The Premier League is back up and running after over a month’s hiatus due to the World Cup, and with that comes a much-needed break on the women’s side of the sport. When it comes to the Chelsea Women, the first half of the season could not have unfolded much better after a shocking loss on the opening weekend to Liverpool on the road.
While Emma Hayes and the Blues battled injuries to star players, and a loaded match schedule, CFC showed its depth, resilience, and quality on all levels of the pitch. The Blues head into the break as the only team with 30 or more goals in the Women’s Super League, and the only club in the Champions League to have secured a total of 16 points through six group-stage contests. Whether it was the emergence of Serbian international Jelena Cankovic over the last few weeks or the jaw-dropping amount of goal involvements that Guro Reiten has racked up so far, there are so many positives to take from the first few months of this campaign.
A depleted Arsenal side that seeks to revamp its roster during the January transfer window due to two key injuries awaits CFC in a battle that very well could decide the winner of this season’s WSL. The Blues took care of business and then some against Paris Saint-Germain at Stamford Bridge and will play either Lyon, Bayern Munich, or Roma in the quarterfinals of the most illustrious competition in the world. Plenty of questions were being asked of this group in several parts of the last few months, but this group continued to come together and execute on the pitch.