Women's Super League

Emily Salley
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

When Jonas Eidevall resigned as Arsenal manager, things were looking bleak for the Gunners.

They had failed to win any of their last three games under the Swede and appeared to be lacking an identity on the pitch.

Step forward, Renee Slegers. Slowly but surely, the interim boss has instilled a new confidence in the squad and there's a clear attacking intent - summed up by their five-star performance against Brighton.

While Arsenal may have been disappointed to come away from Manchester United on Sunday with just one point and only one goal to show for their 19 shots, Sleger's team avoided falling into the same trap against another in-form side.

Before tonight's fixture, Brighton had only conceded four goals in their opening six matches.

But, right from the start, Arsenal peppered the Seagulls' box and Beth Mead's opener was the perfect example of a clinical finish.

Foord and Hurtig's goals were scrappy, but they were in the right place at the right time, while a second goal of the season - even if it is from the penalty spot - will do no harm to Alessia Russo's confidence.

Nick Cushing has seemingly ruled himself out of the Arsenal job and while Slegers has not been vocal about taking on the role on a permanent basis, the former Netherlands midfielder appears to be letting her managerial performances do the talking.

Ciara Fleming
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Three was the magic number as Women's Super League leaders Manchester City cruised 4-0 past Tottenham.

Three goals for Khadija Shaw, three assists for Lauren Hemp and a third goal in three games for Jill Roord on her WSL return.

Gareth Taylor's side were at their scintillating best at Etihad Stadium, opening the scoring through Shaw after just 23 seconds and not once looking back.

Each of the three goals from the Jamaican international highlighted a different aspect of her extraordinary goalscoring skillset.

The first her ability to drive forward with the ball and pick a corner, the second her heading prowess in the box and the third her poacher's instincts at the back post.

Perhaps the only downside for City on a night of sparkling attacking football is that they didn't manage to put even more of their chances away.

Indeed hat-trick hero Shaw said as much in her post match comments to the media: "We have to see where we can raise the level even better, so when we get there we are unstoppable."

Arsenal comfortably beat Brighton 5-0 at Emirates Stadium on Friday. Here is reaction from both camps.

Arsenal interim boss Renee Slegers: "It looks very easy now. The last two training sessions we were investing a lot of time in this part of our game so I am really happy for the girls. The investment they put in they got the effect today."

On having five different goalscorers: "It is very nice and says something about where we are going as a team. We are really doing it together and everyone is contributing so it is very positive."

On the scoreline allowing her to make early substitutions: "We always want to bring on players because we have such a great squad. This is where the tight schedule comes in as well. Hopefully everyone is fresh for Juventus on Tuesday."

Brighton captain Vicky Losada: "It was a very difficult night, especially when we found ourselves 3-0 down inside 30 minutes, but we shouldn’t get too emotional after this result.

“Arsenal are a Champions League team and showed that today. They attack so well and we need to respond to bad moments better, but if we learn from this we will be fine.

“We can’t forget everything we have done until today. We have been performing well this season. The Brighton you saw today wasn’t us and we will learn."

Manchester City cruised to 4-0 win over Tottenham at Etihad Stadium on Friday night. Here's what both managers told Sky Sports afterwards.

Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor: "It’s a really early goal. You probably won’t get much earlier than that. Bunny has been aggressive in the last few games. It was a bit of a gift but we will take it. When you have someone like Lauren [Hemp] who players super passes in, they are so hard to deal with."

On another goal for Jill Roord: "She has given everything. Those are the type of players you want to attract."

On his message after the game: "I said to them I think we can be better. I thought at times tonight we were a little bit loose. A little bit slow with our play. It's really difficult to be critical because it's a different environment for us."

Tottenham manager Robert Vilahamn: "It's in the first seconds they score that goal and it kills the momentum a little bit of how we want to start the game. We tried to get back in it and then it's another goal. Mentally it's really hard, you can see the self confidence of the players is lost for a while before they come back into the game. We just need to understand how good they are in the second half and that we don't give away any more."

