Women's Super League

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty

Manchester United coach Marc Skinner has revealed defender Anna Sandberg will be out for up to eight weeks with the knee injury she sustained in the Champions League play-off first leg tie with Atletico Madrid in Spain last week.

Sandberg had to go off at half-time in United's 3-0 victory.

It was initially felt the Sweden full-back had suffered a calf problem.

However, looking ahead to the return game at Leigh, Skinner confirmed it was a knee-related issue that will keep Sandberg out for at least four weeks and possibly quite a bit longer, ruling her out of the FA Cup trip to Chelsea on 22 February and next month's League Cup final against the same opposition.

"There's a little bit of a tidy up that needs to be done around Anna's meniscus," he said.

"From the time frame we've been given, the best is four, the middle is six and obviously the worst case is eight.

"If it was eight, she would probably be back three or four games before the end of the season.

"We're hopeful we can get it to six but won't take any risk. She's a young player so we'll make sure she's rehabbed effectively."

The 22-year-old joined United in 2024 and has become one of the key figures in Skinner's side.

She was replaced by experienced former Everton player Gabby George for the Women's Super League victory over London City Lionesses on Sunday.

Sandberg will also miss Sweden's World Cup qualifiers with Italy and Serbia next month.

Alex Howell
Football reporter

Image source, High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom

The High Commission of Canada hosted an event alongside Show Racism the Red Card to mark Canadian Black History Month and to highlight the country's role as a co-host of the Fifa World Cup.

The event which was held at Canada House in London featured a panel of past and present players including former Tottenham player and Brighton manager Chris Hughton, former Arsenal player Paul Davis, former Arsenal and England player Rachel Yankey and the first £1m player in women's football, Arsenal and Canada international Olivia Smith.

The panel covered topics about diversity in sport with Smith also discussing her move to Arsenal last summer.

"I don't think I have actually stayed in a place longer than a year." Smith said when speaking about her move to Arsenal from Liverpool following a stint playing in Portugal.

"Then to get a massive opportunity from Arsenal there was no passing up on that.

"I just wanted to be challenged and take my career to the next level. To be at Arsenal is where you want to be.

"I look forward to calling this my home for a bit." Smith added.

The £1m fee that Arsenal paid to sign Smith from WSL rivals Liverpool has already been surpassed but the Canada forward says that it is a positive thing as it shows the growth of the women's game.

"The biggest thing is that I think it is a compliment as I think it shows where the women's game is going.

"And obviously that is going to continue now. I'm privileged and honoured to have that to my name of course. I think it is just great to see that women's football is going in that direction."

Image source, Getty

Katie McCabe currently plays left-back for Arsenal and is captain of the Republic of Ireland.

McCabe's contract is up at the end of this season with Arsenal which means she is likely to leave on a free transfer.

McCabe has been at Arsenal for just over 10 years and helped them become the inaugural Champions Cup winners and European champions.

When asked about the future McCabe, Republic of Ireland manager, Carla Ward said:

"I speak to the players about their futures and where they are at. I've spoken to Katie, and I've said this pre-coming in, she's one of the best left backs in the world.

"I think she will have a lot of options and I think a lot of people will want to speak to her and want her signature.

"The beauty of it is when you are one of the best in the world you will not be short of options.

"Wherever she moves, in my opinion, it will be a top club getting a very top player."

Another action-packed Sunday in the Women's Super League saw plenty of goals and the top teams beat those down near the bottom.

It was a magnificent seven goals for Tottenham Hotspur who beat Aston Villa 7-3 in a hugely entertaining game at Villa Park.

A sluggish Manchester United recorded a seventh straight victory in all competitions with a hard-fought 2-1 win over London City Lionesses.

Millie Turner scored late to complete the turnaround after Jess Park had cancelled out Nikita Parris' early goal.

Victory over Liverpool helped Chelsea put an "emotional" week behind them, according to boss Sonia Bompastor.

The departure of Paul Green, head of women's football, was not felt on the pitch as Sjoeke Nusken and Lauren James scored to leave the visitors one point off bottom spot and keep Chelsea in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

Finally, Everton scored early to see off West Ham and make it three straight wins in the Women's Super League before a Merseyside derby at Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round next weekend.

Image source, Getty Images

London City Lionesses forward Nikita Parris says boos from the crowd do not affect her as she is "used" to it now.

