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Chelsea Women: Attack the unsurprising key to Super League success

By Matthew Hancock-Bruce

KINGSTON UPON THAMES, ENGLAND - MAY 09: Fran Kirby of Chelsea Women celebrates with Sam Kerr after scoring their second goal during the Barclays FA Women's Super League match between Chelsea Women and Reading Women at Kingsmeadow on May 09, 2021 in Kingston upon Thames, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images)
KINGSTON UPON THAMES, ENGLAND - MAY 09: Fran Kirby of Chelsea Women celebrates with Sam Kerr after scoring their second goal during the Barclays FA Women's Super League match between Chelsea Women and Reading Women at Kingsmeadow on May 09, 2021 in Kingston upon Thames, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images) /
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Chelsea secured back-to-back FA Women’s Super League titles on Sunday with a thumping 5-0 win over Reading. This dominating display is perhaps symbolic of their entire season in front of goal: ruthless. The Blues finished the season with the best goal difference in Super League history after scoring 69 and conceding just 10. In addition, they were the only team to score in every game of the campaign.

This should hardly be surprising considering they boast two of the league’s top goal scorers in golden boot winner Sam Kerr (21) and Fran Kirby (16), who is also the league’s top assist provider.

If we break down their attacking brilliance into 90-minute segments, they managed the highest average goals per 90 minutes with 3.05 ahead of Arsenal with 2.82. Chelsea bested the Gunners once more in average assists per 90 with 2.23, with their North London rivals managing 2.18. Looking at expected goals and assists per 90, the Blues boast average figures of 2.61 and 1.76 respectively, once again top of the class in both categories.

Perhaps one reason for their high scoring rate is that the attacking players were able to get themselves into the best positions to score. Chelsea’s average shot distance was 15 yards and while this stat may not initially sound impressive, it becomes more so when you realise that five of the 12 teams that make up the Super League had averages outside the penalty area and that, in the Premier League, the closest average shot distance is Leicester’s 15.3 yards.

Chelsea also took more shots than any other side in the division, 425, with the second-best shot-on-target percentage (35.3 percent). The numbers quite frankly speak for themselves. With such insane statistics, there was simply no way the Blues could not win the league.

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Here’s what The Pride of London Co-Site Expert Travis Tyler had to say on the astonishing figures: “Three goals per 90 is pretty insane. I’ve been watching the women a lot more this season and the thing that stands out to me is that I can never figure out their formation for more than a few minutes at a time. It’s almost been like Carlo Ancelotti’s season where we had tons of attackers and shapes, and they just all seemed to click and find the net.”

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