Chelsea face Manchester United on Wednesday knowing a win may be enough to secure the Women’s Super League title.
Following the disappointment of yet another UEFA Women’s Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona, Chelsea will be looking to reassert themselves in the Women’s Super League on Wednesday.
They must quickly forget another Champions League humbling. Even serial winner Sonia Bompastor was unable to prevent a familiar collapse against Barcelona, who triumphed 4-1 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to seal a 8-2 aggregate victory in the semi-finals.
The wait for a first Champions League title goes on, but Chelsea still have the chance to complete a domestic treble in Bompastor’s debut campaign after replacing Emma Hayes.
That second piece of silverware could arrive on Wednesday. Both Chelsea and Arsenal – the Women’s Super League top two – are in action, against Manchester United and Aston Villa respectively.
With six points separating Chelsea from the Gunners, who beat Lyon 5-3 on aggregate to reach the Champions League final, the permutations are simple. Should the Blues better Arsenal’s result, they will be crowned WSL champions for the sixth consecutive season and for a ninth time overall. That would be three times as many titles as any other team (Arsenal have won it on three occasions).
Given the fixture schedule, Chelsea will know exactly what’s required at kick-off at Leigh Sports Village, with Arsenal’s match against Villa due to have finished by then. Should the Gunners win, then Chelsea would have to wait until at least the weekend to get the job done, when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur for a London derby.
Chelsea Give United the Blues
But Man Utd will not roll over easily. Marc Skinner’s side have been a formidable force this season. They have efficiently gone about their business, and will be aiming to get one over on Chelsea ahead of an FA Cup final clash against Bompastor’s side next month.
But Chelsea, who won the reverse fixture against United 1-0 earlier this season, arrive in Manchester as a wounded animal following their European exit – and that could make them even more dangerous.
United’s record against Chelsea in the WSL is poor. They have never beaten the Blues in the competition (D1 L9) and are currently on an eight-match losing run in this fixture. Their only point came in a 1-1 draw in their first-ever WSL home match against Chelsea in September 2020.
Chelsea have won each of their last three WSL away games at United, scoring six goals in two of those — a 6-1 win in September 2021 and a 6-0 thrashing on the final day of the 2023-24 season. That latter result secured the title and broke Manchester City hearts, but it was equally painful for the United faithful.
In fact, over a third of the defeats United have suffered in the WSL have come at Chelsea’s hands (36% – 9/25). They’ve failed to score in four of their 10 WSL meetings with the Blues and have netted just seven goals while conceding 28.
Skinner has lost all seven of his matches against Chelsea in the WSL but did manage to oversee United’s sole victory against them last season, as the Red Devils triumphed 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-finals en route to winning the trophy.
Should Arsenal beat Villa, all the pressure will be on Chelsea — and that could play into United’s hands.
Underestimated and Underappreciated
Chelsea’s remarkable unbeaten streak under Bompastor has fairly taken the headlines, while Arsenal’s resurgence under Renee Slegers and Manchester City’s fall off have also been major talking points this season in the WSL.
Skinner and United, though, have arguably gone under the radar. They have been supremely consistent, losing just two league matches all season, and have answered plenty of the questions that were raised before the campaign began.
Sitting third in the WSL table, they are four points ahead of rivals Man City and three points off Arsenal in second. Their last three games, however, come against all of those teams, so United will need to be at their very best to secure Champions League qualification.
Their success has been built on defensive solidity. United boast the best defensive record in the league, conceding just nine goals – four fewer than second-best Chelsea (13). United are also one of only three WSL sides this season to limit opponents to under 1.0 non-penalty expected goals (xG) per game (0.89), alongside Chelsea (0.82) and Arsenal (0.72).
Key to that has been goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who has stepped up superbly to fill the void left by Mary Earps following her summer move to Paris Saint-Germain. Tullis-Joyce leads the Golden Glove race with a league-high 13 clean sheets, ahead of Arsenal’s Daphne van Domselaar and Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton (both 10).
The American international, who just last week she signed a new contract with United, could also equal the WSL record for most shutouts kept by a goalkeeper in a single season. That is a record currently owned by her predecessor Earps (14 in 2022-23).
No goalkeeper has been as impressive at keeping opponent shots out as much as Tullis-Joyce, based on the quality of shots faced, either. Her 7.0 goals prevented is 1.8 more than any other shot-stopper, having conceded just nine goals from 16.0 expected goals on target (xGOT).
Ahead of her, the centre-back pairing of Millie Turner and Maya Le Tissier has impressed. Turner ranks sixth in clearances (87) and joint-second in blocks (18), behind only West Ham’s Amber Tysiak (19), while Le Tissier has contributed 82 clearances.
Skinner’s solid foundations have been the bedrock to United’s success this season, though keeping Chelsea at bay is never going to be easy.
The Champions Elect Hunting History
This Chelsea team has already delivered historic numbers this season, but Bompastor will be fully aware that nothing has been won yet.
Chelsea remain unbeaten in their 19 WSL games this season (W16 D3) and could set a new record for most consecutive matches unbeaten in a single campaign in this game (Man City also went 19 unbeaten in 2018-19).
Should the Blues go unbeaten for the rest of the season, they will match the 25-game streak they themselves set between May 2017 and September 2018 – a run that ranks as the third-longest unbeaten run of all time in the WSL, behind Man City’s 31 between 2015 and 2017 and Chelsea’s 33 between 2019 and 2021.
If Chelsea win all of their remaining matches, then not only would they be sure of the title, but they would also set the record points total in a WSL season, overtaking the 58 set by Hayes’ Blues in 2022-23.
Chelsea have won seven of their nine away games (D2), and could equal their most ever away wins in a campaign should they beat United (eight in each of the last four campaigns), while they are aiming to complete a WSL double over United for the fourth successive season, with no other team doing so more than once since the 2021-22 campaign (also Man City and Liverpool in 2023-24).
But these records will mean little if Chelsea’s season ends in disappointment, and based on Bompastor’s lofty standards, she will settle for nothing less than a domestic treble.
After significant investment — including the arrivals of Naomi Girma, Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze and Sandy Baltimore — Bompastor knows that delivering domestic silverware is the minimum requirement, especially with the Champions League dream still unfulfilled.
Not including the inaugural WSL campaign, when Laura Harvey’s Arsenal won the title, Bompastor is aiming to become the first manager to triumph in her first season in the competition. Gareth Taylor (Man City 2020-21) and Jonas Eidevall (Arsenal 2021-22) finished second in their respective maiden seasons in charge.
Manchester United vs Chelsea Prediction
With United’s dismal history in this WSL fixture, it’s no surprise that the Opta supercomputer is not optimistic about their chances.
United have just a 27.3% chance of winning, compared to Chelsea’s 48.8%, with a draw rated at 23.9%.
Even though it is not quite the procession it might have been, the Blues still have a 98% chance of going on and winning the title, too. United, meanwhile, have an 85.4% chance of finishing in the top three and qualifying for the Champions League.
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Wsl Glory in Sight as Chelsea Look to Bounce Back From European Heartache Opta Analyst.
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