After the disappointment of being knocked out of the Women's Champions League at the hands of Barcelona once again, Chelsea will be looking to reassert themselves in the Women's Super League.
Even serial winner Sonia Bompastor was unable to prevent the cycle of defeat to the Blaugrana, who triumphed 4-1 on Sunday to seal a whopping 8-2 aggregate victory in the semi-finals.
The Blues' wait for their Champions League drought to end will roll into another season, and while quadruple hopes have now faded, Bompastor can still complete a treble in her first campaign in charge since taking over from Emma Hayes.
The second of those trophies could be clinched on Wednesday. Both Chelsea and Arsenal – the Women's Super League top two – are in action, against Manchester United and Aston Villa respectively.
With six points separating Chelsea from the Gunners, who beat Lyon 5-3 on aggregate to reach the Champions League final, the permutations are simple.
Should the Blues better Arsenal's result, then they will be crowned WSL champions for the sixth consecutive season and for a ninth time overall. That would be three times as many titles as any other team (Arsenal have won it on three occasions).
Such is the schedule, Chelsea will know what is required by the time of kick-off at Leigh Sports Village Stadium, with Arsenal's match against Villa due to have finished by then. Should the Gunners win, then Chelsea would have to wait until at least the weekend, when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur for a London derby, to get the job done.
However, the team that stands in their way will be no pushovers.
United have been a formidable force this season. Marc Skinner and his team have efficiently gone about their business, and will be aiming to get one over on Chelsea ahead of an FA Cup final clash against Bompastor's side next month.
But Chelsea, who won the reverse fixture against United 1-0 earlier this season, are a wounded animal in the wake of that heavy loss to Barca, and that could make them even more dangerous.
Opta's supercomputer makes the Blues the favourites. They have a 48.8% win probability, compared to just 27.3% for United, while there is a 23.9% chance of a draw.
Even though it is not quite the procession it might have been, the Blues still have a 98% chance of going on and winning the title, too.
We dive into the key storylines ahead of a crucial fixture.
I guess that's why they call it the Blues
United have never beaten Chelsea in the WSL (D1 L9) and are currently on an eight-match losing streak against the Blues in the competition. Their only point came in their first-ever home match against Chelsea in September 2020 (1-1).
Chelsea have reeled off three successive WSL away wins against United, scoring six goals in two of those victories: 6-1 in September 2021 and 6-0 in May 2024.
That latter victory came on the final day of last season at Old Trafford, as Chelsea clinched the title and broke Manchester City's hearts in the process. Even if it denied their neighbours, it was a painful result for the United faithful.
Over a third of the defeats United have suffered in the WSL have come at Chelsea's hands (36% - 9/25).
The Red Devils have failed to score in four of their 10 meetings with the Blues and have not netted in either of the last two. Overall, they have scored just seven goals against Chelsea, conceding 28.
Indeed, Skinner has lost all seven of his matches against Chelsea in the WSL but did manage to oversee United's sole victory against them last season, as the Red Devils triumphed 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-finals en route to winning the trophy.
The pressure is all on Chelsea coming into this one, though, especially if Arsenal were to beat Villa and close the gap to three points prior to kick-off, and that could suit United.
Under the radar and underappreciated?
Chelsea's remarkable unbeaten streak under Bompastor has fairly taken the headlines, while Arsenal's resurgence under Renee Slegers and Manchester City's fall off have also been major talking points this season in the WSL.
Skinner and United, though, have arguably gone under the radar. They have been supremely consistent, losing just two league matches all season, and have answered plenty of the questions that were raised before the campaign began.
Sitting third, they are four points ahead of Man City and two points off Arsenal in second. After Chelsea, their last two games come against both of those teams, so United will need to be at their very best to secure Champions League qualification.
Part of the secret to their success has been their incredible defensive performances. United have the best defensive record in the WSL – they have conceded just nine goals, four fewer than second-best Chelsea (13).
Key to it all has been goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who has more than met the challenge of stepping up to fill the void left by Mary Earps since her departure in the summer to Paris Saint-Germain.
She has kept a league-high 13 clean sheets and leads the Golden Glove race ahead of Arsenal's Daphne van Domselaar and Chelsea's Hannah Hampton, who have kept 10 shutouts each.
Tullis-Joyce has made 50 saves, too, and just last week she signed a new contract with United, tying her to the club through to June 2028.
The United States international could also equal the WSL record for most shutouts kept by a goalkeeper in a single season. That is a record currently owned by her predecessor Earps (14 in 2022-23).
