Liverpool Women 0-3 Chelsea Women
Chelsea Men 1-1 Arsenal Men
Fans of Chelsea's remarkable women's team have a chance to assess whether the Blues have what it takes to succeed against their closest rivals in a top-of-the-table six-pointer at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
Manchester City visit on Saturday evening, pitting the league champions against the current league leaders in a match which finally threatens to dilute manager Sonia Bompastor's 100% record.
It follows a hard-earned win for Chelsea Women against Liverpool last weekend, when Mayra Ramirez, Guro Reiten and Aggie Beever-Jones were all on target, and the defence kept a clean sheet. That broke a curious hoodoo as the Blues hadn't won away against the Reds for five years.
"At the moment, with the good results, the players have a lot of confidence," said Bompastor afterwards. "But we haven't won anything yet!"
City swept Spurs aside on Friday night with a 4-0 victory which included a Kadija Shaw hat-trick. Keeping the 'Bunny' in her warren will be a tall task, but the real issue is smothering the supply lines to the lofty centre forward.
With Lauren Hemp on top form, and rising star Jess Park also enjoying superb form, Bompastor's team will need to be at their individual and collective best to prevent those telling crosses which Shaw exploits so well.
Steering the right course
Chelsea's men, despite only drawing with rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge at the weekend ahead of another international break, are moving in the right direction, according to manager Enzo Maresca.
Sitting third in the Premier League table, it's hard to disagree. "I'd be more worried if the performance wasn't good enough, but we competed well against Man City, Liverpool, Man United and tonight," he said after the dust had settled on a full-blooded 1-1 derby.
Gabriel Martinelli fired the Gunners ahead on the hour mark, choosing the narrow angle to beat Robert Sanchez, after former Blue Kai Havertz thought he'd scored in the first half, only for VAR to rule it out for offside, to the glee of the home fans.
But Arsenal's lead lasted precisely 10 minutes. The sprinty Pedro Neto collected in midfield and unleashed a powerful left-foot effort into the net, and there the score remained.
Chelsea had a late, late scare with the final kick of the game, when an Arsenal cross flew through the Blues' penalty area, with no one able to convert. But on balance a draw was a fair result.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
