Three points separate the teams ahead of kick-off with Emma Hayes’ side knowing that a win would see us extend our lead at the top of the table to six points, while avoiding defeat would mean we maintain a three-point gap going into the international break.

It promises to be a fascinating spectacle in front of a sell-out crowd at our Kingsmeadow home, which Melanie Leupolz describes as a ‘special place’ for us, and our German midfielder is determined for the team to put on a show for the supporters.

It’s first versus second in the WSL with Chelsea and Manchester City having battled against each other on several occasions down the years. Leupolz highlighted the importance of fine margins in games like this and alluded to an extremely competitive race for the title.

‘It’s so tight every single year with the title race, but this season it feels even more. It’s always been difficult to play against Manchester City, they’re very good with the ball, and with these games it’s always the little margins. We really have to exploit them and be at our best to beat this team.

‘I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a big game and we have an opportunity to make the gap even bigger – otherwise it is getting even tighter. The pressure is on! But we love to play with pressure.’

We have the opportunity to set a WSL record for the longest unbeaten home run, but the 29-year-old says the team don’t focus on such statistics and instead praised the role of our fans for giving the players confidence on home soil.

‘We don’t really think about things like that. It’s just about winning the games. But it would be awesome to have another record. Even without knowing the numbers, we obviously know we have a good feeling at Kingsmeadow, it’s a special place for us. The fans are always so close, we can see the familiar faces at every game, and that’s really nice.

‘We all have our songs! It’s nice to play in front of them and I think it’s difficult for other teams to play at Kingsmeadow as we are super-strong at home and other teams know that. That gives us confidence.’

Away from football, Leupolz is loving life as a mother and expressed her gratitude for the support she has received from the club, as she adapts to balancing her career and building a family.

‘I really enjoy it, it’s amazing. I get so much support from the club, they are very understanding, and I really like it. My boy is developing really good and his sleep got so much better, so I’m better rested as well!

‘He’s almost 18 months, running around, talking some words – he knows some German ones and some English, but he always picks the easier one when he’s speaking! It will be amazing for his future to have two languages.’