1) Kirby gets Chelsea up and running

After starting their league campaign with three goalless draws, Chelsea looked more like themselves during their 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion. Emma Hayes has placed a lot of focus on the Champions League this season and Chelsea’s WSL form has suffered as a consequence. They have rotated a lot and have not found it easy to recover from their midweek exertions in Europe. Yet they had a spring in their step after reaching the last 16 of the Champions League with an emphatic win over SFK 2000 Sarajevo and their strength in depth worked to their advantage against Brighton. There was a start for Fran Kirby after her double against Sarajevo and the forward set Chelsea on their way with a magnificent goal midway through the first half. After starting on the bench against Everton last week, Kirby made a huge difference.

• Match report: Sarajevo 0-5 Chelsea

2) City show fight but still might need a fresh outlook

Chelsea will be England’s sole representatives in Monday’s draw for the last 16 of the Champions League after Manchester City crashed out against Atlético Madrid last week. That defeat was a big blow for City and their early exit from Europe has left Nick Cushing under huge pressure. It was a hard draw but questions are already being asked about whether Cushing is the right man to lead City forward. The manager has been tasked with bringing European glory to Manchester and losing to Atlético has done him no favours at all. City have been a leading light in women’s football in England but they are seven years into their business plan and there is a sense that things have gone a little stale. What’s next? They didn’t spend as well as Chelsea in the summer and might feel they need some new ideas. That said, they showed good character to recover from two goals down to win 3-2 at Birmingham City this weekend. Don’t write them off yet.

• Match report: Birmingham 2-3 Manchester City

3) Hope for Birmingham despite their late collapse

Birmingham were desperately disappointed not to hold on against City. They were looking good to maintain their 100% start to the season when Meaghan Sargeant made it 2-0 early in the second half, only for their opponents to stage a fantastic comeback. Still, Birmingham’s performance was a reminder of how well Mark Skinner is doing as manager. He is a fresh, young coach who has brought in players in his image and he is flourishing in spite of his tight budget. Birmingham do not receive the same level of backing as City but they have always been difficult to play against and look like they have added more structure to their game this season.

4) Is this the most competitive season yet?

The fact that only goal difference is keeping Arsenal above Birmingham at the top of the table shows how tight it has been during the first few weeks. This league is already looking more competitive than ever. The smaller sides are refusing to lie down and Birmingham, Bristol City, Reading have all taken points off Arsenal, Chelsea and City. Of course, the question is whether the unpredictability will last. Perhaps it will start to level out soon, allowing the bigger teams to reassert their dominance over the rest of the field. Yet I wonder if the mentality has changed in the league’s first professional year. The underdogs are playing with less fear. You’re training every day and being treated like a professional. It makes a difference and I wonder if some sides have looked at how Everton struggled to make that transition after becoming professional last season. It took Everton six months to adjust to the greater intensity and tempo of training. It was knackering for six months. Then came the physical rewards. Have teams learned from that and tweaked their workload accordingly? You can never underestimate the benefit of a good pre-season.

• The time is right for a WSL revolution

5) West Ham earn their first win

West Ham have hit the ground running in their first ever WSL season. After running Arsenal close last week, they earned their first ever win at this level thanks to Rosie Kmita’s late goal against Yeovil Town and look like they are going to have a good season. Everyone was waiting to see how good West Ham were going to be – well, they are firing on all cylinders at the moment and much of that is down to hiring Matt Beard as manager. He has so much experience. He won the WSL with Liverpool, he’s a big West Ham fan and he gained valuable experience during his time in the US. He knows where to look and has made some top signings. West Ham mean business.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leanne Kiernan (second right) celebrates scoring with West Ham captain Gilly Flaherty during their win over Yeovil. Photograph: Arfa Griffiths/West Ham United via Getty Images

• How Matt Beard turned West Ham’s fortunes around

• Rachel Brown-Finnis is an analyst for BT Sport, which has coverage of FA Women’s Super League all season. Watch Chelsea v Arsenal on BT Sport 1 on 14 October. BT Sport has live coverage of the Lionesses v Brazil (6 Oct) and Australia (9 Oct).