Following a very successful and satisfying week for the Blues, Chelsea go into Saturday’s league game against Sunderland Ladies in a very jubilant mood. Firstly, Chelsea secured what they hope will be the first part of their domestic double at Wembley as they confidently beat London rivals Arsenal. Then in midweek, the title race swung back in their favour as Manchester City lost to Liverpool courtesy of a goal from Beth England who coincidentally is on loan from Chelsea. Chelsea then managed to win their own midweek game 2-1 with Erin Cuthbert scoring a 90th minute winner.
Those turn of events has left Chelsea at the top of the WSL 1 table with a three-point lead and three league games left to go. With the finish line in sight, Chelsea will be fully intent on winning all their remaining games starting with the visit of the Black Cats who are currently in 8th place just above the drop zone on goal difference. With Sunderland fighting for their lives, they will also know that victory is vital if they want to remain in the top division and so will come to London ready to attack.
Sunderland have been in awful form so far in 2018 and haven’t won since February, losing their last four matches in the process. They will also need to find their shooting boots as they only scored once in the four games they played in April. Chelsea remain the only unbeaten side in the league and after pulling through a mini blip of sorts when they drew three league games in a row, they have come out on the other side and have won their last two matches.
Following the announcement that club captain Katie Chapman would be retiring at the end of the season, this weekend’s game at Kingsmeadow will take on an added significance of being Chapman’s last home game for Chelsea. The rest of the squad will be determined to make sure they send off their decorated leader with a victory and take another step towards winning the title.
