The report from Tom Garry on Manchester United’s victory has landed. So I shall point you in that direction while closing this blog, thanking you all for reading and for your contributions/comments during the WSL updates, and earlier via Daniel who guided you through all the news and buildup.
There’s plenty of live sport to follow with The Guardian through the afternoon, including Villa v Fulham in the Premier League right now, and later The Ryder Cup headlines our coverage. Thanks again. Always a pleasure.
West Ham v Chelsea is the 2.30pm kickoff. Here are the teams.
West Ham: Szemik, Belloumou, Zadorsky, Nystrom, Denton, Gorry, Siren, Asseyi, Tysiak, Ueki, Morgan.
Subs: Walsh, Endo, Pavi, Csiki, Martinez, Brasero, Wandeler, Hanshaw, Piubel.
Chelsea: Hampton, Bjorn, Bright, Buurman, Jean-Francois, Cuthbert, Walsh, Rytting Kaneryd, Kaptein, Thompson, Beever-Jones.
Subs: Peng, Macario, Baltimore, Hamano, Alber, Nusken, Kerr, Carpenter, Reiten.
Ella Toone says Hinata Miyazawa’s finish was “unreal” and that she should have got another one. She’s being interviewed by Sky Sports alongside Miyazawa’s and acting as her translator. “I’m so happy,” says the Japanese international with a beaming smile.
Miyazawa is named Player of the Match.
Full time scores (midday KOs)
Liverpool 0-2 Manchester United
Manchester City 4-1 London City Lionesses
Leicester 1-2 Tottenham
Brighton 1-0 Everton
Full time: Liverpool 0-2 Manchester United
Full time at St Helens and what a fine demonstration of football that was from Manchester United. After a creditable draw against Arsenal last week, this was a far more fluent display and maintains their unbeaten start to the season.
Marc Skinner should be delighted with the way his team are playing. Liverpool, still winless and taking time to adjust under Gareth Taylor, had no answer to United this afternoon.
Updated
GOAL! Man City 4-1 London City Lionesses (Shaw, 90)
The late goal comes at the Joie Stadium and, like their men’s team yesterday, Manchester City are finishing strongly. A second Bunny Shaw penalty of the game means it’s now 4-1 and London City Lionesses are toast.
Heading into added time. Can Everton or Leicester haul themselves level? The two Manchester clubs look to have their games wrapped up.
84 mins: The clock is against them, but Liverpool are pushing hard. Ella Toone is being forced into her own area to defend, with Kirsty MacLean going down hoping for a decision in her favour.
It looks like being too little too late for the hosts.
The only previous time that Liverpool have lost their opening three matches of a WSL campaign, in the 2019-20 season, they went on to be relegated. This has been a troubling start to Gareth Taylor’s tenure here. They’ve improved a bit in this second half, but they have so much work to do on the training ground. The atmosphere in the stands has fallen flat and the home fans don’t seem to hold much hope of a late comeback.
Approaching the final 10 minutes. Despite both sides making a raft of changes, United still look very comfortable. The three points here would take them to the WSL summit – a least until Chelsea kick off later.
GOAL! Man City 3-1 London City Lionesses (Shaw, 69)
I spoke too soon re Manchester City. Khadija Shaw’s penalty has made it 3-1 after Kumagai ws penalised for a very clear handball.
Is that the game?
Updated
70 mins: Unless Liverpool get a goal in the next 10 minutes, I think this one is done. They have been much improved in the second half but haven’t threatened Tullis-Joyce’s goal enough.
The other three games remain tight, with one goal in each of them.
62 mins: Big chances at both ends at St Helen’s. First, Toone sees a pot-shot go wide after another turnover up the pitch from United.
Then Cornelia Kapocs steams through for Liverpool but takes a little too much time and the United defenders come back to pressurise the shot. Wide.
We’re at the hour mark and we’ve drawn a blank in terms of second half goals in these games. Maybe I put the mockers on when I complained so many were being scored early doors…
55 mins: Sky Sports haven’t listed Jess Park among their three Player of the Match contenders… which is baffling to be honest. The only thing stopping Park from being the best player on the pitch by a country mile this afternoon is how good some of her United teammates have been, too, especially the attackers. Terland and Toone have impressed.
At the other end, Ceri Holland tees up a great chance for Kirsty MacLean. Le Tissier’s clearance was poor and MacLean could have done better with the finish.
