Why Chelsea and Manchester City’s WSL clash is not as season-defining as you think

Neither side have lost in the league yet but a more competitive division should take title race to the wire

There was a time when the games between the top three – traditionally Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal – were title-deciding games. Where every point taken off a title rival was key. Such was the gap in investment and quality between those teams and the rest of the Women’s Super League that it was extremely rare that points would be dropped to teams outside that elite clique.

As the WSL has grown in investment, profile and size, that narrative has started to shift a little. The investment gap is still large from the top to the bottom of the league, but increased investment among the “best of the rest” and even among those teams further down the table, as well as an increase in high-quality coaches with the tactical and technical vision to get more from players, is having an impact.

That’s a roundabout way of saying that when Chelsea welcome title holders and the current league leaders to Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime, counterintuitively, the three points isn’t the most important takeaway from a win. Instead, based on the state of play, it’s the momentum, confidence, belief and bragging rights that come from taking the three points that are critical.

Naturally, should Chelsea leapfrog Manchester City by a point with a win, then the title race will be considered wide open. If Andrée Jeglertz’s City extend their lead over Chelsea from two points to five, even at this early stage, they will be considered favourites for the title in May, but it will be said with a little less confidence than it might have been in previous years.

The WSL is more and more competitive year on year. There have only been two occasions where, in the 15 years since the first WSL season was played (when it was launched to replace the FA Women’s Premier League National Division) that the title winners have lost more than two games in a season. Both of those have come in the last three years, with Chelsea the first to do so in 2023-24 and Manchester City doing the same last season.

You could say that because wins are less consequential in the games between title rivals, those games are less thrilling, but the reality is that the growing unpredictability of almost every single match across the WSL means that every game becomes a must-watch.

At Stamford Bridge on Saturday, the remaining two unbeaten teams have the opportunity to inflict a first defeat. Neither side has looked infallible this season. Manchester City have kept just two clean sheets in their 13 games in all competitions, while Chelsea stuttered last weekend, suffering their second draw of the season to allow City to move above them.

Arguably, there has been a momentum shift between Sonia Bompastor’s and Jeglertz’s teams, with the former having dropped points against Everton before a 0-0 draw with Swedish side Häcken in the Champions League while City earned a 5-0 win over West Ham and picked up a first win in Europe, after three draws, with a 4-1 defeat of Inter.

Jeglertz said that moving top has changed nothing ahead of this clash. “We’re still early in the season. We want to win all games. That’s our focus this weekend,” he said. “Nothing has changed from that point of view and I don’t think it will have for them either.”

Chelsea have been defensively strong, remaining the only WSL team to still be in single figures for goals conceded, on five to City’s 10, and they have kept nine clean sheets in their 13 games in all competitions (minus WCL qualifying).

However, the key to the west London side’s ambition of drawing first blood between the two teams this season will probably centre around how well they cope without Lauren James. They may lead the way in goals scored too, 28 to City’s 27, but against Everton, the absence of the England forward’s creativity was keenly felt and Chelsea’s attack looked a little predictable. Everton nullified the impact of the wide players Ellie Carpenter and Sandy Baltimore and Chelsea struggled to find another way through.

“My job is to make sure I find solutions when some players are not available and not playing for the team,” Bompastor said last week.

Meanwhile, while Chelsea have to cope with the absence of James, who has a hamstring injury that Bompastor says means they “won’t see her until the end of this block,” up until at least the international break at the end of the month, City have players returning.

Rebecca Knaak is fine after a knock to the head against Inter and Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead and Niamh Charles are all on their way back. “All three of them, actually, were in the session today and I hope that they will be available for Saturday,” said Jeglertz. Advantage City then, just.

In a way, that it is unlikely that this result decides either team’s season makes it a more interesting and exciting contest, because players are free to play uninhibited by the pressure of how catastrophic a loss could be and, with the two dominant teams going head to head, we’re in for a show.