Chelsea will begin their 2022/23 Women’s Super League campaign with a visit to reigning Women’s Championship winners Liverpool at Prenton Park on Sunday evening.
After the opening weekend of WSL action was cancelled due to the passing of Her Majesty, the Queen, Chelsea’s season will start away from home, with all the updates, live scores and stats available via the Flashscore app or website.
Despite a week of upheaval at the Chelsea men’s side, it’s much of the same for the women’s side, with manager Emma Hayes now into her 10th year in charge of the Blues.
Already a legend of the club, Hayes has overseen five WSL title victories, with the most recent coming last season, when Chelsea won the title on the final day ahead of Arsenal.
It means they extended their lead as the club with the most WSL championship wins, while also becoming the first side in the league’s history to win three titles in a row.
Favourites to make that four this time around, confidence is high within the Chelsea ranks, as they look to begin their season with a victory against last season’s Championship winners.
A match that was originally scheduled for the second weekend of the season, the rearranged opener will see Chelsea kick their campaign off at Prenton Park.
It’s the first league meeting between the two since December 2019, before the 2019/20 campaign was eventually cancelled due to COVID-19.
Traditionally it has been a profitable fixture as far as Chelsea are concerned, having last lost to Liverpool in August 2018.
That’s a run of 12 matches against Liverpool without a defeat and the Blues are expected to kick their campaign off with yet another victory on Sunday afternoon.
Unlike other clubs in the division, who have seen a mass exodus in preseason. Chelsea’ business has relatively modest this summer, with just four players leaving the club.
However, there have been some arrivals for the Blues faithful to get excited, most notably defensive duo Kadeisha Buchanan and Ève Périsset, who have arrived from Olympique Lyonnais and Bordeaux respectively.
The pair were involved in the recent Women’s International Champions Cup tournament, where Chelsea finished third, after beating Portland Thorns in the playoff fixture.
With Chelsea expected to challenge on multiple fronts this season, including the Women’s Champions League which is set to kick off in October, starting the WSL season with a victory will be of paramount importance to Hayes and co.
Given Chelsea’s imperious record against Liverpool, the reigning WSL champions should enjoy a comfortable evening at Prenton Park when the two meet on Saturday.
By Amos Murphy
Photo by Unsplash
