WSL 2 lookback
In the WSL, a struggling Manchester United side made the trip to the Emirates to face an Arsenal side who the previous week had failed to score in a league fixture at the Emirates for the first time since January – when they drew 0-0 with Manchester United. A vastly improved Manchester United side looked like they were going to take all 3 points – and prevent Arsenal scoring again – until Holmberg managed a 95th minute equaliser for the hosts. It was the 3rd consecutive league draw between the teams, but United are likely to be the happier side having created more shots on target than they had in their 2 previous games combined.
The weekend also saw the biggest win of the WSL season so far as Crystal Palace hosted Spurs. Having successfully prevented Arsenal from scoring the previous weekend, they kept Spurs out for 45 minutes, despite having been down to 10 since Tsunoda was sent off on the 7th minute. However Holdt scored for Spurs within 5 minutes of the restart, and then went on to get 2 more herself as Spurs went on to win 0-7, their biggest league win since October 2022, when they beat Brighton 0-8.
Manchester City went 1-2 down against Liverpool before coming back to win 4-2, continuing their perfect start to the season – the only team in the WSL to have a maximum 9 points from the first 3 outings, having won all of those fixtures by at least a 2 goal margin.
At the other end of the table, United picking up their first point meant Charlton are now the only team to have not picked up any points, as they lost 1-4 to London City Lionesses, with the only positive being Jodie Hutton netting Charlton Athletic’s first ever WSL goal.
In WSL2 Newcastle United beat Sheffield United 4-1 to keep their 100% win streak – the only team in WSL2 to now be on a maximum 9 points from 3 games. With both teams having 5 shots on target Sheffield will be looking to address their shot conversion, with a 5.7% shot conversion rate after 3 fixtures.
In the other matches, Wolverhampton Wanderers hosted familiar opponents Burnley, with the 2 teams having come up from the FA WNL Northern Premier Division together. Wolves failed to score in both league meetings last season, but secured a 3-0 win this time round – the second week in a row they have scored 3. Leicester City lost for the first time this season, 1 goal being enough to give Ipswich a 0-1 win at the King Power, the first time Leicester have failed to score in a league game at home since March; whilst Watford lost 1-5 against Bristol City, with the home team being down to 9 players by the time the final whistle blew. For Bristol, it was not only their first league win of the season, but also a greatly improved attacking display with 12 shots on target – more than in their previous 2 league outings combined.
Gameweek preview
As we write just one fixture has finished this weekend, with Burnley and Bristol City playing out a 0-0 draw at Turf Moor, the third time this season the hosts have failed to score. Later on Saturday London City Lionesses host Brighton, with the away side yet to pick up a win this season, whilst the hosts have six points from their first 3 fixtures, as they hope to keep chase on the top of the league and challenge the established order. With LCL having scored an average of 2.3 goals per match so far this season, and Brighton having failed to keep a clean sheet so far, it seems likely that Brighton will need to score to compete in this game.
On Sunday, Anfield hosts the Merseyside derby, with the visitors having had the slightly better start to the season on paper, although 2 of Liverpool’s opening 3 fixtures have been to the teams occupying 1st and 2nd in the league. Liverpool’s Endemann currently sits joint 2nd in the league for goal involvements so will be one to watch if Liverpool can get a result.
Elsewhere in the top tier, Palace will hope to bounce back from last weekend as they head to Birmingham City, who have only one point from their opening fixtures, although the results do not tell the full story – they have not had the easiest start to WSL life with visits to both Manchester City and Chelsea. The late kick-off sees Arsenal make the short trip to Stamford Bridge. With Chelsea having one of the highest goal returns in the league so far this season (scoring 8 in 3 matches), Arsenal’s reign at the top of the clean sheet leaderboard could be challenged. Arsenal will also be under pressure to find some attacking form themselves having an average return of 0.7 goals per game so far this season, a sizeable drop from the 2.4 average they created last season, when they were the league’s second highest scorers.
In WSL2 Leicester travel to Gateshead International Stadium, hoping to be the team that can end Newcastle’s winning streak. With Newcastle having only conceded once in those opening 3 fixtures, and scoring an average of 3 goals per game at home so far this season, Leicester will need to find a way past the league’s joint tightest defence if they hope to come away with a result.
The only team in WSL2 not to have conceded at home so far this season are Southampton, who welcome Nottingham Forest to St Marys Stadium – the club taking advantage of the international break to return to their former home at the men’s ground. Southampton come into the game on the back of consecutive 0-0 draws, whilst Forest have also seen 2 draws in their opening fixtures – but with both being score draws. With Southampton having seen significant cuts in investment over the summer they will likely be happy with their current 5th place position but they will undoubtedly hope to prove a point as they have the eyes of St Marys on them this weekend.
Finally, the league’s bottom 2 teams face off as Sheffield United host Durham at Bramall Lane, where both teams will hope to pick up their first points of the season. Sheffield have not yet scored at home this season, but with both teams conceding above 2.5 goals per game this season so far, there will likely be chances for players on both teams to get their name on the scoresheet for the first time this season.
With a number of big games in the top 2 tiers this weekend, it has definitely been a struggle to pick out the highlights! We’d love to hear from you if you think we’ve missed something, or if there’s a number we need to be taking a look at next weekend ahead of another full weekend of league fixtures. Get in touch by dropping us a mention via @WOSODataUK on X or Instagram!
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