Women's Super League

Image source, Leicester City FC

Forward Hlín Eiríksdóttir has completed a loan transfer to ACF Fiorentina and will spend the remainder of the 2025/26 season in Serie A, subject to league and international clearances.

The 25-year-old Iceland international makes the move to Italy having made 20 appearances for LCFC Women First Team since joining from Kristianstads in January 2025.

Hlín will now link up with the team in Florence ahead of their Italian Cup Quarter-Final against AC Milan on Thursday 29 January.

Image source, Brighton FC

Brighton forward Kiko Seike has signed a new deal with the club.

The 29-year-old joined from Urawa Reds in July 2024 and has gone on to score 11 goals in 37 appearances.

The Japan international made the perfect start to life in Brighton with a hat-trick on her Women’s Super League debut.

She played a key role as Brighton finished fifth in the table last season - their highest placing in the WSL.

Women's and girls' managing director Zoe Johnson said: "We're really happy that Kiko has decided to commit her future to Brighton.

"She's been a key player since joining us in July 2024. She's consistently shown her qualities both on and off the pitch."

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City stretched their lead at the top of the table thanks to Khadija Shaw's 86th-minute strike, but they did not have it their own way at London City Lionesses.

Isobel Goodwin hit the woodwork twice for the hosts and Freya Godfrey did equalise Kerolin's early goal.

WSL top scorer Shaw had the final word though.

At the other end of the table, Liverpool left it later still to memorably - and finally - pick up their first win of the season.

Mia Enderby's late double did the damage to knock Tottenham's Champions League hopes and inject life into the Reds' battle to avoid the relegation play-off to WSL 2.

The bottom of the table is becoming increasingly congested as fellow strugglers West Ham won 2-1 at Leicester to drag their hosts into the mix.

That ensured four teams - also including Everton - are separated by just four points.

Finally, Manchester United kept up their pressure in the race for next season's Champions League.

Three second-half goals did for Aston Villa who remain in seventh position.

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Arsenal are in Fifa's inaugural Champions Cup this week with the chance to pocket a trophy and the biggest prize fund for a women's football competition: £1.7m.

To do so, they have to seat off Moroccan side AS FAR Rabat in the semi-finals on Wednesday before a potential final against either Corinthians or Gotham FC on Sunday, 1 February.

Fifa say the competition "recognises their commitment to accelerating investment and excellence in the women's club game globally".

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Liverpool's latest signing Denise O'Sullivan is unperturbed by the prospect of a fight against relegation for the rest of this season and cites the ambition of the club in convincing her to join this January.

"I think the club has a clear vision," she told BBC Sport. "They want the team, in the next few years, to be up there and winning WSL titles.

"I know the situation that the team is in and the main thing is to help them get out of that situation and out of the relegation battle. That's what I want to give.

"When you come to a massive club like Liverpool, there's an automatic responsibility on your shoulders to perform and to give 100% for the shirt.

"It's really exciting for me and a big challenge. The club has a lot of history and has won numerous trophies. They're one of the biggest clubs in the world."

O'Sullivan, who has 128 caps for the Republic of Ireland, has watched Liverpool from afar and believes their performances deserved more points.

Now there is more competition in the squad from the new arrivals, O'Sullivan says Liverpool have been working on their "identity" in training.

"Their style of play is really going to suit me well. They're a high-pressing team which I love as a player. I'm aggressive," said O'Sullivan.

"They really do have a clear identity and style of play, and I know my role within the team now. You can hold each other accountable to that role.

"I think that's a really, really positive thing and Gareth [Taylor] has been great so far. He's a really good coach and the little details that he sees is something that I haven't had that much of."

Read more from O'Sullivan

On Saturday, Arsenal beat Chelsea in the Women's Super League for first time since 2018-19, thanks to goals from Beth Mead and Mariona Caldentey.

The result moved the Gunners within one point of their London rivals, with Chelsea missing the chance to close the gap on leaders Manchester City.

Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert has been speaking to BBC Sport about the importance "tough" conversations had in the early stages of her career.

The Scotland international also discussed the Women's Super League title race and how her side cannot allow themselves to focus solely on league leaders Manchester City, with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United following closely behind.

Chelsea face Arsenal on Saturday (12:30 GMT) hoping to close the gap to City to just three points before they travel to London City Lionesses the following day.

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor says the club are "probably close" to announcing a new stadium option as they start to outgrow primary stadium Kingsmeadow.

Their Kingston-based ground has a capacity of 4,850, including 2,265 seats, and is usually sold out. They also use Stamford Bridge for one-off games but in general, attendances still lag far behind those of London rivals Arsenal, despite Chelsea having won significantly more trophies in recent seasons.

