Chelsea vs Arsenal: Gunners enchancment beneath Renee Slegers poses important menace to Sonia Bompastor’s WSL title chase

Chelsea vs Arsenal is essentially the most performed fixture within the historical past of Ladies’s Tremendous League. It is a part of what makes it so fascinating.

However this explicit assembly has one other layer of intrigue, as Sonia Bompastor and Renee Slegers face off for the very first time – two energy ladies on the high of the sport.

The poignance of this fixture can be helped by current context. The final time these two sides met at Emirates Stadium in October, Jonas Eidevall was in cost at Arsenal with Slegers his No 2. Emma Hayes watched on from the administrators’ field for the primary time since leaving Chelsea, as her former aspect dismantled the Gunners piece by piece.

A 2-1 win barely did the demolition justice. Chelsea have been head and shoulders above, preying on a mess of vulnerabilities that had crept into Arsenal’s recreation after a torrid begin to the season. Opta put Arsenal’s probabilities of profitable the WSL title following that loss at 1.4 per cent.

Maybe unsurprisingly, then, 48 hours later Eidevall resigned, with Slegers flung into the highlight to fill the void – a place she’s held ever since.

Thus far, the succession plan has labored completely. Arsenal are unbeaten in 13 video games in all competitions, a file stretching again to that depressing day in October, whereas the fashion and fortitude of performances have helped regain supporter belief. Slegers has banked some severe credit score along with her command of such a dramatic turnaround.

Subsequent comes the actual acid check. Arsenal’s current run has been spectacular however not altogether sudden given Slegers has probably the most gifted and well-rounded squads in Europe. They weren’t inherently unhealthy in the direction of the tip of Eidevall’s reign, simply misguided, and outcomes since show that.

However Arsenal haven’t gained at Chelsea within the league since 2018 when Joe Montemurro was in cost, barely any workforce has. Chelsea have gained 40 of their final 42 house video games, a run that began with a 3-0 victory towards Arsenal again in February 2021.

Slegers has proved she will be able to devise a recreation plan crafty sufficient to beat Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Aston Villa within the league and she or he’s been tactically sensible in Europe too, overseeing an announcement win at Bayern Munich earlier than the winter break to avenge a 5-2 loss within the reverse fixture.

This weekend’s proposition is completely different, although.

The Slegers undertaking can be formed by video games towards her largest rivals, and resolve examined to the max at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as Arsenal try and do what no opposition workforce has ever completed in that area: win.

The idea that final result is feasible is the primary hurdle and one of many causes many have tried and failed towards Chelsea – psychologically they all the time appear to have the higher hand. Hayes used monster mentality as Chelsea’s superpower all through her wildly profitable 12-year tenure, all the time shouldering the stress, and Bompastor operates equally.

Underneath Slegers, Arsenal have edge too. They’ve gone from no-hopers to Chelsea’s foremost menace by tightening up at each ends of the pitch and re-establishing their self-importance. No workforce chases titles feeling sorry for themselves.

“I just feel like Renee sees me,” Leah Williamson stated in a current interview. “It is probably a Dutch thing, but she doesn’t say things for the sake of it. She says what she means, and she looks at things from a slightly different perspective than I have known from a coach.”

The defender, who scored her first WSL purpose for almost two years in final week’s 5-0 thrashing of Palace, says Slegers’ biggest power has been her potential to create an surroundings that “empowers people”. Her fashion – assured and direct – has reshaped the dressing room and the way they view what’s attainable this season.

Arsenal have scored 21 WSL targets beneath Slegers at a median of three per recreation, and gained their final 5 with out conceding, boasting extra cleans sheets (8) than some other aspect.

Chelsea’s rampant assault will after all stress check simply how steady the Gunners’ much-improved backline is in actuality, however any end in Arsenal’s favour to shut the hole on the high to 4 factors would breathe new life into this 12 months’s title race – absolutely a welcome reinvigoration for the complete league.