Chelsea FC Women travel to West Ham United this afternoon and defender Jonna Andersson has urged the Blues to maintain our position at the top of the table by taking all three points against the Hammers.
While Chelsea are placed at the summit of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League standings, today’s hosts currently sit in 11th and have won just one of their last five league fixtures.There have been five WSL meetings between West Ham and Chelsea, with the Blues winning four of those clashes but Andersson says Chelsea will not underestimate our London neighbours.She said: ‘West Ham are a good team and they have a lot of good players.‘You never know what to expect, they are fighting for their place in the top division so they need to do everything they can to take all the points.‘It will be tough game and they too will be playing for all the points so we know we will be facing a good West Ham side.’
Chelsea have won our last four away WSL games, scoring an impressive 15 goals while keeping clean sheets in each of those matches and Andersson has highlighted the importance of extending that run to five consecutive away victories this afternoon.She added: ‘It’s really tight at the top and we have to win all the games to win the title. You want to be in that first position as we are now, and then we have everything in our hands.‘It’s a position we want to be in and we know if we drop points, it will be hard for us to win the title, so we have to go for all the points up until the end of the season to be able to win the league.’
Following this afternoon’s London derby, the Blues will travel to Italy for our Champions League round of 16 second leg on Wednesday before facing Bristol City in the Continental League Cup final next Sunday.Andersson believes the strength of the Blues squad will be vital heading into our run of important games this month.She said: ‘We have strength in the group, a big squad and quality that can come into the games and bring more energy. It’s a great group of players.‘We have subs coming into the second half of the game, or if we have to change the starting 11 for the next game, it’s not a problem.‘We know everyone’s position and roles, so it’s one of our biggest strengths that we have a good and big squad.’Today’s clash with West Ham kicks off at 3pm and will be available to watch on the FA Player.