No goals yet in the opening stages of these second halves. Liverpool have come out with a little more intent at St Helen’s, presumably after a strong word or two from Gareth Taylor at the interval. He continues to make himself heard, now patrolling the technical area, barking his commands.
Liverpool’s Gemma Bonner joins the WSL 200 club today, which is a fine feat in itself. Jordan Nobbs and Millie Bright are the only other members of that particularly elite crew.
Second half: Marc Skinner sounded a very happy chap in his brief half-time interview with Sky Sports. Will we see more of the same from his team over the next 45 minutes? Let’s find out.
And breathe. Time for a cuppa. Keep your comments coming in below the line, or whack me an email with your thoughts on the action so far.
WSL half-time scores
Liverpool 0-2 Manchester United
Manchester City 2-1 London City Lionesses
Leicester 1-2 Tottenham
Brighton 1-0 Everton
Don’t forget, West Ham v Chelsea kicks off at 2.30pm (BST).
GOAL! Liverpool 0-2 Manchester United (Toone, 45+2)
Terland… squares it to Toone. And she was never going to miss. A cheap concession of the ball in the Liverpool defence – Gemma Evans was robbed of possession – gave United a straightforward opportunity to double their lead.
Toone duly obliges. You cannot say United don’t deserve it.
Updated
Just as Tom writes that, United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce is forced into a fine reaction save – it’s the first thing she’s had to do, in fairness.
Three added minutes at St Helen’s.
I expected a relatively even game here this afternoon but this is anything but, at the moment. Manchester United looks streets ahead of Liverpool. The home side just can’t keep hold of the ball. Manchester United are recycling possession so quickly, whenever they lose it, winning it back straight away and they’ve spent almost this entire first half camped inside Liverpool’s defensive half of the pitch. It’s one-way traffic.
We’re approaching the break. A few of the games are into first-half added time.
GOAL! Leicester 1-2 Tottenham (Tierney, 40)
Leicester have one back at the King Power and there’s a melee in the goalmouth as Sam Tierney attempts to grab the ball after her close-range effort made it 2-1. Game on.
37 mins: Terland ought to have squared it for Malard that time. Seconds later, Malard is slipped through by Park but she’s just offside. Just more United pressure. Liverpool cannot cope.
35 mins: As Terland creates another opening for herself, getting the shot away – which is well saved by Borggräfe – it’s obvious that United are playing with a new-found fluency.
Can Liverpool conjure something up against the run of play before half-time?
I have to say, I didn’t anticipate so many goals in the early stages… no rest for the live blogging journalist.
The way United are playing at St Helen’s, we may get more goals before the half-time break.
GOAL! Brighton 1-0 Everton (Agyemang, 26)
Michelle Agyemang, the sensation of England’s golden summer, has bundled in the opener for Brighton after Rosa Kafaji’s knockdown. That’s her first of the campaign… and it will not be her last.
26 mins: United continue to enjoy the upper hand at St Helen’s, with Jayde Riviere another one of the visitors’ players who is catching the eye.
Miyazawa has just struck the woodwork with another fearsome left-footed strike! Close to 2-0.
GOAL! Leicester 0-2 Tottenham (Holdt, 21)
Spurs have a second and there’s a very Scandinavian feel to their goal threat these days, with Olivia Holdt doubling the lead at Leicester.
Updated
GOAL! Man City 2-1 London City Lionesses (Parris, 19)
Goals galore early on at the Joie Stadium! Nikita Parris, who can now be considered something of a journeywoman, has bagged against her old side to reduce the visitors’ deficit.
The Liverpool manager Gareth Taylor often watches the first period of games from up in a seat in the stands but he is already down in his technical area to try and issue instructions and make some tweaks, such is his team’s slow start to this contest.
GOAL! Leicester 0-1 Tottenham (Tandberg, 15)
Spurs have made a flying start away at Leicester, with summer signing Cathinka Tandberg finding the net again.
GOAL! Man City 2-0 London City Lionesses (Blindkilde Brown, 14)
Bang, bang, it’s 2-0 in no time at all. Laura Blindkilde Brown has doubled their lead with a low daisy-cutter and it’s been all too easy so far for the hosts at the Etihad Campus.
15 mins: From what I’ve seen of watching United this season, they seem to have increased the tempo of their play, with the Park signing key to that. Marc Skinner gets a lot of stick but this is the best version of United we’ve seen in their short WSL lifetime.
