That’s it from me today. I’ll leave you with Sophie Downey’s report from a dramatic lunchtime at Anfield:
In the Frauen-Bundesliga yesterday, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen broke the attendance record for a women’s league match in Germany, with 57,762 fans watching Bayern win 2-0 at the Allianz Arena.
The previous record was 38,365 for a game between Cologne and Eintracht Frankfurt in 2023.
England’s Georgia Stanway started for Bayern – she has been speaking to our very own Donald McRae this week:
Sport offers skills that you can take into everyday life – togetherness, communication, resilience, the ability to bounce back. If you can do that on the sports field when the competition and pressure is high you’re more likely to be able to do it in everyday life when you can be calm, composed and strategic.
Updated
Half-time scores in WSL2:
Birmingham 2-1 Bristol City (Magill 7 13; Farrugia 18)
Charlton 0-0 Crystal Palace
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Newcastle (Murphy 7, Pike 27)
Portsmouth 0-2 Durham (Ede 23, Speckmaier 38)
Everton manager Brian Sørensen said his team were “terrible” in the first 30-40 minutes at Anfield. “Everything was just off I don’t know why,” he said. “We couldn’t put more than three or four passes together. Then in the final 10 minutes or so we started to look more like ourselves.”
He said his three half-time substitutions were because he “didn’t want to start on the back foot again and wanted some fresh energy in, and it paid off. I’m so happy for the girls.”
As an aside, there were four games in WSL2 that kicked off at 2pm (BST), and the latest scores after half an hour are:
Birmingham 2-1 Bristol City (Magill 7 13; Farrugia 18)
Charlton 0-0 Crystal Palace
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Newcastle (Murphy 7, Pike 27)
Portsmouth 0-1 Durham (Ede 23)
Updated
Here’s Tom Garry’s full-time take from Brisbane Road:
For large parts of the contest, during which the opposing goalkeepers generally had little to do, it had looked as though the teams might play out a goalless draw, but Katrina Garry fouled Eveliina Summanen inside the area to present the home side with a chance to win the game on 86 minutes, and England tucked her spot-kick into the right-hand corner.
Updated
Liverpool manager Gareth Taylor says there were “a lot of positives” to his team’s performance and that the five-minute periods either side of half-time “really cost” them.
As to the reasons why Liverpool surrendered a lead so easily, Taylor pointed to his team’s fitness and going back to “old habits” as opposed to following his new tactics.
“Sometimes football has a way of pulling the rug from beneath you,” was his deflated summary of the day.
This was by no means a classic here between Tottenham and West Ham and it will not be the first game on the women’s football show later tonight, but it is a much-needed win for Spurs to get them up and running in their new era under Martin Ho, after a very unimpressive 11th-placed finish last term.
This was a game that had delivered few great chances until Bethany England’s spot-kick with four minutes of the 90 remaining and the experienced striker did not let her team down. West Ham look dejected but there will be no need for them to panic after just one game, they simply lacked a bit of a clinical edge in the final third today, despite getting into some promising attacking positions at times.
Well, what a start to the season for Everton. Local bragging rights. Another win at Anfield. A hat-trick for their new signing.
“It doesn’t get better than that,” Ornella Vignola tells Sky Sports. “The first goal was my favourite.”
“We have a really good team, on and off the pitch. I think great things are coming,” says Martina Fernández, who was translating for her compatriot.
Brian Sørensen will be thrilled with his team’s response to going behind to Liverpool. As for Gareth Taylor, he’ll want to forget his first game in charge.
Updated
Full-time summary:
Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-4 Everton (Kapocs 12; Vignola 24 54 56, Snoeijs 45+4)
Man Utd 4-0 Leicester (Toone 13, Terland 25, Malard 73 87)
Tottenham 1-0 West Ham (England 86pen)
Full-time: Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
Stalemate at Crawley. Agyemang, Kirby and Daly all went close to breaking the deadlock at various points but neither side could do enough to earn an opening win.
