From Arsenal to Yeovil, we run through the prospects for each of the top division’s 11 sides as the WSL season kicks off

Arsenal

Joe Montemurro, Arsenal’s charismatic Australian manager, hopes to end his first full season in charge by finishing above Chelsea and Manchester City at the top. Last spring’s League Cup winners should be enhanced by the gifted Scotland midfielder Kim Little’s recovery from a serious knee injury. They possess significant talent in England midfielder Jordan Nobbs and the fast-maturing striker Beth Mead and can only benefit from the recruitment of the tempo-controlling Switzerland midfielder Lia Walti from Turbine Potsdam. Can they really better last season’s third-place finish, though?

Key player Jordan Nobbs

Birmingham

Marc Skinner’s side play an attractive, possession game and have the advantage of being able to deploy the England striker Ellen White at centre‑forward. Skinner looks to have made a good signing in Lucy Staniforth, a midfielder who has just broken into the England squad. Further forward, the England Under-20s forward Charlie Wellings can trouble the best defences. Despite key players suffering injuries and illness, Birmingham finished fifth last season but they will miss Jess Carter, a talented defender snapped up by Chelsea.

Key player Ellen White

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Brighton

Hope Powell’s side finished runners‑up in the second tier last season behind Doncaster Belles but were awarded a top-flight licence in the restructured WSL by the FA. Now Powell, a former England coach, must prove they deserve it. Much may hinge on Ini Umotong, a prolific Nigerian striker who averaged a goal every other game last season, reprising that form at the highest level. She will be supported by Ellie Brazil, daughter of Alan and newly arrived from Fiorentina. Powell possesses some bright young prospects, including Chloe Peplow, but has added useful experience in the shape of the imposing former Sunderland defender Victoria Williams and Wales’s former Yeovil utility player Kayleigh Green.

Key player Ini Umotong

Bristol City

Bristol finished a modest eighth but much has changed during the summer. Willie Kirk, the former manager, has left to assist Casey Stoney at Manchester United and Tanya Oxtoby is now in charge. The 36-year-old Australian holds an MA in sports psychology and arrives from Birmingham where, as Marc Skinner’s assistant, she concentrated on out‑of‑possession coaching. Oxtoby has refreshed the squad, making some interesting signings, most notably the Wales left-back Gemma Evans, previously of Yeovil, the New Zealand striker Katie Rood, who has joined following a frustrating season at Juventus, and Scotland’s former Hibernian midfielder Lucy Graham.

Key player Loren Dykes

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Magdalena Eriksson of Chelsea. Photograph: Charlotte Wilson for FA/Rex/Shutterstock

Chelsea

Can last season’s champions and FA Cup winners repeat that feat while also enjoying Champions League success? Emma Hayes is combining management with motherhood after giving birth to a son in May, the inspirational captain Katie Chapman has retired and Claire Rafferty, Eni Aluko and Gilly Flaherty have moved on. While much will once again depend on Fran Kirby’s goals and brilliance at playing between the lines, Jess Carter looks a good defensive signing from Birmingham. Ditto Ali Riley, the New Zealand captain, acquired from Rosengard in Sweden. Hayes’s team appear formidably strong in every area of the pitch.

Key player Fran Kirby

Everton

Andy Spence is hoping for a significant improvement from his team following last season’s disappointing ninth place. Inessa Kaagman, a Dutch midfielder with an eye for goal, should prove a dynamic acquisition from Ajax and will play alongside her compatriot Dominique Bruinenberg, recruited from Sunderland, in a revamped engine room. The key defender is Gabby George, a cousin of Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard, who last year made history by becoming Everton’s first female player to turn fully professional. She will aim to continue her progress and secure a place in England’s World Cup squad.

Key player Gabby George

Liverpool

Neil Redfearn, Liverpool’s new manager, has arguably the best CV in the domestic women’s game. The first former coach of a Football League club to work in the WSL, he managed Leeds and Rotherham in the Championship and played Premier League football for Barnsley, Charlton and Bradford. Last season the 53‑year‑old, who has appointed the former England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland to his coaching staff, led Doncaster Belles to the second tier title but he has inherited a club in turmoil. Unhappiness under Scott Rogers prompted a summer exodus of 12 of the squad who finished sixth, with several defecting to Casey Stoney’s Manchester United. Redfearn has made 10 signings, including the vastly experienced defender and former Doncaster captain Leandra Little.

Key player Jess Clarke

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Manchester City

Nick Cushing’s passing, technically assuredside finished second and narrowly missed out on all the other big prizes last season and are keen to atone for that unscheduled lack of silverware. While the striker Lauren Hemp, the PFA young player of the year, is an exciting acquisition from Bristol City, the midfielder Izzy Christiansen’s departure for Lyon – where she joins her much-missed former City teammate Lucy Bronze – is a blow. A squad packed with England internationals are embellished by two new forwards: Canada’s Janine Beckie, signed from Sky Blue FC, and Belgium’s Tessa Wullaert, previously of Wolfsburg. With so many players World Cup-bound next summer, Cushing must somehow find a way to avoid the fatigue that afflicted his England contingent so badly last spring.

Key player Jill Scott

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manchester City’s Jill Scott. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

Reading

Kelly Chambers led her team to a deserved fourth place in May and that standing reflects the presence of some very good and extremely experienced players, including Jo Potter, Jade Moore, Natasha Harding and the wonderful Fara Williams. There is also emerging talent, most notably the forward Lauren Bruton, who has just broken into Phil Neville’s England squad. While the loss of the Lionesses’ goalkeeper Mary Earps to Wolfsburg was regrettable, Chambers has replaced her with the excellent Rachael Laws from Sunderland, while the acquisition of the former Chelsea winger Gemma Davison appears astute. Another strong campaign surely beckons for a team well capable of ruffling the feathers of the elite.

Key player Jo Potter

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West Ham

Catapulted from the third tier of the English game to the top flight after the FA controversially awarded them a licence, ambitious West Ham have hired a leading coach in Matt Beard. Most recently in charge of the now defunct Boston Breakers in the United States, Beard won two WSL titles during a stint at Liverpool and has recruited 15 new players this summer, including the experienced former Chelsea defenders Claire Rafferty and Gilly Flaherty and the former Manchester City striker Jane Ross. It never quite worked out for the Scotland star at City but Ross could prove pivotal for West Ham. Like Liverpool, though, this team will take time to gel.

Key player Jane Ross

Yeovil

Bottom-place Yeovil collected only two league points and scored just two goals - during a late season renaissance - last season but somehow persuaded the FA to offer them a place in the revamped WSL. Unusually, they are a self-sustaining club, receiving no help from the men’s team they share a name with, and it took a crowdfunding initiative to raise sufficient money to win that FA licence. With the new rules precluding the former manager Jamie Sherwood combining coaching with a teaching job, the highly regarded Lee Burch has been hired from Millwall Lionesses. Burch has reshuffled the squad but, crucially, Megan Walsh, a damage-limiting hero in goal last season, remains.

Key player Megan Walsh