GOAL! Man City 1-0 London City Lionesses (Miedema, 11)
Vivianne Miedema has nodded home from close range to give Manchester City the lead over the perennially unpredictable London City Lionesses.
Updated
11 mins: Liverpool are finally getting a foothold in the game, but goodness me Jess Park is playing well for United. Just driving through the middle, carrying the ball brilliantly.
There were boos and chants of ‘United, United’ as the home fans sang ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ during the players’ entrance. There’s a rivalry between these two teams that has been brewing for a few years in the WSL and there’s no love lost between these two sets of supporters. That said, while the away fans are here in relatively large numbers, the home turnout looks surprisingly poor at the moment. Perhaps the torrential downpours of rain we endured over the past hour, here in St Helens, has something to do with that.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Manchester United (Miyazawa, 5)
That’s an absolute howitzer from Hinata Miyazawa! The United midfielder has hammered that in via the woodwork after the ball dropped her way from a cross.
Updated
3 mins: United have started with a spring in their step at St Helen’s, which is understandable given their excellent form of late. Liverpool are still searching for their first WSL win of the campaign.
Terland is just squeezed out after the home side made a rightold mess of their clearances.
KICK OFF
Four WSL games are now under way.
I’ll be focussing on Liverpool v Manchester United with regular updates from the other games.
There are plenty of tributes to former Liverpool manager Matt Beard at the game today. Flags at St Helen’s are at half mast and You’ll Never Walk Alone is being played. His tragic death at the age of 47 came as a major shock to the women’s game.
Yesterday in the WSL we got a real rarity… Arsenal failing to win at home. A late leveller by Aston Villa’s Lucy Parker silenced the Emirates Stadium.
Man City v London City Lionesses team news
Manchester City: Yamashita, Casparij, Ouahabi, Greenwood, Prior, Hasegawa, Clinton, Blindkilde, Fujino, Shaw, Miedema.
Subs: Keating, Layzell, Rose, Coombs, Wienroither, Lohmann, Knaak, Thomas, Adedini.
London City Lionesses: Lete, Brown, Sangare, Linari, Kumagai, Perez, Corrales, Geyoro, Asllani, Parris, Goodwin.
Subs: Orman, Fernandez, Franssi, Roddar, Merashi, Lindstrom, Zelem, Imuran, Kennedy.
Leicester v Tottenham Hotspur WSL team news
Leicester: Leitzig, Payne, Kees, Thibaud, Cayman, Tierney, McLoughlin, Ale, Van Egmond, Cain, Eiriksdottir.
Subs: Clark, Wellesley-Smith, Swaby, Sherwood, Ayane, Rantala, O’Brien, Mouchon.
Tottenham Hotspur: Kop, Rybrink, Koga, Hunt, Nilden, Summanen, Spence, Holdt, England, Naz, Tandberg.
Subs: Heeps, Grant, Dennis, Neville, Oroz, Ahtinen, Gunning-Williams, Thomas, Graham.
Brighton v Everton WSL team news
Brighton & Hove Albion: Nnadozie, Hayes, Rule, Minami, Olislagers, Symonds, Cankovic, Seike, Kirby, Kafaji, Agyemang.
Subs: Baggaley, Mpome, Noordam, Rayner, Carabali, Camacho, Auee,
McLauchlan, Tsunoda.
Everton: Ramsey, Momiki, van Gool, Fernandez, Pacheco, Mace, Hayashi, Wheeler, Snoeijs, Vignola, Stenevik.
Subs: Payne, Kitagawa, Ladd, Robinson, Weir, Holmgaard, Jones, Startup.
Updated
Liverpool v Manchester United WSL team news
Liverpool: Borggrafe, Fisk, Bonner, Evans, Woodham, Nagano, Holland, Kerr, MacLean, Kapocs, Haug.
Subs: Kirby, Parry, Shimizu, Szymczak, Olsson, Enderby, Lundgaard, Clark, Silcock.
Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Rolfo, Zigiotti Olme, Miyazawa, Toone, Malard, Terland, Park.
Subs: Middleton-Patel, George, Ildhusoy, Naalsund, Williams.
Hi everyone, Dominic here.
