The Assist: Man City vs. Chelsea, FIFA Champions Cup, and more

There's a massive weekend of women's football ahead

January 30, 2026

We’re sneaking in this months’ edition of the newsletter just before we hit February, when the football calendar really starts to ramp up. Besides our usual big match previews, Girls on the Ball have provided their take on the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup finals that are taking place in London this week. Check that out below.

One look at the WSL table with nine games left to play should give you an indication of just how big Chelsea’s visit to Manchester City’s Academy Stadium is this weekend.

The six-time champion’s latest title defence is on the ropes. If Chelsea were to lose this, City could stretch their lead at the top of the standings to 12 points (albeit Arsenal will have a game in hand as they have a weekend off from their league commitments).

City have lost just one of their last 18 games in all competitions, a run that dates back to their last league meeting against the Blues back in September. Andreé Jeglertz’s side are outgunning everyone - City average 2.8 goals per game in the league, 7.2 shots on target per match, and have generated the highest Expected Goals (35.6 xG).

Perhaps tellingly, though, there remains one team who they just can’t break this season. And that’s a factor that Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor will be looking to exploit on Sunday.

The Blues are the only side to beat City in the WSL and they also got the better of them when they met in the semifinals of the League Cup just last week. Chelsea came away from the Academy with a 1-0 win thanks to a first half strike from Dutch international Wieke Kaptein.

"We’ve earned the right to play the final. That’s one step closer to becoming history makers." Those were the words of Renée Slegers after her Arsenal team saw off Morocco's AS FAR to book their spot in the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup final. 

"Making history" is a phrase that has become synonymous with women's football at this point. It has almost become a cliché as, seemingly weekly, new records are set and achievements completed. On Sunday at the Emirates, more will be made when Arsenal take on Corinthians in the finale of this new competition. Both teams will have the opportunity to write themselves into the annals of the sport as they attempt to be crowned the inaugural intercontinental champions. 

For many outside the everyday machinations of the game, this might be the first time you have heard of this competition. The Women's Champions Cup marks FIFA's first move into women's club football. It is essentially the equivalent of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup on the men's side of the sport - an annual tournament that sees the six confederation champions go head-to-head.

The journey to get to this point has been around seven years in the making with its fair share of obstacles along the way. FIFA President Gianni Infantino first expressed his desire for a Women's Club World Cup back at the World Cup in 2019. Due to the calendar being fixed until last year, the first edition was originally scheduled for this season but was postponed until 2028. As a result, this secondary competition was brought forward from its original start date in 2027. 

With that decision only made 10 months ago, it is safe to say the tournament's introduction has been rushed and, as a result, courted controversy along the way. Scheduling has been one of the biggest points of discussion while potential revenue will have also been impacted. 

Qualification was confirmed following respective continental tournaments in each confederation. Round 1 was played in October as Wuhan Jianga, the AFC Champions league winners, beat Oceania's Auckland United 1-0. They advanced to Round 2 where they were defeated by African champions AS FAR dramatically in extra-time. The Moroccan outfit were joined in this week's semi-finals by European Champions Arsenal, Copa Libertadores winners Corinthians and Gotham FC who had won the CONCACAF W Champions Cup back in May. 

Despite its rather muted introduction, excitement has definitely been building amongst the teams at least now that the tournament is underway. The semi-finals, hosted in London on Wednesday, served an upset at. The fact that both sides are in pre-season made the meeting between the respective Brazilian and USA champions harder to predict. 

In a highly competitive and physical encounter, 40-year-old Gabi Zanotti scored the 83rd minute winner to send her team into the final. One only had to watch the celebrations to see exactly what it meant. Corinthians' fans had brought the carnival atmosphere to Brentford, bouncing throughout accompanied by the constant beat of their drums. The players joined in the party after the final whistle, the hero of the day Zanotti standing aloft to take in their adulation. "They are everywhere," manager Lucas Piccinato said. "In Brazil, they help us a lot. To play here with everyone was a very cool moment for us; it was a victory for everyone."