Full-time: Tottenham 1-0 West Ham
Not a classic at Brisbane Road but a hugely important first win for Martin Ho as Spurs manager. Beth England’s late penalty was the decisive moment.
Full-time: Liverpool 1-4 Everton
Everton keep up their impressive record at Anfield, winning on their sixth visit in a row there. Kapocs’s opener was cancelled out by Vignola’s excellent equaliser. Snoeijs put Sørensen’s side ahead before the break and Vignola added two more after half-time to complete a hat-trick on her WSL debut.
Full-time: Manchester United 4-0 Leicester
A dominant display from United sends them top of the league, with goals from Toone, Terland and two from Malard ensuring victory was never really in doubt against Leicester.
Villa hit the bar! So close to an opener at Crawley. Wilms bends a free-kick up and over the wall but the ball comes back off the crossbar.
GOAL! Manchester United 4-0 Leicester (Malard 87)
United’s quality is shining through now. Malard sets herself on the edge of the area and bends a shot into the bottom corner out of Leitzig’s reach.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 West Ham (England 86pen)
England scores from the spot! Walsh gets a hand to it but not enough to prevent the ball hitting the back of the net. Spurs in front!
Updated
Penalty for Spurs! Summanen is clipped as she enters the area. Beth England will take …
Still goalless between Brighton and Villa. Agyemang is left frustrated again as Wilms gets in the way of her effort at the back post.
Leitzig is doing her utmost to redeem herself in the Leicester goal, producing a couple of eye-catching saves to keep out Terland.
Everton hit the post! Van Gool is given plenty of space on the edge of the Liverpool box and leaves Kirby rooted to the spot as her shot comes off the post. Nearly five.
Liverpool really had the stuffing knocked out of them by those quickfire Vignola goals at the start of the second half. The hosts have an xG of 1.17, while Everton just 0.79. Vignola has been substituted.
Latest scores (after about 75 mins):
Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-4 Everton (Kapocs 12; Vignola 24 54 56, Snoeijs 45+4)
Man Utd 3-0 Leicester (Toone 13, Terland 25, Malard 73)
Tottenham 0-0 West Ham
GOAL! Manchester United 3-0 Leicester (Malard 73)
Questions will be asked of the Leicester goalkeeper Leitzig, who comes out for Janssen’s cross but gets nowhere near it. Malard nods the ball into an empty net. That should do for United.
Updated
Agyemang hits the post! The Brighton forward cuts on to her right foot and sends a low drive that comes off the foot of the post. Villa’s Anna Patten got just enough of a block on the shot.
Marc Skinner turns to his bench again. Manchester United named just five substitutes for this one and Millie Turner becomes the third to come on. Still 2-0 they lead against Leicester.
Taylor makes two changes for Liverpool to try to salvage something from his first match in charge. Beata Olsson and Kirsty MacLean are on for Kapocs and Nagano.
Vignola becomes the fourth Everton player to score a hat-trick in the WSL after Toni Duggan, Chloe Kelly and Hayley Raso.
Latest scores (after about 60 mins):
Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-4 Everton (Kapocs 12; Vignola 24 54 56, Snoeijs 45+4)
Man Utd 2-0 Leicester (Toone 13, Terland 25)
Tottenham 0-0 West Ham
In the meantime, Jess Park has come on for her Manchester United debut at Leigh. And at Brisbane Road, the injured Szemik has been replaced by Megan Walsh in goal for West Ham.
And with that, Vignola matches her tally from last season: three goals in 28 appearances in Liga F for Granada.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-4 Everton (Vignola 56)
What a day for Everton’s new signing! Vignola completes her hat-trick, cutting inside on to her left foot and a deflection off Woodham takes her shot past Kirby!
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 1-3 Everton (Vignola 54)
Everton go further in front as Vignola scores again! The 20-year-old beats Bonner to Pacheco’s cross and the ball goes in off the underside the bar. Breathing space.
Updated
West Ham have got goalkeeper troubles too. Kinga Szemik backpedals to see that a cross doesn’t drop in and she collides with the post. She’s receiving treatment.