Right with a number of WSL games kicking off at midday, let’s run you through the team news …
The Scottish Premiership is six games in and the leaders hail from outside Glasgow. Derek McInnes’ Hearts are two points clear at the top after Saturday’s 3-0 win over Falkirk, coupled with Celtic’s home stalemate against Hibernian.
Although Hearts minority investor Tony Bloom has backed the club to challenge Scotland’s duopoly, McInnes is taking a more measured view. “I want us to try and stay up at the top end of the table for as long as we can,” the Hearts manager said. Nobody else, I don’t think, genuinely believes we can mount a challenge.”
Rangers, meanwhile, are winless and 11th in the table with Russell Martin clinging to his job. He takes his side to Livingston today (3pm BST), where only a win will do.
And with that, my watch is over. Dominic Booth will be here shortly to coax you through our early tranche of WSL matches – Liverpool v Man United is the standout, but there’s loads to get us going – but I’m off to get into the right frame of mind for Villa v Fulham. So until then, peace out.
Not a from a dead ball, but this might be my favourite-ever cross. Beckham barely touches the ball, and yet…
Relatedly, I love the way Declan Rice has improved his crossing in recent years. Of course it requires natural ability to do what he does, but also, it’s a skill that is very easily practised, and I’m not sure why so many excellent players are so poor at it.
I’m sure, though, that we’ll see some variations on it this afternoon, when Newcastle visit Arsenal. Both sides have plenty of big men and players able to find them with dead-ball delivery; reffing that won’t be easy, at all. I’d not be surprised if we see a penalty given for holding or similar.
I would, though, also like to see the near-post corner return. When hit flat and flicked on, it’s almost impossible to defend, but sadly I’m currently struggling to find a Limpar-Bould combination to illustrate the point.
Amorim’s United have become an extremely direct outfit – and it’s not just them. We’re seeing a return to big men up front, long balls, good corners and long throws which, to me at least, makes perfect sense – actually, I’m not sure why these things ever left, because they never stopped working.
Ah, I neglected to post Barney Ronay’s United piece from yesterday. If I’m guessing, I’m guessing it won’t be long.
The last time Hearts and Celtic contested the title:
The last time the Scottish league was won by a non-Old Firm side was in 1984-85 when Alex Ferguson was managing Aberdeen; the last time Hearts won it was 1959-60. They currently lead Celtic by two points, and maybe, just maybe, they can bring it home again.
In Villa’s defence, they’ve been without Andre Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans and Ross Barkley, all of whom should be back soon; if things are still poor in a few weeks, there’ll be pressure, but for now, we can assume they won’t be.
Our first match today is Aston Villa v Fulham. How do we feel about that one? Have the home side turned the corner, or are we ignoring a dicey home win against the 11th-best side in Italy. They’ve still got plenty of good players, of course, but with Ollie Watkins out of form, they’re struggling to threaten never mind score.
What I would say on McT is that how well he’s doing in Italy doesn’t mean United were wrong to sell him. In Serie A, his physicality is a bigger advantage than in the Prem, and at Napoli he’s not competing for a starting slot with Bruno Fernandes, who plays in the same position, The move suited both parties.
But the undoubted game of the day comes in Italy, where Scott McTominay faces Milan.
Obviously that’s a hilarious joke, but what a move it was for him to join Napoli. There’s the football, of course – and in Antonio Conte, he has the perfect manager to platform his strengths and hide his weaknesses – but also culturally. By all accounts he’s absolutely loving his new life, and there might not be a better place on the planet to be revered. I couldn’t be happier for a very nice boy.
In the meantime, though, Barcelona can make hay. They’re the best attacking side in the world by a mile – I don’t think anyone can argue with that, though this is football we’re talking about so you can never be sure – and that’s enough to win almost every week. If they see off Soceidad later today, they go above Madrid at the top of the table.
Julian Alvarez, man, what a player – and what a perfect fit for Atletico. On the other hand, I wonder how long it’ll take Xabi Alonso to get Real where they want to be. I wouldn’t necessarily call him a systems manager, but he is a proper coach, who needs buy-in and time to inculcate his ideas and principles – not easy when you’ve a squad full of superstars and a famously impatient boardroom.
Updated
I mentioned earlier that we’ve some European fun this afternoon, but before we properly look forward to that, let’s look back at last night.
On which point, what a start Sunderland have made to the season – I think they call that a segue. They spent a load of wedge, granted, but turning that into points isn’t easy, though they were handed a friendly start, and if they could win their next two games – Man United away, Wolves at home – they’ll be a long way towards staying up.
