The Blues are back in the UEFA Women's Champions League after a year without appearing on the European football stage. After a successful start of the season, winning the Women's Community Shield vs Manchester City - can they continue their winning streak when the Women's Super League kicks off on Sunday?
Chelsea missed the opportunity to play European football after a poor performance during the 2018/19 campaign. Still, the London team came back with a bang when they went through the 2019/20 campaign unbeaten in all competitions they entered.
Chelsea returned to competitive football with a 2-0 win against Manchester City at Wembley on the 29th of August as the top two Women's Super League teams battled each other for the first time this season. Although it showed rusty blue players, both dark blue and sky blue - it was clear from the get-go that Emma Hayes' side will be one of the strong competitors for the WSL title this season as well.
Chelsea have a squad stacked with world-class players. Hayes will be spoiled for choice when it comes to building a strong starting line-up and choosing a system to play.
Last season
After the Blues had been outclassed by their main competitors for the title - Arsenal and Manchester City - in the 18/19 campaign, the roles were somewhat reversed during the 2019/20 season.
Arsenal, who Chelsea played twice in the league and also in the Continental Cup final, had problems with the blues and ended up losing all three games.
Manchester City saw the three points slip away when Chelsea bounced back from being 1-0 down, after an impressive performance at Kingsmeadow, to winning by 2 goals to 1.
The second meeting back in February was a massive one for both teams as the game could've ended in favour of either team. German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger became the hero of the game when she saved a Georgia Stanway penalty. The clash ended up with the two English giants sharing the points as the game ended in a 3-3 draw.
That point turned out to be crucial for Chelsea. When the WSL was cancelled in early spring due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the Blues were selected as league winners in a points-per-game decision, Chelsea captain and centre-back Magdalena Eriksson's header that made it 3-3, was the goal that gave Chelsea the title.
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Players in, players out
Chelsea haven't been laid-back when it comes to bringing in new players. The departures of Anita Asante, Adelina Engman, Deanna Cooper and Ramon Bachmann have been balanced out by the arrival of some quality players.
Back in March, German international and FC Bayern München captain, Melanie Leupolz put pen to paper when she signed a three-year contract with the Blues. The 25-year-old comes to England with a wealth of experience, having played in the Frauen-Bundesliga since 2011.
Leupolz's time with Bayern has given her two league titles. She also captained the Reds for two seasons. She is a midfielder who has made 66 appearances for the national team in Germany, and has scored 10 goals. Leupolz made her international senior debut on June 19, 2013, when Germany defeated Canada.
Young midfielder Silvana Flores decided to leave Arsenal and move to another part of London when she joined Chelsea at the beginning of June. Flores is a very highly rated young player who already has been called up to the Mexican national team.
At the end of June, another attacking player was brought into the blue London club; Niamh Charles from Liverpool FC. The 21-year-old England youth international made her Women’s Super League debut at the age of 16. She has made 59 appearances so far and scored 11 goals in total for Liverpool. Two of her goals came against Chelsea. Charles' contract lasts till summer 2023.
In July, Chelsea announced their signing of another young midfielder with a predicted bright future in football; Canadian international Jessie Fleming. Fleming, who signed her first professional contract, joined from UCLA Bruins – a football programme at the University of California, Los Angeles. This contract will keep her in Chelsea until the summer of 2023.
The aforementioned signings are all quality players no doubt but it's Chelsea's most recent and perhaps last signing before the new season, that seems to be the most exciting.
After the rumours had spread in the media ahead of the final of the Uefa Champions League in Spain, the Blues finally confirmed the signing of and presented Denmark captain and superstar Pernille Harder on Tuesday, September 1st.
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More about Pernille Harder
The Dane had one year left on her contract with Frauen Bundesliga title winner Vfl Wolfsburg, so Chelsea had to take the money out of their pocket to sign her.
The striker, who can also serve as an attacking midfielder, comes to London on what is rumored to be a record transfer fee in the women's game.
Harder had an impressive track record with 70 goals in 87 games when she played for the Swedish side, Linköpings FC. After 4 and a half years, she joined Vfl Wolfsburg where she found the back of the net 105 times in 114 games.
Harder's ability to score right from the start of her career has made her a superstar within women's football. On her international debut for Denmark, she scored a hat-trick at the age of 16. She has gone on to score 61 goals at the international level. She is yet to play in a World Cup; still, Harder captained Denmark to the UEFA Women's Euro Final in 2017.
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Players to look out for
With such a stacked team as Chelsea this year there will be several players to look out for in each game during the upcoming season. The easy answer could be to look out for all of them.
Australian striker Samantha Kerr has not yet proven to be the signing many may have hoped for her to be, as she hasn't been as efficient as she could be in front of goal. Kerr creates a lot of space for her teammates and chances for herself but is still having a hard time hitting the target. Will the presence of Pernille Harder help Kerr start scoring or will it become even more challenging for the Australian to improve her performance?
Bethany England, the WSL-player of the year and Chelsea's highest goal scorer last season with 14 goals, had her real break-through on the international stage with her success in the club last season.
A player always worth looking out for when playing, is Fran Kirby. She hadn't played since mid-November 2019 due to a virus, and only returned to the pitch when she played a fair amount of minutes as a starter in the Community Shield. Kirby looked fresh and eager to play football again.
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Predicted finish
The WSL has seen massive signings ahead of its start this weekend. NWSL-players have come on short-term contracts and loans while players that have played in other leagues around Europe have been set to join teams in England. This season looks to be the most exciting one in years.
Still, there is reason to believe that the top 3 will stay intact with Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal fighting for the title yet again.
What speaks in advantage for Chelsea is their strong attacking and defensive forces, with what could be one of the world's best, where we, as already mentioned, find Bethany England, Samantha Kerr, Pernille Harder and Fran Kirby among other.
What could be their challenge is that their backline will have to stay intact with no injuries to suffer. Millie Bright and Magdalena Eriksson are the team's stable duo at the back, and with them out it could be rough for the Blues to keep their opponents away from getting near Ann-Katrin Berger, who looks to be the Blues first choice of a goalkeeper this year.
The prediction? Closely followed by Manchester United, Chelsea will fight Manchester City and Arsenal for the title in the end.
