Women’s Champions League: OL Lyonnes vs. Chelsea Match Preview | OneFootball

In this writer’s opinion the OL Lyonnes vs. Chelsea fixture is the prize pick of the two noon games. Benfica vs. Bayern Munich is no slouch, but it doesn’t quite have the same élan as this battle of women’s heavyweights.

OL Lyonnes Form

Sitting high atop the table with a whopping +8 goal differential after one game, Lyonnes is flying high. Of course, they weren’t exactly tested by Servette, a debutante club from Switzerland in this year’s Champions League. Lyonnes played with 79% possession, taking 31 total shots (an average of one shot per three minutes… yikes). Had their accuracy been better, only nine shots were on frame, they would have finished with double digit goals and not just eight.

Still, it was a roaring start to the group phase for Les Fennotes. 

Lyonnes is no stranger to high scoring affairs. In their four matches since the 2026/27 campaign started, they’ve won them all with a combined scoreline of 30-3. That’s not a typo. They AVERAGE 7.5 goals a game. 

Marie-Antoinette Katoto nabbed her first hat-trick in this match, and Haitian midfielder Melchie Dumornay scored a brace on either side of the half. It was Dumornay’s second brace this season, to go alongside her hat-trick in the opener against Fleury 91. Ada Hegerberg didn’t hit the scoresheet in this one, but has five from the earlier fixtures. That’s a terrifying threesome. 

Chelsea Form

The Lady Lions did not have such an easy time in their outing. They hosted another debutante, Austria Wien, who were made of sterner stuff than their neighbors. Wien actually outshot Chelsea 15 to 13, and matched them with on-frame efforts (six apiece). In the end, it came down to shot quality, and captain Wieke Kaptein’s 11th minute effort slammed the underside of the crossbar before striking the weave. That proved to be the difference.

Chelsea will be bolstered by a strong showing over the weekend, which saw them take down Arsenal by the same 1-0 scoreline. Alyssa Thompson struck the net in the 39th minute, and the Chelsea defense recorded their fourth straight clean sheet in all competitions.

How It Should Play

It’s impossible to look at Lyonnes recent form and not be frightened. The likelihood of Chelsea earning their fifth consecutive clean sheet is mighty slim indeed. But that doesn’t mean they’ll get blown out of the water. Chelsea boasts a ferocious squad of decorated and savvy players, veterans of both Champions League and World Cup competition. Eight of their normal starting eleven have found the goal, meaning that their attack isn’t concentrated on one player, and therefore not easily handled. Anyone on the ball is dangerous.

Pundits may argue that the Ligue 1 Féminine isn’t quite as challenging as the Women’s Super League, but that’s cold comfort when you’re collecting the ball out of your own net for the umpteenth time. One interesting statistic is that of their 30 goals, five of them were self-inflicted by the other team. That’s a freakishly high own-goal percentage, and one that points to how dynamic, smothering and disorienting their attack is. That attack also glosses over some of the weak points in the Lyon defense. They have conceded three goals, and while it’s not much, we have to find something to criticize them for.

Prediction: Chelsea will be resilient, but ultimately even they will crumble before OL Lyonnes, who will no doubt be even more fired up to win their Champions League home debut.OL Lyonnes 4 – 1 Chelsea

Match Details

Where: Groupama Stadium, Lyon, FranceWhen: Tuesday, September 29 @ 3pm ET / 12pm PTHow to Watch: Streaming live on Paramount+; Spanish coverage on ESPN Deportes.

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