We're under way in Birmingham, Crawley, and Dagenham.

Sue Smith
Former Leeds and England forward on BBC Radio 5 Live

You can see the quality of the individual London City players and they're getting better game by game.

When Manchester City went 2-1 up you just thought they had the know-how to see out the game. We know that's what they can do.

Two of the bottom five meet at Victoria Road, Dagenham.

Hosts West Ham sit in 12th place on six points after seven matches and lost their last Women's Super League match 3-0 at Brighton.

Liverpool drew 2-2 against London City Lionesses at St Helens Stadium in their last league game to extend their winless streak to three, putting them in 10th place on eight points through seven matches.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs boss Martin Ho says his side are on their way towards being able to compete with the sides at the top of the league.

Following defeats by Arsenal and Chelsea, they managed to get back to winning ways in midweek when they beat Bristol City 6-1 in the Players Cup.

He said that winning gives "the opportunity to build confidence".

"We’re closer than we’ve ever been in terms of where we’re going, in terms of being competitive against these teams [like Arsenal and Chelsea]," Ho said in his pre-match news conference. "I think it’s only a matter of time until we start to turn those results."

"We want to prove a point, we want to score goals, we want to win games. We can probably go another two levels again with the confidence we have."

London City Lionesses had just one goal to show for their 24 shots, 52 touches in the opposition's box and an xG of 3.10.

Manchester City scored twice from seven shots, 13 touches in the hosts' box and an xG of 1.93.

Sue Smith
Former Leeds and England forward on BBC Radio 5 Live

They have 100% proved they can compete. They were the better side for large part of the game. They will feel so disappointed they've not got anything from this game.

You wondered if they could keep it going and they did. They just couldn't find that equaliser.

Andree Jeglertz punched the air. He knows he's been in a really tough game.

Manchester City will be delighted with the result but I feel for London City.

Birmingham City

Birmingham City got their WSL campaign up and running last weekend, beating Charlton 1-0 for their first top-flight win for 1,631 days.

Amy Merricks' side are now hoping to end another lengthy drought by winning back-to-back WSL matches for the first time since October 2020.

The good news for Birmingham is they are unbeaten at home in the league this season, with two draws and one win from three matches, and coming up against an out-of-form Tottenham. Martin Ho's side sat second after four matches but have lost each of their past three league outings, scoring just four goals and conceding 14.

The bad news - Birmingham have never beaten Tottenham in the WSL, losing three and drawing one.

"Tottenham are a good side. We played them in pre-season and it was quite a goal-fest [Tottenham won 5-3]. It will be a good game. This game for us is all about character - I want to see courage in the way we play and address them defensively, and also with the ball as well," said Merricks.

Image source, Getty Images

It's the Seagulls against the Eagles on the south coast, with Brighton hosting Crystal Palace.

After a slow start to the season, Brighton have two wins in their past three WSL matches, most recently a 3-0 win over West Ham last Saturday. A third successive home league win for Arturo Ruiz's side would equal a club-record streak from 2021.

Crystal Palace, by contrast, haven't won since beating Everton on the opening weekend of the season, drawing three - all away from home - and losing three. They haven't won an away fixture in the top flight since October 2024.

Manchester City were ruthless with their few chances. London City Lionesses weren't.

That was the difference today and the champions take all three points.

And that's it. Aston Villa get a famous draw.

Leah Williamson chips in a cross to the back post but there's too much sauce on it. Out of play. Goal kick Villa.

That might be enough.

London City Lionesses have a corner. They play it short and it never finds a way into the box.

Come on, put it in the mixer!

Superb block from Mathilde Harviken denies Arsenal's Ona Batlle after a cut-back falls nicely for the attacking full-back.

It's desperate defending for Villa. Two minutes to go.

There are three changes to the Charlton side who lost against fellow newly-promoted side Birmingham City last time out.

Anna Kouivunen, Grace Johnston and Lucia Lobato start with Sophie Whitehouse and Katie Lockwood dropping to the bench.

Elisha N'Dow is not in the squad.

Charlton XI: Koivunen, Neville, Johnston, Skeels, Mason, Korhonen, van Egmond, Flannery, Hutton, Lobato, Davidson.

Subs: Whitehouse, Waldie, Robe, Humphrey, Keeney, Nelson-Iye, Fitzgerald, Lockwood, Azzard.

Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor makes seven alterations to the Chelsea side who beat Roma in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Hannah Hampton, Veerle Buurman, Sandy Baltimore and Lauren James are the four players who retain their place in the side.

Ellie Carpenter, Katie McCabe, Keira Walsh and Melvine Malard are among the players who start.

Lexi Potter misses out with a knee issue sustained in midweek.

Chelsea XI: Hampton, Carpenter, Bjorn, Buurman, McCabe, Nusken, Walsh, Matsukubo, James, Baltimore, Malard.

Subs: Peng, Bronze, Buchanan, Cuthbert, Dragoni, Kaptein, Hamano, Thompson, Beever-Jones.

Delphine Cascarino clips a ball into the six-yard box, but Ayaka Yamashita races rapidly off her line and collects before Grace Geyoro can get a shot away.

Surely....no!

Arsenal's Georgia Stanway and Kim Little perform some fantastic triangles but, in the box, Stanway cuts a strike just wide.

Janni Thompson whips a ball into the Manchester City box, but it floats all the way out for a goal-kick. It just hasn't been London City's day in front of goal.

Five minutes added on.

Ahh, was that the moment? Kim Little delivers an Arsenal corner and Villa keeper Akane Okuma gets caught out a little, coming and failing to get the ball which drops onto the head of Alessia Russo, but Arsenal's goalscorer nods wide!

Sue Smith
Former Leeds and England forward on BBC Radio 5 Live

London City are a team you want to go and watch because of the football they play. It's no wonder the attendances keep growing. You're watching world class players playing some brilliant football.