1 key question about every WSL club going into 2024/25 season

The 2024/25 Women's Super League season begins on Friday night when five-time back-to-back champions Chelsea host Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow.

With the WSL and second tier Women's Championship now under the control of the new Women's Professional League Ltd, this is a new era for the women's game in England.

Chelsea and Manchester City look like favourites to battle for the title again, with Arsenal trying to keep up and Manchester United hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 2023/24.

Elsewhere, it will come down to Liverpool, Tottenham, Aston Villa and perhaps Brighton or Leicester to challenge for places in the top half, while newly promoted Crystal Palace are up against it at the other end of the table.

Here, 90min asks one key question about each of the 12 WSL clubs ahead of the big kick-off.

Arsenal

Will off-field success translate to on-field?

There is not a doubt that Arsenal are the shining example for all English clubs to follow when it comes to the marketing, branding and fan engagement aspect of running a women's operation. They can fill the Emirates Stadium - simply staging a game at a big stadium doesn't automatically equate to a sellout as other clubs have discovered - and will play eight of their league games there this season.

But that only goes so far. The Gunners have only competed for the WSL title once since they last won it in 2018/19 and have only placed inside the top two twice in the last 12 seasons. Regular top three placings are admirable from a consistency standpoint, especially with the increasing level of competition in recent times, as are back-to-back Conti Cup successes in 2022/23 and 2023/24.

But fans want more from a squad that is exciting, cosmopolitan and now with many players at what should be their peak in terms of age. A setback in the Champions League second qualifying round in the form of a shock first leg defeat to BK Hacken hasn't filled supporters with confidence that this season will be much different from the last few.

It feels like Arsenal are a bit stuck in 'very good but not outstanding' territory.

Aston Villa

Can they bounce back?

The middle portion of the WSL is so competitive that each season it feels as though any two of about five or six clubs will be battling for places in the top half of the table behind the established big four.

Aston Villa, having survived relegation when first promoted and gradually moved away from the foot of the table, were one of those in 2022/23. It was a phenomenal campaign in which Rachel Daly, so often a left-back for England, was a revelation up front. Kenzi Dali was paramount in creating a lot of those chances, so when the French maestro missed the start of last season injured, the goals dried up, Villa lost their opening five games on the spin and never fully recovered.

Carla Ward stepped down, citing the importance of prioritising her family, and the little known Robert de Pauw has come in from Bayer Leverkusen to take charge.

On paper, the Dutchman still has a potent squad on his hands not drastically different from that which achieved great things under Ward two seasons ago. But Dali turned 33 over the summer and Daly will soon, meaning others will have to step up more and more.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Is the top half achievable?

Since a strong finish to 2020/21 saw Brighton creep into the top half of the table to record their best ever season, things have been hard going for the ambitious Seagulls. In 2022, technical director Dan Ashworth was poached by Newcastle, while women's team general manager Polly Bancroft left for Manchester United. Legendary boss Hope Powell was then dismissed the day after an 8-0 defeat to Tottenham and the team had three different permanent managers across 2022/23 alone.

The rollercoaster looked to have slowed when Melissa Phillips steered Brighton away from what seemed like certain relegation, but she was then sacked out of the blue last season. Now that Dario Vidosic is in the hotseat there is a chance for a clean slate at the start of a new campaign.

Plenty of players have left and plenty have arrived over the summer. Fran Kirby, if she can stay fit, promises to be a tremendous signing. Nikita Parris has also come in from Manchester United off the back of her most prolific season since 2019/20 and should replace the goals of Elisabeth Terland. Bruna Vilamala on loan from Barcelona looks like a coup, while Michelle Agyemang is on a season-long deal from Arsenal and could be one of the WSL's breakout stars if things fall right.

Everton, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Leicester in the opening six games represents a favourable start and the opportunity to build some early momentum.

Chelsea

Can they win without Emma Hayes?

Emma Hayes built Chelsea. The Blues are a force in the women's game because of her, claiming a fifth consecutive WSL title in May in her final act before departing for the United States job. Overall, she delivered 14 major trophies in 12 years at a club that hadn't won anything prior to her arrival.

Hayes is a relentless winner and that mentality, seemingly above all else, was what drove Chelsea on, particularly last season when the WSL title race looked out of their hands at one stage.

