Women's Super League 2023-24 fixtures released: Champions Chelsea welcome Spurs on opening day as Arsenal host Liverpool, Man Utd travel to Aston Villa & Man City face West Ham

• WSL fixtures for 2023-24 released
• Season begins on October 1
• Chelsea start title defence vs Spurs

WHAT HAPPENED? The fixtures were announced on Tuesday, with the first round of games all to be played on October 1. Like Chelsea, Arsenal will also use the club's main stadium by welcoming Liverpool to the Emirates on the opening weekend, while Villa Park is in for an exciting clash between Aston Villa and Manchester United, both of whom achieved their best-ever WSL finishes last season.

Elsewhere, Manchester City will travel to London to take on West Ham, Everton and Brighton meet on Merseyside and newly-promoted Bristol City will host Leicester at Ashton Gate. There are two huge clashes between the 'big four' in the second round of games, too, as Man Utd host Arsenal and Chelsea visit Man City on October 8.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: In terms of key dates across the rest of the season, the weekend of February 17 and 18 will be a big one as it will see Arsenal welcome Man Utd while Chelsea also play host to Man City. The same goes for March 23 and 24, as two big rivalries take centre stage in Everton vs Liverpool and Man City vs Man Utd. Liverpool host their city rivals in the first half of the season, on October 15, while Man Utd welcome theirs on November 19.

The north London derby is another fixture to keep an eye out for. Spurs host the first instalment on December 17 with Arsenal's turn coming on March 3.

As for the rest of those huge games between the 'big four', the Gunners' other home games against their rivals at the top are on November 5, when they welcome Man City, and December 10, when Chelsea visit. The Blues host Man Utd on January 21 and Arsenal on March 17, Man City play Arsenal in the north west on May 5 and Man Utd will welcome Chelsea on May 18, which is the final day of the season.

Chelsea won their fourth successive title last term, with Man Utd and Arsenal finishing in the Champions League places alongside the Blues. Man City, though, missed out on Europe and will be keen to make amends in the coming campaign.

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WHAT NEXT? With the 2023 Women's World Cup to get underway on July 20, most of the WSL's biggest stars are currently in Australia and New Zealand, hoping to deliver success for their countries before returning to England for the new domestic season.