Big stadiums v small stadiums - which is better?

Women's Super League clubs face a trade-off: playing in large men's stadiums risks empty seats and poor atmosphere, while smaller grounds offer intimacy but inferior facilities.

The Women's Super League is grappling with a fundamental question about where to play matches. Some clubs, including Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, use their men's sides' large grounds, but attendance figures often leave vast empty sections.

Chelsea drew fewer than 6,000 fans for their home match against Everton last week, while Arsenal's best-attended league game this season saw 29,853 spectators in a half-empty Emirates.

Other clubs take a different approach. Manchester United, Tottenham and West Ham host their WSL games at smaller, dedicated grounds — Leigh, Leyton Orient and Dagenham and Redbridge respectively — prioritising atmosphere over stadium size. The Aston Villa v Birmingham derby and Brighton v Liverpool fixture will be played at Villa Park and the American Express Stadium.

The debate centres on whether women's football benefits more from the prestige and capacity of large stadiums, even when sparsely filled, or from the compact, intimate atmosphere of smaller grounds, despite sometimes inferior facilities.