The striker was jeered by fans of old side Manchester United during London City Lionesses' 2-1 defeat but Parris claims the attitude towards her soon changes after the full-time whistle.

"They boo me then at the end of the match they want to hug me and ask for me to sign stuff!" the 31-year-old joked afterwards. "It quickly changes in 90 minutes.

"I'm used to the booing now - I get it every week to be honest. They don't affect me."

Parris put her side in the lead on the day after just five minutes with a well-taken header but goals from Jess Park and Millie Turner turned the game on its head.

The forward says she was pleased to get on the scoresheet but believes her side need to make more of their chances in front of goal when they come.

"It's always nice to score goals as a forward," she said. "That's what they want me to do - create and score goals but we do need to put more chances away that we do get.

"I felt we played some great football for 60-70 minutes. It's turning that pressure into goals."

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter at Kingsmeadow

Image source, Getty Images

Sonia Bompastor says Chelsea have been through a "tough" and "emotional" period following the departure of head of football Paul Green, but praised her players for their "focus" on Sunday's game against Liverpool.

The Blues head coach was speaking after goals from Sjoeke Nusken and Lauren James secured a 2-0 home win and sealed back‑to‑back victories after suffering consecutive defeats a fortnight ago.

Those poor results coincided with Green's surprise exit. He left earlier this week after overseeing 19 title wins in 13 years, while Bompastor had extended her contract just a week earlier.

Bompastor reiterated she "feels the support" from the current leadership, including chief executive Aki Mandhar and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

"I think everyone can see that we are facing a transition right now, which is normal," she said. We are maybe in a second year of transition. When you reflect on Emma [Hayes] being here for 12 years and building the club from nothing, it's normal.

"But I am really confident about the future. When I came here, I could feel the ambition and the mentality to win games. I still feel that, and that's why I believe the future is bright for Chelsea. I feel that with the CEO and the sporting directors."

Bompastor also revealed she held "a lot of individual conversations" with players about Green's exit, adding: "Paul did an amazing job for this club and built it with Emma. It was good to hear the fans singing his name."

Chelsea supporters had planned a protest over Green's departure before the match, but it was called off because of heavy rain and may be revisited at a future fixture.

Ben Ramsdale
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Everton interim boss Scott Phelan has demanded more from his side despite becoming the first Toffees boss to win back-to-back Women's Super League fixtures.

Phelan has taken maximum points from his first two matches in the dugout against London City Lionesses and West Ham United respectively but does not want his team to stop there.

The result means Everton have now won three straight games to climb away from trouble - and is their second victory at Goodison Park after losing their first six WSL matches there since relocating permanently last summer.

"We spoke about Goodison Park and how happy we are to use it as our home stadium - but we want to make the most of it," he said.

"We want opposition teams to come here and feel the difference and go away knowing they've been in a real tough game. Hopefully, West Ham have felt a little bit of that today in certain moments.

"We want more, but as a start, we couldn't ask for much more."

Phelan will face his biggest test yet as interim boss when the Toffees travel to Merseyside rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday, 22 February (16:30 GMT) but the 37-year-old is relishing the challenge.

"We live in a football city and there are certain games throughout the calendar that we look for and Liverpool are one of them," he explained.

"It's definitely exciting and we wanted to use the cup to add some excitement to the season as well. The fact that it's Liverpool as well makes it extra exciting."

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

England international Ella Toone is likely to miss the Women's League Cup final in March because of a hip injury, Manchester United boss Marc Skinner has confirmed.

Earlier this month Skinner gave Toone a timeline of about six weeks to return - at that time there were still slim hopes she might return to the squad in time for the final, but that now looks extremely unlikely.

Toone, 26, last played in the 2-1 win over Tottenham in the quarter-finals in December and is yet to feature for United in 2026.

She missed their Champions League knockout stages play-off first-leg win over Atletico Madrid this week and their cup semi-final victory over Arsenal last month.

Asked if she was a doubt for the final against Chelsea on 15 March, Skinner said: "Potentially, yes. It probably comes a bit too soon.

"I would imagine we're aiming for around the Manchester City game [on 29 March]. Hopefully we can welcome her back then."

United face London City Lionesses in the Women's Super League this Sunday (12:00 GMT) and will be without several players because of injury.

