WSL: Man City dominate the derby, Arsenal prove their worth against Brighton

Plenty stood out from Manchester City's latest derby win over neighbours Manchester United but what resonated most - in stark contrast to the team in red - was City's conviction.

There was confidence in a clearly-defined game plan and a belief their match-winners, sooner or later, would rise to the big occasion. This was a contest dominated by big hitters and City simply had more of them.

As Jill Roord wheeled away in celebration, having netted her fourth WSL goal in seven appearances, the writing was all over the Old Trafford walls. Mary Earps had denied Bunny Shaw earlier, but was powerless to prevent Roord's pinpoint low strike from nestling in her net.

A minute later, Lauren Hemp sent a delicious curler in off the underside of the crossbar from a tight angle before displaying a customary ear-cup towards the home crowd and suddenly the game had turned on its head. A knee slide followed. City came to milk this.

Shaw added a third before the night was out in a performance that packed poise as well as punch, not least because Gareth Taylor's side entered the game off the back of consecutive defeats. Three losses would almost ensure they were out of the WSL race before the halfway point.

If we were awarding WSL honours on footballing efficiency and entertainment alone, City would have many more league titles than the one they managed back in 2016. But if they can click with greater consistency this term, as they did at the weekend, we may just have a genuine race on our hands.

We thought this might happen. There were three players on the lips of every big European club over the summer and they all played for Manchester United. Two left, one stayed put.

Forward Alessia Russo got her much-anticipated move to north London to join