Malard can’t convert a good chance for Manchester United to make it 3-0 against Leicester, the France international dragging her shot wide.
Brighton v Aston Villa is also back under way. Villa have had to make a change in goal, with Ellie Roebuck coming on for D’Angelo after a first-half injury.
Golden opportunity for West Ham! Viviane Asseyi’s cross from the left is met by Seraina Piubel at the back post but the Switzerland international’s volley is blazed over from close range. Should have scored.
Second half begins!
The action is under way again at Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool. Everton, interestingly at 2-1 up, have made a triple change at half-time. Record signing Ruby Mace is among those to enter the fray.
Updated
Manchester United are in control against Leicester, who have had just two training sessions under new interim manager Rick Passmore. I wonder what he’ll ask his side to do at half-time?
Then it’s goalless between Tottenham and West Ham (which is getting better after a drab start) and Brighton and Aston Villa (where a handful of England stars, past and present, are on display).
Everton are yet again enjoying their visit to Anfield, coming from behind in that first half. What a moment for Ornella Vignola too. The highly-rated Spain youth international showed her class with that brilliant equaliser. Snoeijs’s header in first-half stoppage time means they are on course for their sixth successive win at Anfield.
Half-time scores
Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-2 Everton (Kapocs 12; Vignola 24, Snoeijs 45+4)
Manchester United 2-0 Leicester (Toone 13, Terland 25)
Tottenham 0-0 West Ham
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 1-2 Everton (Snoeijs. 45+4)
Pacheco’s cross from the left is met by Katja Snoeijs and Faye Kirby cannot get enough of a glove on the header. On the stroke of half-time, Everton lead!
Updated
Spurs are playing some decent buildup stuff here, intricately working to get the ball out wide to their wingers Araya Dennis and Jessica Naz, both of whom are having a good half in terms of dangerously running at their full-backs and causing problems, but it’s the final ball that’s missing.
Chance for Spurs: Holdt produces a lovely piece of skill down the Tottenham right before Naz’s shot is tame and drifts over the bar.
Goalmouth scramble at Spurs! Lize Kop does well to bat away a West Ham corner from under her own crossbar and pinball ensues. Shekiera Martinez tries to squeeze the ball in but her shot is blocked and Spurs survive.
Off the post! Liverpool threaten to retake the lead in the derby, with Holland cutting inside from the right and seeing her curling shot come back off the post.
Kirby goes close for Brighton, getting in behind the Villa defence and fizzing a low shot beyond the far post.
Updated
Off the bar! Villa’s Rachel Daly rattles the crossbar with a right-footed shot from range that so nearly found the top corner.
30 minutes gone:
Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-1 Everton (Kapocs 11; Vignola 24)
Man Utd 2-0 Leicester (Toone 13, Terland 25)
Tottenham 0-0 West Ham
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Leicester (Terland 25)
After 10 goals in the WSL last season, Elisabeth Terland opens her account for the campaign with a header from Riviere’s cross. Leicester look in trouble.
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Everton (Vignola 24)
Liverpool’s corner is cleared long to Ornella Vignola who twists and turns past Holland in the penalty area and finds the far corner with a glorious curling effort!
Updated
Liverpool continue to press for a second goal. Mia Enderby forces a corner at the Kop End. Everton clear it and go on the counter …
Anfield rises in the 20th minute in honour of Diogo Jota. The rain is still coming down on Merseyside.
20 minutes gone:
Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-0 Everton (Kapocs 11)
Man Utd 1-0 Leicester (Toone 13)
Tottenham 0-0 West Ham
Updated
Fran Kirby is denied an opener for Brighton. The former England midfielder taps home from close range but the offside flag is up.
Off the bar! Gemma Bonner stretches to get on the end of a Liverpool free-kick and Courtney Brosnan tips her effort on to the crossbar.
Brighton’s Michelle Agyemang is causing problems against Aston Villa. She finds Rachel McLauchlan on the edge of the box and the left-back’s shot is well saved by D’Angelo.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Leicester (Toone 13)
Ella Toone gets off the mark for the campaign as the ball falls to her inside the box and she cooly slots past Leicester’s Janina Leitzig in goal.