Winger Fridolina Rolfo, who missed Thursday's 3-0 win at Atletico Madrid, is hoping to return for next week's second leg at Leigh Sports Village.

Defender Anna Sandberg went off at half-time on Thursday with a calf injury which Skinner says United will assess over the next few days.

There is still no timeframe on a potential return for winger Leah Galton, who has been absent this year with a back injury.

United currently sit second in the WSL table, 11 points adrift of leaders Manchester City who beat Leicester City 6-0 on Friday night.

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City boss Rick Passmoor was candid in his post match assessment after the Women's Super League's bottom club suffered a brutal 6-0 loss against leaders Manchester City on Friday evening.

"It's a real tough one - it shows you the gulf between top and bottom," he said. "You can see why they are doing well, they only recently put five past Chelsea and also six against Aston Villa, so they are flying all across the park."

The league leaders flexed the full extent of their attacking muscles to put the Foxes to the sword, most ruthlessly so when they took their advantage from 1-0 to 4-0 in the space of a dizzying 10 minutes in the first half.

"You have to come into these games and compete," he said. "You have to stay in the games when momentum is swinging against you.

"Potentially it is the most disappointing performance this season."

Despite the heavy defeat, 12th-placed Leicester did have their chances in the early stages, with Alisha Lehmann hitting the post at 0-0, and Shannon O'Brien crashing a shot off the crossbar at 2-0.

Asked if the game may have turned out differently had one of those chances gone in Passmoor replied: "100%. You've got to take those chances because against the top teams you're not going to get many.

"We had some good play, created some good opportunities and in terms of recent games, we are thinking if we can be ruthless in those little moments. Because it changes the narrative."

We asked you for your thoughts on the four-week break after this weekend until the next bank of Women's Super League games.

Here is a selection of your views:

Cathy: There are too many breaks in WSL - there aren't actually that many games anyway because the league is so small. Understand need for international break but shouldn't one have so soon after winter break (which is too long).

Niamh: Hopefully with the expansion of the league it means that more games will happen so less breaks!

Dan: Football is a winter sport! Saturday at 3pm, Tuesday at 7:45pm (Sunday and Wednesday for women's games if need be). Why do they need to keep changing everything? The game isn't broken.

Tom: I was guessing that with two more teams in the league next season these breaks might have to shrink a bit anyway. Let's build slowly we don't want to exhaust the players.

Malcolm: The governing body is trying its best to protect the players from injury and over-playing.

Mary: When there are comments about the packed WSL schedule, along with other competitions, it's a double-edged sword. More games to fit in, but a rest from the pressure. It does disrupt the flow in the league contributing to inconsistent performances and results.

After this weekend's Women's Super League fixtures, there will not be any more matches in the competition until the weekend of 14-15 March.

The WSL has already had a winter break from December 14 until January 10 but there will effectively be another one although Champions League knockout round play-offs, the FA Cup and World Cup Qualifiers will occur during the league's hiatus.

So what do you think?

Are you happy about another break?

Is it a good thing for the women's game - or would you prefer the schedule to look different?

Tell us here

Image source, Getty Images

Everton interim head coach Scott Phelan says recent performances have given him hope that the end of the season can be positive.

"Change brings fresh opportunity, and that's something we've been keen to stress to the players," said Phelan before the visit of West Ham to Goodison Park on Sunday (12:00 GMT)

"The start that the players have made has been really encouraging and that's given me more hope that things can be really bright and positive between now and the end of the season."

Phelan led the side to a battling 1-0 win at London City Lionesses in his first game in charge last weekend, a win that stretched the gap to the relegation play-off zone to five points.

He feels the back-to-back victories have lifted the atmosphere at Everton.

"If training is anything to go by, [the players] are definitely in a good mood," he said. "The noise and enthusiasm around the sessions has been really, really notable, and that was something we asked them to bring."

Upcoming opponents West Ham travel to Merseyside on the back of two wins in their past three games, including a remarkable comeback from two goals down to win 3-2 against Brighton last time out.

If Rita Guarino's side can win at Goodison Park, it would move them level on points with Everton in ninth.

"It's that time of the season where people are desperate to collect three points and Sunday will be no different," added Phelan. "We expect opposition teams to come and compete, especially at a fantastic stadium like Goodison.

"We're desperate to come and play a Goodison because we expect a similar noise, similar encouragement [to last weekend].

"We want to make our ground a tough place to come."