Manchester City will be hoping to return to winning ways in the Women's Super League when they host Leicester City on Friday to kick off the weekend's action

Across the city, Manchester United will be looking to close the gap on their rivals when they take on London City Lionesses two days later.

Liverpool will be aiming to continue their improved form of late during their trip to Chelsea, who celebrated head coach Sonia Bompastor's new contract with a derby win over Tottenham.

Spurs, meanwhile, will be hoping to get their European push back on track when they face Aston Villa, while Everton and West Ham go head-to-head at Goodison Park.

Arsenal's visit to Brighton rounds off the weekend, with the Gunners high on confidence after their win over leaders Man City last time out.

Here’s how the Opta supercomputer predicts MD16 of the WSL will unfold.

MANCHESTER CITY V LEICESTER CITY

Man City's defeat to Arsenal last weekend was their first loss in the league since the opening day (2-1 Chelsea), but there is no reason for the WSL leaders to panic.

0.39 - Manchester City's xG in today's defeat at Arsenal (0.39) was their lowest in a @BarclaysWSL match since October 2019, which was also in a defeat against the Gunners (0.28). Quieted. #OptaOnWSL pic.twitter.com/qPHcroOye3

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 8, 2026

Still holding an eight-point lead over second-place Man United, City are the Opta supercomputers' favourites to win the league at 94.1%.

They have also been backed to defeat Leicester, winning 87.8% of the pre-match simulations to the Foxes' 4.3%, while 7.9% of them ended as a draw.

And that comes as no surprise, with Man City winning each of their eight WSL home games so far in the 2025-26 season; only Chelsea, who won all 11 of their home matches in the 2022-23 season, have a better winning start on home soil in a campaign.

Man City have also won each of their nine WSL meetings with Leicester, and in the reverse fixture this season, became the first team in the competition’s history to win eight games in a row against an opponent without conceding.

There is not much hope for Leicester, who remain on the worst-ever winless run away from home in the WSL, going 22 games without victory since beating Everton 1-0 in January 2024 (D7 L15).

MANCHESTER UNITED V LONDON CITY LIONESSES

Man United are the only team in WSL history to boast a 100%-win rate in games against newly-promoted opposition, winning each of their 13 matches by an aggregate score of 38-3, and the Opta supercomputer has backed them to continue that run.

The Red Devils have been given a 75.8% chance of victory at Progress with Unity Stadium, with the Lionesses given a 9.9% probability of a win and 14.3% of snatching a draw.

However, the Lionesses have won three of their eight WSL away games (D1 L4), as many as the four promoted teams managed collectively between the 2021-22 and 2024-25 seasons (W3 D10 L31); the only promoted side to pick up more away victories in a single campaign are West Ham United in 2018-19 (five).

Nevertheless, Man United have scored 33 goals in the WSL this season, fewer than only league leaders Man City (41).

The Red Devils have posted a shot conversion rate of 14.1% in the league this term (33/234), their second-highest figure across a single top-flight season behind only 2022-23 (15.8%).  

Melvine Malard has been directly involved in eight of those goals (five goals, three assists), with this already more contributions than she managed in both of her two previous campaigns in the competition (six in both 2023-24 and 2024-25).

CHELSEA V LIVERPOOL

Liverpool have won two of their last three WSL games (L1), more than they managed across their previous 18 (W1 D5 L12), and their 4-1 win over Aston Villa on MD15 was their biggest in the league since May 2024 versus Leicester (4-0).   

However, the Reds won just 5.3% of the Opta supercomputer's pre-match simulations against the reigning champions, who have been given a win probability of 85.4%, and secured a draw on 9.3% of occasions.

After defeats to Arsenal and Man City, Chelsea got back in the win column with a 2-0 victory over Spurs as Alyssa Thompson got on the scoresheet again.

Since MD8 in November, only Khadija Shaw (10) has scored more WSL goals than Thompson (six), with no player scoring in more different games than the American in that period (six – level with Shaw and Shekiera Martinez).

Each of Chelsea's last seven WSL victories have being accompanied by a clean sheet, with the Blues recording more shutouts than any other team in 2025-26 (seven).

Chelsea lost their first WSL home game against Liverpool in August 2011 (0-1), but are unbeaten in each of the 11 since (W9 D2), winning the last eight in a row.  

ASTON VILLA V TOTTENHAM

Villa have only won one of their last four WSL home games against Spurs (D1 L2), with both teams taking a lead in a 2-2 draw in this fixture last season.

The north London outfit beat Villa 2-1 in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign and could be the first team to complete a league double in this matchup in the WSL.

Villa have also lost three of their four WSL games in 2026 (W1), only one fewer defeat than across their final 16 league matches of 2025 (W8 D4 L4), but the Opta supercomputer predicts a tight encounter at Villa Park.

The model hands Villa a 41.4% chance of victory to Spurs' 31.9%, while 26.7% of the simulations ended as a draw.

Spurs have won three of their seven away matches in the league this season (D1 L3), only achieving more victories on the road in a WSL campaign twice before: four in both 2021-22 and 2023-24.

EVERTON V WEST HAM

Both sides enter this match in winning form, with Everton defeating the Lionesses and Villa in their last two games, while West Ham beat Brighton 3-2 last time out.

81 - West Ham's 3-2 victory over Brighton was the latest a team has ever trailed by 2+ goals and gone on to win a @BarclaysWSL match (behind up to 81st minute). Spirit. #OptaOnWSL pic.twitter.com/h0HtBOkpO1

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 8, 2026

Everton are unbeaten in each of their last five WSL home games against West Ham (W3 D2), since a 2-1 loss in October 2018 under Andy Spence.

However, the Hammers won the reverse fixture 3-1 in November, and could now both complete a double and win three in a row versus the Toffees in the WSL for the very first time. 

Martinez has also been in fine form for West Ham. She has scored in three consecutive WSL appearances for the second time this season, the only player to have two separate runs of three or more in 2025-26.

But the Opta supercomputer has backed Everton as favourites for this encounter, giving them a 51.3% chance of victory, to West Ham's 23.9% and a 24.8% probability of a draw.

Should the Toffees take the points, then perhaps their relegation fears would be over.

BRIGHTON V ARSENAL

After going unbeaten against the WSL's top three across their last three matches (wins over Man City and Chelsea, draw against Man United), Arsenal are 10 points off top spot with a game in hand.

And though Renee Slegers' side will have a crucial Women's Champions League match during the week, their record against Brighton speaks for itself.

Of teams to face an opponent 15 or more times in the WSL, Arsenal’s win rate of 93% against Brighton is the most superior (P15 W14 L1).

The Seagulls did, however, win this exact fixture 4-2 last season, but had not scored in their six prior home games against the Gunners.

Arsenal have lost the fewest games of any side in the WSL this season (one), with the Gunners only losing fewer matches after 14 games in one of their 14 previous campaigns in the competition (0 in 2012).

The Opta supercomputer has given Arsenal a 69.7% chance of victory at Broadfield Stadium, while Brighton have a 16.8% probability of clinching a draw and 13.5% chance of winning all three points.