It’s only matchweek two, and already we have the juicy match-up of last seasons WSL champions and third in the table at a sold out Kingsmeadow. City and Chelsea have contested some great matches in the past, the most recent being the FA Cup final in May where a close fought match saw Chelsea win 3-2 after extra time. Last season saw them play each other four times(!) – twice in the league, the Conti Cup final and the FA Cup final. The scores respectively were 0-4 Chelsea, 1-0 Chelsea, 1-3 City, 3-2 (a.e.t) Chelsea.
The summer since has seen a fair amount of change for both squads, one with arguably more positive change than the other. Chelsea beefed up their already excellent squad, presumably looking for another shot at not only domestic trophies but the UWCL prize. They brought in UWCL winner Kadeisha Buchanan from Lyon, France’s Eve Perisset, Sweden’s Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and young promising talent in Svitková and Cankovic. The players they lost (aside for Ji So Yun – arguably one of the best international players to ever play in the WSL) were mostly non-starting players. In contrast, Manchester City saw the retirement of their main striker Ellen White, and lost star players in Lucy Bronze and an entire world-class midfield in Georgia Stanway, Keira Walsh and Caroline Weir. They recruited a batch of international players, some of the stand outs being Japan’s Yui Hasegawa (who was injured for last week’s fixture) and Spain’s Laia Aleixandri, but the loss of that central, mainly English core is likely to destabilise them a bit.
Regardless of their summer signing success, both teams enter matchweek 2 with 0 points on the board – Chelsea with a surprising defeat to newly promoted (but very promising) Liverpool and City with perhaps a less surprising defeat to a newly revitalised Aston Villa. City’s flimsy defence was attacked by a reactive and fluid Aston Villa side, helmed by Carla Ward on the sidelines and Rachel Daly back in her (rightful) place as star striker after winning the Euros starting every match as a left-back. The match ended 4-3, with some subpar defensive performances and some incredible moments of attacking play on both sides but ultimately Carla Ward’s tactics triumphed over those of a still-questionable Gareth Taylor. Laia Aleixandri was being played out of position as a midfielder instead of a defender and he brought Bunny Shaw off after 70 minutes despite her scoring, assisting and being one of the most dangerous players in the boxes for corners Villa were regularly conceding.
Chelsea fans shouldn’t be too disheartened, they came back from losing their opening match last season to win the league (and have done so couple more times before), and Liverpool look promising enough to at the very least earn a mid-table spot. They were also missing both Pernille Harder (a late injury in the warm up) and Jessie Fleming. In my opinion they’re the favourites going into this match, considering the extensive and settled talent within the squad and the proven success of Hayes as a manager.
A slightly more chaotic WSL, in which a team doesn’t have to outright win almost every match to win the title and in which matches aren’t a foregone conclusion, can only be a good thing for bringing more eyes to the game – I’m sure the Villa and Liverpool home fans last weekend can attest. This weekend promises other fun match-ups in a North London derby and a Merseyside derby – a big weekend for football.
Injury update:
Chelsea: Harder (questionable). Nouwen and Fleming should be back after absence last week.
Manchester City: Yui Hasegawa is back in training, Kennedy may also be back available. Mace won’t be available.