WHEN AND WHERE?

The first half of the season draws to a close against Liverpool on Sunday at Prenton Park and the match kicks off at 2pm.

THE FORM

On Wednesday we confirmed top spot in Group D of the Continental Tyres League Cup after drawing level with Reading by full-time and finishing with 13 out of the possible 15 points. We came back from behind when Deanna Cooper cancelled out a well-taken free-kick. The Chelsea defender levelled the scoring in the second half when she fired home a sensational strike from 30 yards out to register her second goal of the season, both of which have come in the cup. With it all square at full-time, the match swiftly went into a penalty shoot-out with Reading coming out on top and earning the bonus point to join us in the last eight.

The Blues’ most recent league game was against fellow title contenders Manchester City at Kingsmeadow. It finished in a 2-1 triumph. Chelsea were once again a goal down when Caroline Weir netted a volley past Ann-Katrin Berger against the run of play, but we showed grit and determination to find a route back into the game. In the later stages of the contest Bethany England netted her 10th goal of the season when she steered her header beyond Ellie Roebuck, and two minutes later Maren Mjelde came up trumps when she turned in England’s shot from close range.

Liverpool have had a disappointing start to their league campaign having lost seven and drawn two. They were last in WSL action on Sunday when they hosted West Ham in a match that finished even. Liverpool were trailing to an early goal and then missed a penalty, but managed to get a share of the spoils when Niamh Charles scored the equaliser for the Reds in the final quarter of an hour.

On Wednesday they beat Championship side Durham 3-1, but it was not enough to qualify for the next round of the Continental Cup having finished in third place behind Sheffield United and Aston Villa.

CHELSEA V LIVERPOOL HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

We have won each of our last nine WSL matches against Liverpool. In our last meeting with the Reds, we came away with all three points when we recorded a comprehensive 4-0 victory on Merseyside. Fran Kirby scored with our first shot on-target when she combined nicely with Ramona Bachmann to coolly finish from 10 yards out. Just five minutes later it was 2-0 and Kirby was the scorer when she found the net from a spot-kick after her initial shot was handled on the ground by a Liverpool defender. Chelsea continued to press and our No.14 got her hat-trick when she struck a shot that could not be kept out by the Liverpool goalkeeper. Adelina Engman topped things off when she headed on target in added time.

The Blues emerged with a narrow 1-0 victory at Kingsmeadow last term courtesy of Magda Eriksson’s superb finish. Our Swedish centre-half controlled a header from Drew Spence with her right foot and scored a quite sublime effort with her back to goal.

We had a memorable comeback victory against Liverpool on the last day of the 2017/18 campaign, when Ji So-Yun came off the bench to inspire a 3-2 triumph which ensured we went through the whole league campaign unbeaten.

Prior to that we had not played a WSL away match against the Reds for more than two years. Back then Ji was also on target in a 2-1 victory. The South Korean clearly loves playing on the red half of Merseyside as she also netted one of the greatest goals in the history of Chelsea Women when we played away at Liverpool in the autumn of 2015; her Gianfranco Zola-esque strike helped us to a 4-0 victory which pushed us within touching distance of our first WSL title.

Before that we had lost three of our four league visits to Liverpool, the exception coming in July 2012 when Dunia Susi and Gemma Bonner – who went on to skipper the Reds to back-to-back WSL1 titles before joining Manchester City – were on target in a 2-0 win.

Our biggest ever victory over the Reds came in our winning 2017 Spring Series campaign when we put seven past them with no reply at our old ground Wheatsheaf Park. And it was a day not to be forgotten as seven different Blues got their name on the scoresheet. Gilly Flaherty, Kirby, and Ji hit the target in the first half, while Mjelde, Karen Carney, Erin Cuthbert and Spence

HOW TO FOLLOW

Supporters who are unable travel can keep up to date with how the match unfolds via our social media channels. There will be live text commentary on our Twitter page, regular updates on Facebook and for behind-the-scenes footage, make sure you check out our matchday Instagram Story. Simply search 'ChelseaFCW' on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

You can watch the game live on The FA Player, a free streaming platform, exclusively dedicated for women’s football in England.

NEW BLUE

Yesterday we announced the signing of Scotland international Jamie-Lee Napier from Hibernian Ladies. The 19-year-old is a versatile player who is capable of playing at full-back or as a winger, on the right or the left, Napier will bolster Emma Hayes’ side with her fast pace and direct playing style. Read the full announcement here.

NEXT UP AT KINGSMEADOW

The Blues’ next home game will be against Wednesday's opponent Reading in the Barclays Women’s Super League. Celebrate the New Year with us by coming down to Kingsmeadow on Sunday 5 January.

Kick-off is at 12.30pm and tickets can be bought here.