Sonia Bompastor, herself a serial winner with Lyon as both a player and coach, now picks up the mantle and has overseen a solid pre-season, including victories over Arsenal and reigning NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham. She has already put her own stamp on the squad, influencing Lucy Bronze's decision to join, but there has also been significant player turnover within that.

Fran Kirby, Jess Carter, Melanie Leupolz, Maren Mjelde and Jelena Cankovic are all gone, with five additions to the squad bringing immense quality but little in the way of prior WSL experience.

Chelsea, as always given their success, have a target on their back from the start.

Crystal Palace

Do they have what it takes to survive?

There is such a gulf between the Women's Championship and the WSL that the objective for Crystal Palace is simply to survive in the top flight following last season's promotion. If they were offered 11th place now before a ball is kicked, there is no one in red and blue who wouldn't take it.

Palace are automatically playing catchup because every other team in the WSL has been established as a professional outfit for longer than they have, which makes it so tough from the start.

They haven't lacked ambition in the transfer market, which is always an important factor after promotion. It's 14 new players in all over the pitch, with ex-Liverpool striker Katie Stengel and former Tottenham and Leicester midfielder Josie Green particularly drilled in this kind of fight.

Chelsea have entrusted Palace with the development of loan trio Brooke Aspin, Jorja Fox and Lexi Potter, with Poppy Pritchard similarly joining from Manchester City. Lily Woodham, with lots of top flight experience from her time at Reading, will stay until January from Seattle Reign.

Could they be in danger?

Between injury crises and financial limitations, there is an argument to suggest that Everton have overachieved in the two years that Brian Sorensen has been in charge. The club hierarchy probably know that and handed the Dane a new two-year contract in April.

But how long can Sorensen continue to work miracles on a shoestring? The Toffees have sold Gabby George and Nathlie Bjorn for big money to Manchester United and Chelsea respectively within the last year. Neither has been replaced. Fellow defenders Rikke Sevecke and Leonie Maier were also released at the end of 2022/23 and the result is the squad now looks worryingly thin at the back.

Everton's biggest problem last season was actually scoring goals - they managed just 16 in their first 18 WSL games and netted a third of their entire output in the last four fixtures alone - with defender Megan Finnigan the joint top scorer in the league with three.

Sorensen will need summer signings Toni Payne and Inma Gabarro, both brought in from Sevilla, who were only seventh best in Liga F last season, to hit the ground running.

Leicester City

Can they be consistent?

Leicester are potentially a very capable football team. After two rounds of fixtures last season, they were top of the WSL table thanks to two wins from two, a far cry from the nine consecutive defeats that marked each of their first two campaigns as a top flight club. But they won only two more of the next 20 league fixtures and form had tailed off long before manager Willie Kirk was suspended and eventually sacked following allegations of a relationship with a player.

New boss Amandine Miquel offers great hope that the Foxes might fuflil their potential.

The French coach overachieveed with Reims back home over a seven-year period, establishing what she inherited as a second tier side into a top half finisher. She has visions of playing in a possession-based system inspired by Barcelona and should have far more resources in Leicester than at Reims.

But finding consistency, which has so far been elusive, is going to be critical to their prospects. In three WSL seasons to date, the Foxes have never put together a run of more than two consecutive wins, nor have they finished any campaign with the same manager they began it with.

Can they split the big clubs again?

For four WSL seasons from 2019 until 2023, the top four remained unchanged: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United, albeit in slightly different orders. In 2023/24, Liverpool fractured what was threatening to become a breakaway group of big clubs by finishing fourth.

Part of that was down to United's unexpected backslide, but a huge reason was Liverpool's own massive improvement. The Reds placed only nine points behind Arsenal in the third Champions League qualifying spot and can look wistfully back at 1-1 draws with Tottenham (home and away), West Ham and Bristol City, as well as an away stalemate with Everton and a derby defeat at Anfield for as many as 13 points they perhaps left on the pitch.

But history has shown us that when a club rises into the upper echelons of the WSL, it is notoriously difficult to stay there. Tottenham were outside Champions League contenders in 2021/22 but slumped to ninth just 12 months later, 14 points worse off. Aston Villa were a similar story after placing fifth in 2022/23 and then finishing 13 points worse off last season.

