Chelsea Women will be looking to take one step closer to defending our Women’s Super League title when we take on Arsenal in the penultimate game of the season at Kingsmeadow on Sunday.
After clinching our third consecutive FA Cup trophy last weekend, we built on this momentum with a resounding 4-0 victory at West Ham United in the WSL on Wednesday. Victory in a match which acted as our game in-hand secured three points which give us a two-point lead at the top of the table.
Niamh Charles opened the scoring on her 100th appearance for the club to give us a slender 1-0 lead at the break. Pernille Harder doubled our advantage swiftly after the restart, Sophie Ingle headed a third on the hour and substitute Erin Cuthbert struck a fourth in stoppage time.
Our final home fixture of the season will be the last at Kingsmeadow for captain Magdalena Eriksson and forward Pernille Harder who will depart the club this summer. We hope that our supporters will join us in giving both players a proper Blues send off on Sunday.
When and where?
We take on Arsenal in the Women’s Super League on Sunday 21 May at Kingsmeadow, our final home fixture of the campaign, with kick-off scheduled for 12.30pm (UK time).
How to follow
As always, you can follow the game via Chelsea Women’s social media channels. There will be live commentary on our Twitter page and regular updates on Facebook and Instagram. Simply search ‘ChelseaFCW’ on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Supporters who cannot attend will be able to watch the match which has been selected for live broadcast on BBC Two.
The form
After the victory over West Ham, we returned to the top of the league table with 52 points having won 17, drawn one and lost two of our 20 matches to date. We have scored 61 goals and conceded 15 leaving us with a goal difference of +46 ahead of our final two league matches of the season.
Victory over Arsenal in the early-kick off and dropped points for Manchester United later that evening would see us crowned champions however, anything less than three points for both sides would see the title race go down to the final day.
As for our opposition, Arsenal are sitting third in the WSL table after 15 wins, two draws and three defeats from 20 matches, leaving them on 47 points. They have scored 49 goals and conceded 12 leaving them with a goal difference of +37.
In their last outing, Arsenal overcame Everton 4-1 on Wednesday evening. Goals from Katie McCabe and Lotte Wubben-Moy complemented a Caitlin Foord brace and to win the title themselves, Arsenal would need two wins and for both ourselves and Manchester United to lose our remaining games.
Chelsea Women vs Arsenal Women recent head-to-head record
We have faced Arsenal three times already this season across three different competitions, starting with our WSL meeting at the Emirates in January. Sam Kerr headed a late equaliser to cancel out Kim Little’s spot kick as we shared the spoils upon the return of the WSL after the winter break.
In February, the FA Cup fifth round draw pitted us against the Gunners at Kingsmeadow where we booked our place in the quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory. Goals in either half from Ingle and Kerr helped us get the job done on that occasion.
It was an all-London affair for the League Cup final in March where we came off second best as Arsenal ran out 3-1 winners at Selhurst Park. Kerr broke the deadlock inside the opening few minutes but goals from Stina Blackstenius, Little and an own goal saw the trophy go to north London.
Next up for the Blues
We will begin preparations for our final WSL fixture of the season which sees us travel to the Select Car Leasing Stadium to face Reading on Saturday 27 May.
Kick-off on the final day is scheduled for 2.30pm (UK time) and live broadcast details for this fixture are subject to further confirmation.
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