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Everton (Kapocs 11)
First blood in the Merseyside derby goes to the hosts. Cornelia Kapocs comes in off the left flank, goes past Martina Fernández and smashes her shot in off the crossbar!
Updated
10 minutes gone:
Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
Liverpool 0-0 Everton
Man Utd 0-0 Leicester
Tottenham 0-0 West Ham
Updated
Hansen is OK after receiving treatment and tests Brighton’s debutant goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie with a low shot.
At Anfield, Ceri Holland fronts up Maz Pacheco and sends a really dangerous cross through the corridor of uncertainty but it comes to nothing.
Villa’s Kirsty Hansen is down and receiving treatment after a collision in midfield.
Tottenham have threatened from a couple of corners in the opening stages at Brisbane Road.
Meanwhile at Crawley, Brighton’s Kiko Seike has had a shot saved comfortably by Villa’s Sabrina D’Angelo.
Updated
It’s a rather blustery and drizzly day here at Anfield for the opening Merseyside derby of the season. There was an excited atmosphere building around the stadium as Liverpool and Everton fans started to gather and queue to get to their seats.
It is a fresh start for Liverpool this season after the frustrations of the last campaign and a first game in charge for manager Gareth Taylor who was appointed over the summer. He will be hoping that he can bring a change to Liverpool’s fortunes in this encounter – the Reds are winless in their last seven WSL meetings against the Toffees and have lost the last two encounters.
For Everton, it has been an exciting summer for Brian Sørensen who has made good use of the influx of funds provided by The Friedkin Group since their takeover. Nine players have come through the door – eight permanent and one in on loan – and he will be hoping they will be able to help him start to move the Toffees up the table after a rollercoaster of a few seasons.
Kick-off
All four games are under way!
The pitch here at Brisbane Road is soaked in sunshine on the day of Martin Ho’s first game in charge of Tottenham and the mood is optimistic. The hosts have given a debut to the 19-year-old Japan international Toko Koga – who is held is such high, she tends to start for her country – and the club are understood to be particularly delighted to have persuaded her to join them from Feyenoord this summer because there were so many other big clubs enquiring about her.
What Spurs feel they can offer a young star like Koga, that perhaps current Champions League clubs can’t, is game time, and that seems to be what helped them do this deal. Their far more critical summer signing was the appointment of Ho, the former Manchester United assistant coach who led Brann of Norway to a Champions League quarter-final. Ho was understood to have been selected from a shortlist of around 30 candidates and came with glowing recommendations from some of his former colleagues. Spurs like that he is obsessive and passionate about the job and now they’ll hope it can translate into better results on the pitch.
Ho has just been introduced to the crowd here to warm applause and cheers, with the Merseyside-born coach raising both of his arms in the air to wave to the Spurs fans. He is wearing – as almost every WSL manager seems to do these days – white trainers, (what else?) with smart dark trousers, plus a grey top, and all the pitchside photographers are pointing their cameras straight towards him.
Updated
We are five minutes from kick-off in all four games.
There are plenty of new faces in the starting lineups at Anfield – Sam Kerr and Lily Woodham make their full debuts for Liverpool, while Martina Fernández, Maz Pacheco, Katie Robinson, Rion Ishikawa and Ornella Vignola are the new signings in Everton’s XI. Club-record signing Ruby Mace could also make her debut for the visitors off the bench.
Chelsea are, of course, the team everyone is chasing. The champions began their tilt at a seventh successive title on Friday night but were given a run for their money by Manchester City at Stamford Bridge:
Leicester are the only side starting the campaign without a manager after the sacking of Amandine Miquel 10 days ago. Rick Passmore was appointed as interim manager earlier this week and has had just two sessions with the team before facing Manchester United today.
“The last couple of days have been manic, a whirlwind,” Passmore said this week. “I would love to stay at this club.”