Attendance leaders Arsenal now play all home matches at their 60,000-seater Emirates Stadium and are averaging 36,450 fans per game. Last year, they had a high of 56,748 for the north London derby against Tottenham.

Meanwhile Chelsea's average is nearly 30,000 fewer, at 6,397.

Before taking on Arsenal in the Women's Super League on Saturday, BBC Sport asked Bompastor how Chelsea can begin to close that gap.

"Congrats to Arsenal because they are doing an amazing job with their fanbase," she said. "That's probably where every club wants to be.

"A lot of conversations are happening in the background with me, the club's ownership and CEO Aki [Mandhar]. We want to move in that direction. We expect 30,000 tomorrow and are excited to go into that atmosphere with these fans."

Brentford are among the clubs known to be open to hosting additional football matches at their 17,250-capacity stadium in west London, while Queens Park Rangers and Wimbledon also play in grounds larger than Kingsmeadow.

"It's important for clubs like Chelsea to have a back-up plan," Bompastor added.

"The club is having some really good conversations about the future and the stadium because when you play many games in a season with your men's team and women's team, and you play Champions League, sometimes you can have clashes."

Ciara Fleming
BBC Sport journalist

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The "one final thing" that Arsenal must get right is scoring goals, according to head coach Renee Slegers.

The Gunners have failed to find the net in two of their three matches since returning from the Women's Super League winter break, most recently drawing a blank in their 1-0 League Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United on Wednesday.

"We have been performing well, apart from scoring," said Slegers in her pre-match news conference on Friday.

"We have to look at the positives - and we've been really constructive, honest and solutions-based on the final thing that we need to get right.

"We try to find that perfect balance of giving structure, and also allowing players to play on their intuition and make sure they believe in themselves."

There is no respite for the European champions with a tough trip in the WSL to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Gunners have lost five of their past six away games against the reigning English champions, falling to a late Guro Reiten penalty in this fixture last term.

Slegers added: "We always love to play in these big games. The players rise to the occasion, and we know the task tomorrow. We want to win. We need to win. We need points.

"We've had strong performances in a lot of games - just the goals [are] missing - so we are full of fuel to go into the game tomorrow."

Huzaifah Khan
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool head coach Gareth Taylor believes new signing Denise O'Sullivan is a "leader" that will bring much-needed experience to his young side.

O'Sullivan signed on a permanent deal from North Carolina Courage and made an instant impact on her debut, scoring the opening goal in her new side's FA Cup thrashing of London Bees only a day after signing.

The 31-year-old has 128 caps for the Republic of Ireland since making her debut in 2011 and has also played in Australia during her varied career.

"She's great to work with," Taylor said at his news conference on Friday. "I've always admired her from afar. Seeing her at club level and international level, I think she brings a lot on and off the pitch.

"She's a leader that is very positive, very encouraging and also leads by example, so for us it's a great signing and also someone with a wealth of experience."

After failing to win a WSL game in the first half of the season, Liverpool have strengthened significantly in the transfer market, making six signings so far.

"I think it's something we really needed," Taylor said. "We're quite a young team. Our more experienced players are players like Gemma Bonner and Grace Fisk.

"There's a lot of young players in our team, so having someone like Denise and [goalkeeper] Jenna Falk is going to bring a lot of experience."

Alex Brotherton
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City manager Andree Jeglertz is comfortable leading the Women's Super League title race despite a loss to closest challengers Chelsea on Wednesday.

On a run of 11 straight wins, City are six points clear of the reigning champions as they plot a first title in a decade.

Although City were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the semi-finals of the League Cup, Jeglertz insisted his players remain upbeat.

"I don't need to lift the mood among the players, they do that themselves," the Swedish coach said before City's WSL match against London City Lionesses on Sunday (11:55 GMT).

"We know we are a very good team - we showed that on Wednesday. Unfortunately we didn't convert our chances, but the mood is OK, even though there is disappointment. We know the qualities we have."

City are keen to avoid a repeat of the title run-in of 2023-24, when Chelsea clinched the title on the final day despite City holding a six-point lead with two games remaining.

"I think it's important to be aware of your history and what has happened earlier, but not let it affect you," Jeglertz said.

"The only thing we can affect is the future and the things we are doing every day. We have been very good at just taking one game, one week at a time.

"I'm fully aware that the longer the season goes on, there will be pressure and things that might try to interfere with that. But the group is strong and we are very tight group, both staff and players.

"I would rather lead than chase."

Chelsea face Arsenal on Saturday so will have the chance to put pressure on City, with the two meeting in the league next weekend (Sunday, 1 February, 14:30 GMT).

"It's not affecting our approach to our games," added Jeglertz. "If we win the rest of our games, we will win the league and that's the only thing we can affect.

"There has always been drive in the group that next weekend is the most important thing, the next game. So far, we have not had complacency at all."