Chelsea Women play our fifth Barclays Women’s Super League match tomorrow afternoon against London opposition West Ham United. Here’s all the details you need to know ahead of the game…
WHEN AND WHERE
This is our third away match of the WSL campaign and the clash will take place on Sunday with a 3pm kick-off at West Ham’s home ground Rush Green Stadium.
THE FORM
Chelsea are on a good run having won five games and drawn one in all competitions. Last Sunday we secured our second Continental Tyres Cup win against Championship side Crystal Palace that finished 3-0. We raced into the lead 10 minutes into the second half when England scored a quick-fire brace. The No.9 tapped home a cross by Maren Mjelde and then headed in an Erin Cuthbert looping free-kick. It was complete domination by the Blues and Spence added the third of the day in the 76th minute when England unselfishly teed up her team-mate to score her first goal of the season.
Opponents West Ham, who were also in Cup action last week, lost at their Rush Green home against Tottenham Hotspur after the contest finished 2-2 at full-time and 4-2 on penalties. As per FA Women’s Continental Tyres Cup rules, a penalty shoot-out followed, which Tottenham won, meaning the away side took two points from the match while the Hammers had to settle for one.
West Ham were two goals behind when Rianna Dean and Josie Green of Spurs scored two second-half goals, but the Irons levelled the scoring in added-time thanks to Martha Thomas and Kenza Dali who took the thrilling game to spot-kicks.
CHELSEA V WEST HAM HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
As West Ham are relatively new to the top flight, having only been part of the league since the 2018/19 season, we have only come up against them three times competitively.
In September the Blues hosted West Ham in the opening group stage match of the Conti Cup and we came away three points. It was a frustrating first half for the Blues as we could not finish our chances, but we came out after the interval and produced a much-improved performance. Bethany England got the opening goal after 50 minutes when she finished smartly on the angle after taking a pass from Magdalena Eriksson in her stride and Guro Reiten doubled our advantage and netted her first goal as a Blue 20 minutes later. The Norwegian whipped in corner kick and it found its way past the white line after taking a touch from the Hammers keeper who tried to punch the ball away.
Prior to this encounter, we came up against West Ham twice in the WSL last term. The Blues secured a hard-fought win over them in our first-ever competitive meeting. After a goalless first half in which Hammers goalkeeper at the time, and former Chelsea player, Becky Spencer played an absolute blinder to keep her side level, we came to life after the break with two outstanding goals and Ramona Bachmann was the scorer of them both. The first goal was a well-taken effort after she had hit the post and the second was a peach of a curler from the edge of the box to make the points safe.
Our second meet was our final home game of the season, and it was a special occasion as we celebrated Drew Spence’s 10 years as a Chelsea first team player. The Blues dominated the first half and deservedly went into the interval with the lead due to England who headed home an Erin Cuthbert free-kick. There were plenty of other opportunities throughout the contest, but we were made to pay when our opponents levelled the scoring. Gilly Flaherty, who was a twice Double winner with the Blues, headed past Carly Telford on 65 minutes which meant the afternoon of celebration ultimately ended in frustration.
HOW TO FOLLOW AND HOW TO WATCH THE LIVE STREAM
Fans 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.
The match will also be shown on The FA Player, a new free live streaming platform, exclusively dedicated to women’s football.
WATCH THE BLUES AT KINGSMEADOW
See the Blues in action at our KT1 home for on Sunday 17 November when they take on league debutants Manchester United for the first time ever.Kick-off is at 3pm and tickets are priced at £9 for adults and £1 for juniors (aged under 20) and seniors (aged over 65).