Liverpool have shown major ambition by spending a club record fee on Canadian midfielder Olivia Smith, but she was still a teenager until last month and it's a lot of pressure to shoulder. Home-grown favourite Missy Bo Kearns and wing-back Emma Koivisto might also be tough to replace.

Manchester City

Is 2024/25 finally their year?

Manchester City have been through a lot of changes in a short space of time. It was as recent as 2022 when their entire starting midfield left in a single transfer window, part of enormous player turnover that summer. The following season in a state of transition then proved to be the worst since their WSL debut in 2014 and fans were frustrated with manager Gareth Taylor.

But patience proved to be a virtue. With the 2022 recruits bedded in, City brought in only Jill Roord last summer, before spending big on Laura Blindkilde in January after Roord's ACL injury, and took the 2023/24 title race to the final day of the season.

City had the WSL's meanest defence last season, built on home-grown goalkeeping prodigy Khiara Keating. They also have arguably the world's best striker in Khadija Shaw - even if an administrative gaffe meant she wasn't able to play in this week's Champion League qualifier in France. Despite Shaw's output, the difference last season between winning and not winning was failing to match Chelsea in goalscoring, drawing a blank against Brighton in November that ultimately cost them in May. So they have now added all-time WSL record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema into the mix as well.

Remarkably, City have only won the WSL once before - as far back as 2016 - but have agonisingly been runners-up in seven of the last ten seasons.

Manchester United

Why is there cause for quiet optimism?

After a tumultuous start to the summer which saw three senior players depart as free agents - including Mary Earps and club captain Katie Zelem - and with uncomfortable questions about the direction of the women's team after clumsy public comments from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, there is reason for Manchester United fans to be optimistic about what is effectively a new chapter for the club.

All the noises coming from new sporting director Dan Ashworth, who oversaw immense strides in women's operations with England, Brighton and Newcastle, are the right ones. The structure above manager Marc Skinner feels more robust than it ever has done and the summer recruitment, which has primarily targeted young and developing talents, has been pretty good.

Even without Earps and Zelem, United feel stronger. Phallon Tullis-Joyce, signed last summer, is one to watch in goal, while Grace Clinton is back from her breakout loan at Tottenham and is already one of the best midfielders around. The likes of Geyse, Hinata Miyazawa and Melvine Malard now have a year in England under their belt and new signing Elisabeth Terland is a proven WSL goal threat.

Skinner has declared he feels "alive again" and that "togetherness" in the squad is back to the level it was when United were two narrow Chelsea defeats away from a league and cup double in 2022/23.

Tottenham Hotspur

What is their ceiling?

The WSL has seen Tottenham as both a team able to break the 30-point barrier and one capable of losing nine consecutive games. Those things also happened to occur within a year of each other. Last season under the leadership of Robert Vilahamn saw them get back to the former.

It was a crucial season for Spurs, which also included a first ever trip to Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup final, and one they will hope to consolidate and build on.

Breakout star Grace Clinton is back at parent club Manchester United and looks set to have a big role there, but summer recruitment has been impressive. Celin Bizet is also now in Manchester after her release clause was triggered, but Spurs didn't otherwise lose anyone to objectively weaken them.

Clare Hunt from Paris Saint-Germain, Anna Csiki from BK Hacken and Hayley Raso and Maite Oroz from Real Madrid all bring Champions League quality. It will be a combination of the towering Csiki and the technical Oroz that Vilahamn hopes will cover Clinton's loss.

West Ham United

What is a realistic ambition?

West Ham cracked the WSL top half in 2021/22 but have seen progressively worse finishes each year since, culminating in 11th place last season. There was never a real danger of relegation, although it was still cause for concern after winning only three league games from 22.

There was a sense that 2023/24 was the first year of a rebuilding project that isn't a quick fix. Rehanne Skinner has been a teambuilder in the past, Leicester's first ever manager and a crucial figure in Tottenham establishing themselves in the top flight.

The squad is almost wholly different even from a couple of years ago, but recruitment has been targeted to upgrade and improve both the centre of defence and up front. Colombian forward Manuela Pavi is a reason to be excited, while Kristie Mewis is back from the long-term injury that wrecked her first half season. Dagny Brynjarsdottir is also available after maternity leave.

It would be naive to expect too much too soon from the project that has the potential to push the Hammers into the top half long-term, but some tangible short-term improvement is expected.