"It's a mixture of quality as well. The mistakes we do is something we need to develop a bit better on, we need to do better actions in some of these situations. We need to find ways to not concede these goals so easily. Self-confidence is a mixture of performances so it's a mix of things I would say."

"It's obviously the quality of some of their key players are the best players in the world, Bunny Shaw is scoring every game and so players. Tactically they have worked together for years and have a good squad as well. We are taking good steps but it's really hard to compete against top teams. In the long run we know what to do but it's going to take time and we realise the gap is big and we just need to handle this loss."

Everton's Women's Super League home game against Manchester City will be broadcasted live on BBC.

The fixture will be shown live on Sunday 15th December on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, with kick-off at 12:30 GMT.

This will be the 14th meeting of the clubs in the WSL era, with hosts Everton aiming to pick up their first-ever points in the fixture as they welcome Gareth Taylor's side to Walton Hall Park.

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter

Liverpool boss Matt Beard has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Women's Super League game against Chelsea (kick-off 12:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Lucy Parry will miss the game as "her Achilles has flared up again".

• Fuka Nagano is "50-50" as she continues to recover from an ankle injury.

• Beard says you can see the identity of Chelsea under Sonia Bompastor "really starting to show" after their resounding 5-0 win over Everton.

• The return of Liverpool defender Grace Fisk last week was a huge boost, says Beard, who also praised the performance of Taylor Hinds.

• Beard says Chelsea are still "the team to beat" after a strong start under Bompastor and investment this summer that has "made them even stronger".

• He admits they look at the WSL table to make sure they are keeping up with the top group but their position in the table now is not the 'be-all and end-all'.

• On their season so far, he says: "I think we’re a little bit behind points-wise, definitely. But if you look at last year, there were games we won where we probably weren’t expected to win. It all evens itself out. We are an ambitious team and club - but things just take a little bit of time."

Aston Villa boss Robert de Pauw has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Women's Super League game against Manchester United (kick-off 18:45 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Georgia Mullett has been back in training sessions, but Rachel Corsie and Jill Baijings remain out.

• Paula Tomas is eligible to play after serving a three-game suspension, but her availability for Sunday is uncertain after suffering from sickness earlier this week.

• De Pauw said Villa's first-half performance against Liverpool was the worst he has overseen at the club.

• He said the team are "frustrated" because "we want to win".

• On assistant coach Leanne Hall leaving the club, De Pauw wished her the best and said: "She took the decision to step back and to focus more on herself for a moment".

• Asked what he has learnt about facing Chelsea, Manchester City and now Manchester United away, the Villa boss said: "We are competitive, that we can put some fear in the opponent".

• He added: "That's the next step we got to take - to take something from the game and not only rattle the cage, but bring the cage home".

• A first win of the season at United would be "a big boost for us and would drive confidence", De Pauw said.

• The Dutchman is aware that football is a "performance driven company" and said "they cut off the head of the manager".

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter

Manchester boss Marc Skinner has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Women's Super League game against Aston Villa (kick-off 18:45 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Leah Galton and Anna Sandberg are back in training and will be assessed before Sunday's match.

• Skinner says Villa play "good, attacking football" and results have not matched their performances. "I’m preparing [to face] a very good team," he adds.

• After back-to-back draws, Skinner admits United "have to try to get back to winning ways" and calls for more consistency in their performances.

• He says it is difficult to keep all fans of the club happy but he has to try to find a balance between performing well and producing results.

• Skinner added: "We are at a unique club where it has to be about performance too. We have to attack when we’re defending. It’s a hard challenge. We try to strike that balance. This team is getting used to each other."

• Midfielder Hayley Ladd remains a "key part" of United's squad, says Skinner, despite her limited game time this season.

• Skinner is pleased with United's form so far this season and says they are "above where our marker should be" but they want to keep improving.

Image source, Getty Images

Boss Gareth Taylor said Manchester City are in a "good moment" as they head into their first game of the season at Etihad Stadium.

