Chelsea juggernaut heads to Manchester United for trickiest WSL test so far | OneFootball

It has been more than 500 days since Chelsea last lost a Women’s Super League game. That sentence alone tells you how exceptional they are, and whichever way you frame the statistics they are daunting. How about “Sonia Bompastor is yet to lose a WSL game after 15 months in charge”, “The Frenchwoman has won 23 of her 26 WSL games without defeat” or “Bompastor is unbeaten in 34 domestic matches since moving to England”? All are true, all sound formidable, and – after four wins from four this term – they are showing no signs of letting up.

Who will bring this run to a halt? Eventually, Chelsea will lose a WSL match. It might not be this week, it might not be in 2025, it might not even be this season. Maybe it won’t even be during this parliament, but one day it will happen, and logic suggests that the fixtures where their streak has the highest probability of ending is in one of their away games against their main title rivals, Arsenal, Manchester City or Manchester United. On Friday, the latter of that trio will have their turn, and form-wise they have rarely been better placed to have a go at it.

The top two teams in the early-season table go head to head in Leigh under the lights and, although the WSL season is only four rounds of fixtures old, Manchester United go into Friday’s fixture with the best defensive record in the league. History favours Chelsea though, because the most damning stat of all is perhaps this: Manchester United have never beaten Chelsea in the WSL.

In fact they have managed only one draw from their 11 previous WSL meetings. Nevertheless, the home team’s manager, Marc Skinner, wants his team to believe. “It’s by far the most difficult challenge in the WSL right now, of course it is,” Skinner said. “We want to try to break that run when we play them on Friday but it’s difficult.

“They’re such a well-oiled machine. They have incredible quality, depth and quality, that they’ve built over many seasons. I expect the toughest of challenges on Friday and we’ve got to be ready.

“I really think you can hurt Chelsea with the ball, but you’ve got to be brave in doing that, because it’s higher risk because they’re really good in duels. You have to believe that you can beat them, you have to show Chelsea that you can beat them.”

For Bompastor, who oversaw a domestic treble of major trophies last term in her first season in English football, the statistics mean very little. “This story about the unbeaten run is more for the journalists,” she said. “We started this season from zero, we won four games out of four, and we want to go into every game with the desire to win. We are early in the season, we did not achieve anything yet.”

The former Lyon coach has fond memories of visiting Leigh, because it was where her team clinched last season’s title on 30 April, with a 1-0 win courtesy of a Lucy Bronze header. This time they face a Manchester United side who have conceded only one goal in four league games and Bompastor said: “United look strong and they’ve had a good start to the season.

“In these games, it’s always tough. Maybe you create [fewer] chances than in some of the games and you need to make sure you are clinical and efficient. I think that’s what makes the difference in the highest-level games.”

The joint-leading goalscorers in the WSL this term will be in action on either side: United’s Melvine Malard has four goals from four WSL games, as does Chelsea’s Aggie Beever-Jones, who has scored in every game.

Bompastor said, of the England’s striker’s flourishing form: “From the beginning when I joined the club, I could recognise that Aggie was a really good player with a lot of talent, and also a really complete player.

“Out of possession she is great; she is the first one in the frontline to apply the press. In possession, we have been working hard with her, trying for her to be as successful as she can be in many aspects of her game. Right now, she is really confident [and] that’s great for the team.”

It is a cliche in football that the “first goal will be crucial” but it seems especially true here; Manchester United are unbeaten in each of the past 25 WSL games in which they have taken the lead. If they can finally end their wait for a first win against Chelsea, it would be the first major twist in the WSL title race.

Header image: [Photograph: Harriet Lander/Chelsea FC/Getty Images]