Manchester City hold top spot as Chelsea recover and Manchester United slide in WSL rankings
CBS Sports’ early-season assessment keeps the defending champions first while highlighting Chelsea’s recovery, Manchester United’s poor start and Crystal Palace’s strong opening.
Manchester City remain atop CBS Sports’ power rankings for the opening weeks of the 2026–27 Barclays Women’s Super League, with the defending champions’ attack continuing to set the early benchmark.
CBS Sports says Mary Fowler and Khadija “Bunny” Shaw remain influential in attack, while Lucy Bronze was prominent in a commanding performance. The rankings assess overall performances after each matchweek and are not the official league standings.
Chelsea are credited with an emphatic bounce-back performance, reinforcing CBS Sports’ view that the club has the attacking strength to produce decisive results. Manchester United, by contrast, are criticised for their poor early results and face pressure to make swift adjustments.
Newly promoted Crystal Palace have exceeded expectations, with CBS Sports praising the side’s organisation and competitiveness even when it has not threatened consistently in front of goal. Brighton’s management of matches against promoted teams is also identified as an area requiring improvement.
Arsenal’s scoreless draw featured 30 shots but only three on target, according to the report. Across the league, CBS Sports also highlights individual contributions from Tottenham’s Signe Gaupset, Liverpool’s Fuka Nagano and Brighton’s Kiko Seike.
Charlton Athletic will be without two players in their following match after both were sent off. CBS Sports also says Paramount+ will stream all 183 matches, with additional coverage on CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network.