On which point:
A brace of own goals, goodness me.
On which point, who on earth is going down? I fear for Burnley, but you can make a decent case for every other team will stay up – including the current bottom three, Wolves, Villa and West Ham.
We should, though, note that Brentford played really well. A Sunderland-supporting mate of mine told me that Keith Andrews’ side are the best his lot have met this season, and they looked very well organised and prepared yesterday. I thought they’d struggle this season and maybe they still will, but so far, they’re in decent shape.
On Sunday Supplement, they’re talking about Man United’s midfield. It really is mind-boggling they didn’t buy anyone for that position in the summer – and that was obvious at the time.
We will, of course, be bringing you updates on all the WSL action and all the goals as they go in, in this very blog.
Also today, we’ve Barcelona v Sociedad and Milan v Napoli; that second match, third v first, should be an absolute belter.
We’ve got some right tasty fixtures in the WSL this afternoon. Manchester City take on London City; Spurs travel to Leicester; Brighton meet Everton; and Liverpool face Manchester United. Those are our midday kick-offs, after which we’ve West Ham v Chelsea. Not bad.
How far can Glasner’s Palace go?
I was at Selhurst a couple of seasons ago when they walloped Man United 4-0, and I was seriously impressed with Daniel Muñoz. I know he’s not the biggest name they’ve had, but he’s a very, very good player.
I actually think Newcastle were pretty fortunate to get a player as good as Isak so early in their PIF era – likewise Bruno Guimarães. Obviously I understand why their fans were disappointed he wanted to leave, but he was crucial in winning them a trophy and his desire to leave should’ve come as no surprise.
Updated
Here’s Jonathan Wilson’s Sunday column:
Our matches today:
Aston Villa v Fulham
Arsenal v Newcastle
I’m looking forward to these. Villa badly need points and will have taken confidence from their win over Bologna in midweek, but they’ll face a different challenge in Marco Silva’s side.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will have taken heart from Liverpool’s defeat, but Newcastle are perhaps the most physical team in the league with one of its best midfields.
Amorim was, though, right not to blame the ref for his side’s abjectivity, but I’ve not a clue how Nathan Collins escaped a red card for fouling Bryan Mbeumo. The rationale is that Mbeumo wasn’t in control of the ball, but he was looking for a one-touch finish, so had no need to be, and had he not been deliberately impeded by a defender making no effort to make a legitimate challenge, he might have scored.
Another manager under pressure is Ruben Amorim. I’m not sure United’s performance yesterday was entirely his fault – the issue wasn’t the system nor its principles, rather a lack of composure and intensity – but ultimately that too is his responsibility.
Incidentally, I absolutely loved Daniel Welbeck’s finish for Brighton’s third goal. His peak years were sadly hampered by injury, but his dotage has been brilliant. He’s still got it physically, while his touch, imagination and intelligence are even better than before.
Across London, meantime, aggravation: Chelsea lost again, their performance in beating PSG to win the Club World Cup a distant memory. On the one hand, a dip after that was inevitable; on the other, it was one game, and there’ve been precious few others of similar standard.
I was out last evening – get me – so I’m only just catching up with Spurs v Wolves and, in particular, Jose Palhinha’s late equaliser.
I also enjoyed this comment from @Xhong_Zina30 under the above link:
As a Spurs fan I’ve really enjoyed Frank’s tactical flexibility, seeing the team drop points in different ways beats dropping points the same way like last season.
And what a celebration from Oliver Glasner. That man knows something.
We've got super Oli Glasner 😅 pic.twitter.com/dgT8ZF34rO
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 27, 2025
Imagine Crystal Palace had the resources to hang on to their best players – they’re second in the table having lost Michael Oliseh and Eberechi Eze. Keep them, and you’re talking about a title challenge.
I’m glad Goals on Sunday is back on Sky. Real talk: I’ve not a clue why it was binned to begin with. Someone with expertise chatting about their unique experience, while reviewing action, what’s not to like?
Preamble
Morning all and welcome to your Sunday football blog. As ever, there’s a good lot of action to enjoy and we’ll be looking forward to it here, from now. Feel free to send in your plans; we’ll be bringing you Villa v Fulham and Arsenal v Newcastle, as well as reflecting on yesterday’s typically ridiculous Premier league action.
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