Manchester United v Leicester team news:
Manchester United (4-4-2): Tullis-Joyce; Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Sandberg; Toone, Zigiotti Olme, Miyazawa, Bizet; Malard, Terland
Subs: Middleton-Patel, Turner, Naalsund, Park, Griffiths
Leicester (4-2-3-1): Leitzig; Ale, Kees, Boureille, Thibaud; Tierney, Cayman; Cain, Van Egmond, O’Brien; Eríksdóttir
Subs: Clark, Wellesley-Smith, Rantala, Payne, Las, McLoughlin, Sherwood, Ayane, Kaczmar
Updated
Tottenham v West Ham team news:
Tottenham (4-3-3): Kop; Koga, Hunt, Rybrink, Nildén; Dennis, Spence, Summanen; Holdt, England, Naz
Subs: Ahtinen, Tandberg, Graham, Grant, Gunning-Williams, Heeps, Jackson, Maite Oroz
West Ham (4-2-3-1): Szemik; Denton, Nyström, Zadorsky, Hanshaw; Siren, Gorry; Piubel, Ueki, Asseyi; Martinez
Subs: Bellomou, Brasero-Carreira, Cemal, Houssein, Morgan, Paví, Tysiak, Walsh, Wandeler
Spurs finished second bottom last season but there is hope for improvement under former Everton and Manchester United assistant manager Martin Ho.
As for West Ham, they have the winner of the Women’s Super League’s Rising Star award for last season: Shekiera Martinez.
Brighton v Aston Villa team news:
Brighton (4-3-3): Nnadozie; McLauchlan, Rule, Minami, Olislagers; Kirby, Cankovic, Symonds; Seike, Haley, Agyemang
Subs: Auée, Baggaley, Camacho, Carabalí, Hayes, Kafaji, Noordam, Rayner, Tsunoda
Aston Villa (3-4-1-2): D’Angelo; Wilms, Patten, Deslanders; Grant, Kearns, Baijings, Maritz; Daly; Salmon, Hanson
Subs: Kelly, Kendall, Maltby, Mayling, Mullett, Parker, Roebuck, Taylor
The Gareth Taylor era at Liverpool begins with the visit of Everton to Anfield in the Merseyside derby. The Reds finished 7th last season and will want to kick on now under the former Manchester City manager.
As Tom Garry points out, Everton have won on each of their last five trips to Anfield, which their manager Brian Sørensen joked was “our training pitch” last season.
Merseyside derby team news
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Kirby; Fisk, Bonner, Evans, Woodham; Nagano, Kerr; Kapocs, Höbinger, Holland; Enderby
Subs: Morgan, Parry, Risa, Kiernan, Roman H, Olsson, Clark, MacLean, Silcock
Everton (4-2-3-1): Brosnan; Ishikawa, Ladd, Fernández, Pacheco; Hayashi, Van Gool; Robinson; Momiki, Vignola; Snoeijs
Subs: Ramsey, Wheeler, Payne, Gago, Weir, Stenevik, Holmgaard, Mace
Updated
In case you missed it yesterday, Arsenal got off to a winning start as they look to challenge Chelsea in the title race. The Gunners didn’t have it all their own way though, having to come from behind against promoted London City Lionesses.
Suzanne Wrack was there to watch £1m signing Olivia Smith turn the game in Arsenal’s favour:
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Sunday in the Women’s Super League. Four teams have already kicked off their campaigns and the rest will follow at 12pm (BST) today. Four matches kick off simultaneously at midday and we’ll endeavour to bring you all the key moments from each of them. Those getting their season under way today are …
Brighton v Aston Villa (at Crawley’s Broadfield Stadium)
Liverpool v Everton (at Anfield)
Manchester United v Leicester (at Leigh Sports Village)
Tottenham v West Ham (at Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road)
That’s a Merseyside derby and a London derby, plus Michelle Agyemang’s second Brighton debut – and all starting before we’ve even thought about lunch.
If you’d like to get in touch with your predictions for the season or thoughts on Chelsea and Arsenal’s opening victories, you can email me here.
