WSL Matchday Five: Japan's Internationals Everywhere You Look

Miyazawa meets Nagano: two former Mynavi Sendai team-mates reunite at Leigh Sports Village

• Hinata Miyazawa of Manchester United and Fuka Nagano of Liverpool came up at the same club, Mynavi Sendai, and now line up together for Japan. Miyazawa won the Golden Boot at the 2023 World Cup with her directness and finishing; Nagano is the metronome who sets Liverpool's rhythm with her passing and reading of the game. Watching them operate on opposite sides of the same midfield battle is reason enough to tune in.
• Ceri Holland returns to familiar surroundings. The Wales midfielder came to Liverpool after a spell at Manchester United, and her ability to knit passes together in central areas will be tested against Ella Toone and Julia Zigiotti Olme in a contest that should decide the tempo.
• There is a captains' duel too. Maya Le Tissier, the Guernsey-born defender handed the United armband at a young age, faces Grace Fisk, the former West Ham centre-back who leads Liverpool's back line. Both like to start attacks from deep, so the question is who cuts off the supply to strikers such as Lea Schüller and Anna Jøsendal first.

Kumagai and Ueki host Chelsea in a London tie featuring five Japanese internationals

• West Ham field three Japan internationals in Saki Kumagai, Riko Ueki and Yu Endo. Kumagai scored the winning penalty in the 2011 World Cup final and collected Champions League medals at Lyon; Endo arrived after fifteen years at Urawa Reds and delivers from wide areas; Ueki is the penalty-box poacher. How much they can unsettle Chelsea's defence is the central question.
• Chelsea have Japanese representation of their own. Maika Hamano struck the goal that settled the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup final, while Mashin Matsukubo joined from the North Carolina Courage after being named the NWSL's midfielder of the year. Team-mates in the Japan setup, they line up as opponents here.
• Chelsea's spine remains formidable, with Keira Walsh dictating tempo after her Barcelona years and Naomi Girma, signed for a world-record fee, sweeping up behind. West Ham counter with Katie Zelem, the former Manchester United captain, and Australia skipper Katrina Gorry in midfield, while Rita Guarino and Sonia Bompastor go head to head on the touchline.

Six Japanese players at Goodison Park as promoted Birmingham come to Merseyside

• Everton now have four Japanese players on their books: centre-back Rion Ishikawa, who left Urawa Reds for her first move abroad; ball-winning midfielder Honoka Hayashi; left-back Hikaru Kitagawa, who came via BK Häcken in Sweden; and Yuka Momiki, who arrived from Leicester as the club's fourth Japanese signing. No other WSL squad is quite like it.
• Birmingham answer with Suzu Amano and Asato Miyagawa, former Hammarby team-mates reunited after Amano's permanent move from Växjö. Amy Merricks' side came up as WSL2 champions and have reshaped the squad with the likes of teenage France-schooled striker Chancelle Effa Effa from Le Havre and Canada defender Marie Levasseur.
• There is plenty of crossover between the two clubs. Birmingham's Veatriki Sarri and Millie Turner have both worn Everton colours, while Everton's Ruby Mace and Hannah Silcock have spent time at Birmingham. The visitors will not be short of inside knowledge.

Four Japan internationals at City as Arsenal arrive full of returning faces

• Manchester City carry four Japanese internationals: Yui Hasegawa, Aoba Fujino, Risa Shimizu and Ayaka Yamashita. Hasegawa, Japan's captain, controls matches quietly from the base of midfield with her positioning and passing, and her tug-of-war with Kim Little and Kyra Cooney-Cross could define the afternoon. Fujino, a product of the Beleza academy, offers the direct running from the left.
• Reunions run in both directions. Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Laura Wienroither all spent time at Arsenal before moving to City, while Georgia Stanway and Chloe Kelly took the opposite path. Stanway only returned to the WSL this summer after four years at Bayern Munich, which makes her trip to the Joie Stadium especially pointed.
• The attacking talent on show is as good as the league offers. City can call on Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp and Miedema, while Arsenal lean on Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey. How Andrée Jeglertz and Renée Slegers set those pieces against each other is the tactical question of the round, in a tie that closes out Sunday's programme.