Manchester City’s numbers over the past 12 months are so strong they are almost ridiculous. Since mid-November 2023 they have played 23 Women’s Super League games and won 21, losing once and drawing once, both against Arsenal. Statistically, Gareth Taylor’s side have been England’s best team in 2024, displaying title-winning form for a year. And yet they are not the champions, have not been the champions for eight long years and they will not become the champions unless they can somehow find a way to finally topple the seemingly immovable object that is Chelsea.
Ominously for City, Chelsea have made their strongest start to a season, unlikely as that may sound for a team who have won the past five WSL titles. Never before had Chelsea won their first six league games but that is what Sonia Bompastor has done since succeeding Emma Hayes. The team that always seem to finish seasons the strongest have made a flawless start. They are the division’s top scorers by a huge margin, with 3.8 goals a game to Manchester City’s 2.2, and have won all nine of Bompastor’s matches in all competitions.
That is why Saturday’s top-of-the-table meeting at Stamford Bridge between second-placed Chelsea, with their game in hand, and the unbeaten leaders City, who have played seven, won six, drawn one, should provide the kind of unmissable, box-office drama that WSL viewers crave.
For City, who made all of European women’s football sit up and take notice when they deservedly beat the European champions, Barcelona, in October, defeating Chelsea away from home would be the ultimate statement of intent. Or would it?
The irony is, City did win at Chelsea last season, but even that was not enough to stop the champions from retaining their crown on goal difference on the final day. Taylor’s team had the better of the head-to-head contests last term, taking four points, but it was not sufficient. It may be wise to downplay phrases such as “title decider”. Perhaps these games are not as important as we like to imply. Perhaps Saturday’s result will mean scarcely anything come May. Or perhaps it will mean everything.
What it will do is thrust many of the world’s best players on to the same field together for 90 minutes of world-class sport. The Jamaica striker Khadija Shaw, who has more hat-tricks than any other player in WSL history after scoring her sixth last week, at one end; the Colombia striker Mayra Ramírez, with nine goal involvements in her first 12 WSL appearances, down the other. Plus head-to-head clashes that fans yearn for, potentially such as the City left-winger Lauren Hemp – who leads the way with a staggering 26 chances created in the WSL so far this season – up against her England teammate Lucy Bronze down that flank.
Of major concern for City fans is that Hemp is a doubt. Taylor said on Thursday he would not know until Friday whether Hemp would be fit, because of a “niggle in her knee”. He said: “There’s a chance she’ll train and play at the weekend, which is good, but we’ll see with the medical staff.” Taylor also offered an update on his defenders Laia Aleixandri and Naomi Layzell, saying: “They’re progressing a lot quicker than we anticipated so there’s an outside chance.”
Whoever lines up for City will try to do something that no English side have managed at Stamford Bridge: stop Chelsea winning. Chelsea have won all six of their WSL matches there, scoring 17 times. Arguably this is the most challenging-looking league fixture they have faced on this ground but their confidence and growing familiarity with Stamford Bridge could be key, as they try to become the third WSL team to win their opening seven fixtures of the season. Given the quality Chelsea and City possess and the volume of games they keep winning, this has the potential to be one of the sport’s great rivalries in the months and years ahead. Bompastor versus Taylor may not have a classic ring to it – yet – but it begins here.
