What's on the line as WSL reaches business end?

Manchester City's stumble at Brighton, coupled with Arsenal's big win over Leicester City this week,has left the door slightly ajar in the Women's Super League title race.

After leading for so long, are City really about to be thwarted at the finish line again?

Elsewhere, the battles to qualify for the Champions League, avoid relegation and win promotion could all go down to the final kick of the 2025-26 season.

BBC Sport explores how it looks with just a handful of games left.

Despite their slip at Brighton, Manchester City remain heavy favourites to win the title.

They sit on 49 points with two matches left. If they win both, they are guaranteed to finish top. Four points might still be enough, but Arsenal's 7-0 victory over Leicester trimmed the goal difference gap to six.

City fans will be sweating at the thought of being pipped to the trophy as they yearn for an end to their decade-long wait.

Losing out to Chelsea by two points in 2020-21 and on goal difference in 2023-24 are recent reminders of close calls with glory.

For the chasing Gunners, now with two games in hand, the task is simple: win all of their remaining matches to exert maximum pressure.

If they manage that, they will reach 53 points, which would still only be enough to sneak the title if City were to falter.

The race to secure qualification for next season's Champions League is going right down to the wire.

Manchester City are already in and only need a single point to seal a top-two spot and automatic qualification. So, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are left fighting for the other two places.

Second placed Chelsea (43 points) increased their chances with a huge 4-1 win at Everton on Sunday.

That win, coupled with a 0-0 draw at Tottenham for Manchester United (39 points), means that the Blues' cushion stands at four points with two to play, with the teams scheduled to play against one another on the final day.

Arsenal are on 41 points and still have four games left to play. They need five points to guarantee a return to the Champions League.

For this season only, the team finishing bottom will have the redemption of a relegation play-off because the WSL is expanding from 12 to 14 teams for the 2026-27 season.

Leicester's hammering by Arsenal on Wednesday confirmed they would end up bottom of the table.

They will face thethird-best team from WSL 2 in a winner-takes-all game for a place in next season's top flight.

That WSL expansion offers a prime opportunity for teams from the second division to win promotion.

Yet last weekend was one of slip-ups among the WSL 2 hopefuls as pressure intensified.

Charlton Athletic (42 points) became the new leaders despite stumbling to a 2-2 draw at mid table Southampton.

Birmingham City (41 points) dropped to second after a shock 3-0 home loss to Ipswich Town.

The big winners were Crystal Palace (also on 41 points), who remain in the promotion play-off place on goal difference, but know they can secure promotion with a win against already relegated Portsmouth on Saturday (2 May, 15:00 BST).

That is because Birmingham and Charlton play each other at The Valley, so at least one will drop points.

"We're right on track and we have everything going for us in terms of the opportunity so we need to do the work," said Birmingham manager Amy Merricks.

"I completely believe in this group. Let's give it everything. I don't think there needs to be inspirational messages. It's literally fighting for what we want.

"Charlton are a good side and full credit to Karen [Hills] and the work she's done this season. I think she's an exceptional manager. But effectively, we're going to war this weekend."

Follow the final twists of the WSL season with Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie on the Women's Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women's Super League and beyond on the Women's Football Weekly feed