Taylor's side host Tottenham on Friday night in the first of three games at the men's stadium in 2024-25.

They will also play Manchester United there in January and Chelsea in March.

City are top of the Women's Super League with five wins and one draw from their opening six games.

"It’s an exciting game for us," Taylor said. "We are in a good moment.

"As much as we really enjoy playing at the Joie Stadium because we have that familiarity, it’s always a good opportunity to expand on potentially getting more supporters into the stadium to be able to see us play."

City have only played three games in total at Etihad Stadium prior to this season and Taylor said it is a "step forward".

"There is more need and want for it which is great. It was really difficult playing one game a season there because you lose a home advantage.

"If you play there more often it becomes more normal for the girls. We had an opportunity to train there today which is great."

Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor has been speaking to the media before Friday's Women's Super League game against Tottenham (kick-off 19:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his/her news conference:

• Playing at Etihad Stadium is "exciting" and "a step forward".

• Vivianne Miedema is "happy" and "feels good" and Taylor said "we are still on target for trying to get her back as soon as possible".

• There was positive news around Naomi Layzell who is "getting closer", while Ayaka Yamashita and Mary Fowler are both back in the squad.

• On the key to Man City's unbeaten start, Taylor said: "Following the plan and trusting what we do is really important".

• He added: "We go from game to game as boring as it sounds. We have to understand why we are there [top of the league]."

• On Tottenham, he said: "We know the areas we can exploit, we know their strengths. We have to be really on it to make sure we exert ourselves in the right way."

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Women's Super League game against Liverpool (kick-off 12:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from her news conference:

• Lucy Bronze and Catarina Macario are back in the squad and available, but Lauren James remains sidelined.

• Bompastor said "it is difficult to give a date" on when James will return, but said "not before the next international break for sure".

• On the high number of different goalscorers this season, Bompastor said: "That is really valuable because it gives the opposition some doubts on players. They don't know which one is going to score".

• On selection headaches, she said: "It’s good for me because I can rotate."

• On whether her players have gelled quicker than she expected, she said: "I was expecting us to perform from the beginning and I hope now we will be able to perform until the end."

• Asked whether there is another level to come, Bompastor said: "Even if we have good results we still have room for improvement."

• On Liverpool, she said: "They have a good team and good squad and I know Liverpool always find a way to perform against Chelsea."

Leicester boss Amandine Miquel has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Women's Super League game against West Ham (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from her news conference:

• Miquel does not know how long Sam Tierney will be out with the ankle injury she sustained in last weekend's 1-0 defeat by Brighton, but she will not be available on Sunday.

• There's also no timescale for Lena Petermann's return.

• Asked if Leicester were at a crisis point with injuries, Miquel said "We're not there yet".

• She said that the club are holding out for the January transfer window, rather than bringing in players on free transfers.

• The Leicester boss is "really pleased" with how few goals her side are conceding.

• On Leicester's 5-2 pre-season win over West Ham, Miquel said: "It feels like it was a long time ago, and when we're in a very different situation then".

• With tough tests against Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea before the winter break, Miquel said that three points against West Ham would make "mental aspects easier".

Arsenal's interim boss Renee Slegers has been speaking to the media before Friday's Women's Super League game against Brighton (kick-off 19:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from her news conference:

• Lotte Wubben Moy and Laura Wienroither are both "progressing really well" as they return from injury.

• On Edu leaving his role as Arsenal's sporting director, Slegers said he's "meant a lot" to the women's team and she's "sorry" to see him leave.

• She added that Edu's departure will not impact Arsenal's recruitment process for a permanent head coach.

• Slegers hopes to remain part of the club's coaching staff, even if she is not selected as the next permanent manager.

• On having to move their Champions League game against Bayern Munich away from the Emirates because of a clash with a men's fixture, Slegers said it's been "a very hard dilemma for the club".

• Arsenal have "not been talking" about Manchester City and Chelsea pulling away at the top of the league.

• She said it will be a "high risk, high reward" game against Brighton, who Slegers said are "doing really well and have recruited top players".