London City Lionesses host Manchester United on Friday night (19:00 BST) to kick-off the 2026-27 season in the Women's Super League.

With more teams competing and high-profile signings in the transfer window, there will be plenty to keep across throughout the season as domestic double champions Manchester City attempt to fend off rivals and retain their title.

Here is all you need to know about the new campaign.

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London City Lionesses have made the most headlines with their summer signings – namely two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas on a free transfer.

The midfielder arrives in Bromley after 14 years at Barcelona, winning 38 trophies including 10 league titles.

London City have also added Putellas' former Barcelona team-mate Mapi Leon, and former England goalkeeper Mary Earps from Paris St-Germain.

On the other side of London, Arsenal have brought in double Euros-winning England midfielder Georgia Stanway from Bayern Munich.

Meanwhile England forward Beth Mead departed the Gunners on a free transfer to head north to reigning champions Manchester City.

And Liverpool signed Women's Eredivisie player of the season, Mao Itamura, from Feyenoord.

There is a big change this season as the league expands from 12 to 14 teams.

Birmingham City, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic have been promoted from WSL 2, as Leicester City made the journey in the opposite direction.

Defending champions Manchester City will hope to build on their first league title in a decade – here is how the other clubs fared last season.

Full list of WSL teams for 2026-27:

Birmingham City

Brighton & Hove Albion

Charlton Athletic

London City Lionesses

Manchester City

Manchester United

Tottenham Hotspur

West Ham United

Each team will play 26 matches across the season, as the number of fixtures increases to 182 in the newly-expanded league.

The WSL calendar runs from Friday, 4 September until Saturday, 22 May 2027, with a winter break taking place from 21 December to 10 January.

The Women's FA Cup final will be held on Saturday,15 May 2027.

You can find every date that should be in your calendar for league, cup and European fixtures here.

The BBC will broadcast four more 2026-27 WSL matches than last season, with 25 games being shown across BBC TV and iPlayer, and new reaction segment The Women's Football Fallout following every live BBC game.

The first match to be shown free-to-air by the BBC is Chelsea v Aston Villa on Saturday, 5 September (12:30 BST).

The dedicated BBC Women's Football YouTube channel, external will also feature highlights and exclusive interviews and features.

Sky Sports will show the majority of WSL matches, and selected games will also be available to stream for free on the WSL YouTube channel.

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