Will it be Chelsea, Sunderland or, perhaps, Manchester City? Could Arsenal somehow snatch it at the 11th hour? The Women’s Super League trophy seems destined for one of that initial trio with things set to become considerably clearer by Sunday evening.

Emma Hayes’ Chelsea are three points clear of second-placed Sunderland at the top of the table with three games remaining and the FA Cup holders hope to stay on track for their first title by beating Notts County at Staines on Sunday.

On the same day much could hinge on events at Manchester City’s Academy Stadium where Carlton Fairweather’s Sunderland are the visitors. Despite being two points behind the Wearsiders and five in arrears of Chelsea, City have a game in hand and Steph Houghton is not abandoning all hope quite yet.

“We’ve got four games to go and every one of them is at home,” says the City and England captain. “Chelsea are the favourites and it’s in their hands but we’re in with a shout. Like Sunderland we’ll be looking to fight to the end.”

The WSL champions and runners-up will both qualify for the Champions League and Fairweather’s side, promoted only last season, have had an excellent campaign and are desperate to at least cling on to the second-place finish.

Competition though remains fierce with Notts County travelling to Chelsea not only seeking revenge for last month’s FA Cup final defeat at Wembley but believing they are still capable of stealing a European slot at the last minute. Despite being five points short of Sunderland, County’s England goalkeeper Carly Telford believes it is still all to play for.

“Anything can happen in this League,” Telford said. “The twists and turns are unbelievable. The race for the last Champions League place looks like going down to the last day.”

Almost 24 hours before the top three kick off, Liverpool, the champions, host fourth-placed Arsenal in a Saturday evening game featuring two arguably under-achieving sides who have struggled to impose themselves in this season’s new WSL hierarchy. Arsenal – level on points with City but having played a game more – are not quite ready to dismiss their, albeit outside, title chances.

“We’ll keep going until the end,” said Emma Byrne, Arsenal’s goalkeeper. “Mathematically we’re still not out of it, so we’ll keep going until the final day.”

That denouement, on 4 October, sees Sunderland visit Chelsea in what could still prove the championship decider. After topping the table earlier this summer, Sunderland have hit something of a wall and failed to win a game in August.

“We’ve probably been a little bit complacent,” said Fairweather, the former Wimbledon winger and “Crazy Gang” member.

“I’ll put it down to complacency rather than teams finding us out. We haven’t finished off the chances that we’d normally convert. But one or two of the players have got niggles. Meado [Beth Mead, the leading scorer] and Steph Roche [the 2014 Ballon d’Or runner-up] are playing with knocks – it’s ankles, joints and just general over use at the moment.”

Mead, though, remains the WSL top scorer with 11 goals and the 20-year-old is being tipped for a place in Mark Sampson’s England squad for the European Championship qualifier against Estonia in Tallin later this month.

If Mead makes it, she will be the latest in a long line of youngsters developed by Sunderland to feature for the national team. Of the Lionesses squad who won the bronze medal at Canada 2015 five players – Houghton, Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze, Jordan Nobbs and Telford – began their careers on Wearside.

It is a testament to the strength and efficiency of Sunderland’s production line that Fairweather’s radically re-modelled first team is now almost within touching distance of a Champions League adventure.