WSL - the big kick-off: Arsenal bank on their firepower to end Chelsea's six-year stranglehold | OneFootball

Sonia Bompastor’s treble-winners are the team to beat, but Gunners are full of confidence after Champions League glory

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Bompastor’s first year was a remarkable one, with Chelsea unbeaten domestically as they won the treble.

Chelsea will be the team to beat in this year’s Women’s Super League, which kicks off on Friday night when they host Manchester City, and Bompastor has her sights firmly set on that - not last season’s exploits.

“We stayed unbeaten in the domestic competitions, which was fabulous and maybe will never happen again.

“That’s in the past, and now we are focusing on the new season. We need to make sure that we keep the same winning mentality.”

Arsenal’s Katie McCabe and head coach Renee Slegers celebrate beating Barcelona to win the Champions League

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Chasing Chelsea down are Arsenal, who are full of confidence after lifting the Champions League last season.

Head coach Renee Slegers was the mastermind behind that, taking charge of the side in the middle of the campaign and somehow turning them into European champions.

Now, the Gunners are hungry for domestic glory. They have not won the WSL since 2019, with Chelsea crowned champions six times in a row.

Arsenal have backed Slegers this summer as she prepares for her first full season in charge, bringing in Chloe Kelly on a permanent deal after a successful loan from Manchester City and breaking the £1million barrier to sign Olivia Smith from Liverpool.

Their firepower at the top of the pitch is now, arguably, the best in the WSL - so much so that Euro 2025 star Michelle Aygemang has been allowed to join Brighton on loan once again, and boosted on the opening day of the campaign by England star Alessia Russo - last season’s Golden Boot winner and Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year- signing a new long-term contract at the club.

The two Manchester clubs will look to rival Arsenal and Chelsea for the title, and a swap deal between them was the most intriguing move of a busy transfer window.

Grace Clinton has left Manchester United to join City, with her England team-mate Jess Park going in the other direction.

France midfielder Grace Geyoro signed for newly promoted London City Lionesses in a world-record £1.4m deal

Getty Images

Perhaps the most eye-catching moves, however, came from London City Lionesses - who completed a £1.4million world-record deal for Paris-Saint Germain midfielder Grace Geyoro.

The club also signed teenage Spain international Lucia Corrales after paying the release clause in her Barcelona contract, believed to be worth around £430,000, to make it 16 new signings this summer.

The captain of the newly-promoted side, Kosovare Asllani, says they are aiming for a top-four finish, and they have been backed heavily by American businesswoman Michele Kang following her takeover 18 months ago.

Dutch midfielder Danielle van de Donk, and England duo Katie Zelem and Nikita Parris, have all joined this summer, as has Italy centre-back Elena Linari - who was part of the Euro 2025 Team of the Tournament.

"We are a brand new team, building from scratch,” Asllani told the BBC this week. “We are building the house and we are close to building the roof. We are not at the level of Arsenal or Chelsea — yet.”

The London City Lionesses have bold ambitions, but data giants Opta still have them as third-favourites to be relegated, with only Leicester City and West Ham more likely to drop down to the Championship.

Asllani and her team-mates are ready to prove them wrong, though, and shake up the WSL.