"Victories are very expressive and important," he continued. "It was a momentous moment. We will now prepare for the final. We want to leave England with the title."

Things were much more comfortable for Arsenal who put six past AS FAR to no response. The women's game in Morocco has advanced significantly in recent years, both in terms of investment and standard of play, but this game illustrated the gap that remains between the two. 

To Sunday then and yet another moment for the history books. This will be the first competitive encounter between an English and Brazilian women's club; two teams packed with quality and who have achieved so much in their respective countries over the years. 

Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey will not be underestimating their opponents as they play for their first silverware of the season. 

"I played with Andressa Alves at Barcelona," she said. "A lot of them are legends from Brazil. We know how dangerous they can be. Everyone thought Gotham would win and it was not that easy. We have to respect that and we have to try our best."

"We are Arsenal. We need to compete and to lift trophies. Now we are in the final at home in front of our fans so it's the perfect scenario for us. We need to work hard to see what we can do against Corinthians and try to go for that trophy."

Slegers too is eagerly awaiting the opportunity of welcoming the São Paulo side and their legion of fans onto Arsenal's home turf.

"I am happy to hear that there is so much passion in Brazil and South America," she said. "I think that says everything about how women’s football is growing everywhere in the world. We are very proud to represent England and Europe in this competition… I know the fans are always behind this as well so there will definitely be two [groups of] very passionate and active fans in the stands and two active and hungry teams on the pitch."

Both sides are not just playing for bragging rights and a new piece of silverware to add to the trophy cabinet. $2.3 million (£1.7 million) will be awarded to the winner, the highest amount of prize money available in the women's game, with the runner-up taking away $1 million (around £725,000). It is a demonstration of the importance FIFA are putting on this tournament, a sum that could make a large difference to whoever will lift the trophy on Sunday evening.

There’s also a big top of the table clash taking place in the top flight of French football this weekend… At least there would be if a particularly complicated penalty, against PSG, hadn’t been handed down by the French governing authorities in late December.

Three of PSG’s league wins have consequently been turned into mandatory 3-0 defeats following the discovery of a discrepancy in the registration documents, for recent PSG signing Canadian international Florianne Jourde.

And while FIFA have acknowledged this as a ‘good faith administrative error’, the French Football Federation see it differently. PSG are suitably enraged, having complied with all due processes, and will be doing all they can to appeal the decision.

As it stands, the off-field penalty has left PSG playing catch up on the field, and they now trail their great domestic rivals Lyon by 14 points.

The Michele Kang-funded giants of French football dropped their first points of the season, drawing 0-0 with Paris FC in the last round of the games, but have otherwise dominated the league again. The four-time defending champions have scored 50 goals in their 13 games, including putting six past PSG when they last met back in September.

This week we launched an all-new enhanced live text commentary that will be a feature for selected fixtures going forward.

If you find yourself following a game via our commentary tab you will now, for the first time in FotMob history, have the opportunity to react to match events as they happen, get involved in live polls, and even have your opinions heard in real time.

We’re publishing fan takes, bringing in expert punditry, and sourcing imagery to give you a sense of the atmosphere. All simple things done really well.

Make sure you get our latest update from your app store and give it a try over the next few weeks.

Here are some key dates for you to look out for.

05 Feb: There’s a Women’s edition of El Clásico in the quarter finals of the Copa de la Reina as Real Madrid host Barcelona.

08 Feb: Arsenal face Manchester City in the next big WSL clash.

11 Feb: The knockout stages of the Champions League get underway and the February edition of this newsletter will be with you just in time for that.

22 Feb: The Round of 16 takes place in England’s FA Cup

01 Mar onwards: The qualification process for the 2027 World Cup gets underway across all federations!

02 Mar: The USWNT host the latest SheBelieves Cup invitational tournament, featuring Argentina, Canada, and Japan as this year’s guest nations.

15 Mar: Manchester United and Chelsea meet in the League Cup final.

Bonus Tip: Click on any of the match dates above, then tap the star in the top right of the match page to automatically add them to the top of your main match feed in the app.