United have conceded 18.29 expected goals against (xGA), outperforming that total by 9.29. Chelsea, meanwhile, have an xGA total of 15.61, a total only bettered by Arsenal (15.12).
Ahead of Tullis-Joyce, Millie Turner and Maya Le Tissier have formed a superb partnership.
Turner has made the seventh-most clearances in the WSL this season (87), with Le Tissier making 82. Turner has also made the joint-second-most blocks (18), behind only West Ham's Amber Tysiak (19).
Skinner's solid foundations have been the bedrock to United's success this season, though keeping Chelsea at bay is never going to be easy.
History hunters
This season has been one of the record-breaking feats for this Chelsea side, though Bompastor will be wary that the job is not done quite yet.
Chelsea remain unbeaten in their 19 WSL games this season (W16 D3) and could set a new record for most consecutive matches unbeaten in a single campaign (Man City also went 19 unbeaten in 2018-19).
Should the Blues go unbeaten for the rest of the season, they will match the 25-game streak they themselves set between May 2017 and September 2018 - a run that ranks as the third-longest unbeaten run of all time in the WSL, behind Man City's 31 between 2015 and 2017 and Chelsea's 33 between 2019 and 2021.
If Chelsea win all of their remaining matches, then not only would they be sure of the title, but they would also set the record points total in a WSL season, overtaking the 58 set by Hayes' Blues in 2022-23.
Chelsea have won seven of their nine away games (D2), and could equal their most ever away wins in a campaign should they beat United (eight in each of the last four campaigns), while they are aiming to complete a WSL double over United for the fourth successive season, with no other team doing so more than once since the 2021-22 term (also Man City and Liverpool in 2023-24).
But these records will mean little if Chelsea's season ends in disappointment, and based on Bompastor's lofty standards, she will settle for nothing less than a domestic treble.
They have made big money signings in the likes of Naomi Girma, Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze and Sandy Baltimore, though their quest for that elusive Champions League trophy rolls on, so Bompastor will know the pressure is on if she is to ensure fans it was money well spent.
Not including the inaugural WSL campaign, when Laura Harvey's Arsenal won the title, Bompastor is aiming to become the first manager to triumph in her first season in the competition. Gareth Taylor (Man City 2020-21) and Jonas Eidevall (Arsenal 2021-22) finished second in their respective maiden campaigns in charge.
The ones to watch
Chelsea are the second-highest scorers in the WSL this season, netting 53 goals (Arsenal lead the way with 54). Their haul has come from 44.09 expected goals (an overperformance of 8.91), so the Blues will certainly test the United defence that has been watertight so far this season.
United, meanwhile, have scored 36 goals (from 32.91 xG), having 258 shots overall – the fourth-best tally in the WSL. They do have a marginally better shot conversion rate than their opponents (13.95% to Chelsea's 13.77%).
Striker Elisabeth Terland has played a crucial role, with her nine goals ranking joint-third in the WSL this term. She has performed on track compared to her 9.06 xG, too, showing she has generally put away the chances that she would have been anticipated to.
Terland has actually had the most big chances in the league, with 19, at least five more than anyone else. However, she has netted just four.
Chelsea's Aggie Beever-Jones, by contrast, has converted six of her 11 big chances. She has scored just one fewer and is joint-fourth in the standings (eight goals from 5.82 xG), along with Guro Reiten (eight from 5.87 xG).
Beever-Jones (19.51%) and Reiten (26.67%) both have a higher shot conversion rate than Terland (14.75%), too.
Reiten was an unused substitute at the weekend and Beever-Jones made a late appearance in the second half, so it seems likely they will be involved against United.
Grace Clinton has had a brilliant season, plundering seven goals from midfield, outperforming her 4.48 xG to boot. She is a driving force in United's midfield.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd is Chelsea's primary playmaker, and United will be looking to shut her down. She has four assists and has created 33 chances, with only four players creating more in the WSL.
Catarina Macario was a standout for Chelsea in their 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace last week, scoring twice (bringing her to five goals for the season) and having five of the Blues' 30 shots. She also created a game-high six chances for her team-mates.
Two of Macario's last three WSL goals have been scored via direct free-kicks, making her the first Chelsea player to ever score multiple free-kicks in a single campaign and the first player to do so overall since Siri Worm for Spurs in 2020-21.
There are plenty of standout players who could make the difference in what promises to be an enthralling encounter.
Kazabikosu
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