Everton Women vs Chelsea: WSL Match Preview

Everton Women boss Brian Sorensen insists that he is not feeling the pressure and believes that most of his team’s performances have been better than their solitary win this season suggests.

The Blues currently sit tenth in the WSL and have also lost their opening two League Cup games. Things get no easier for the Toffees, who welcome reigning champions and current league leaders Chelsea to Walton Hall Park this Sunday.

Lucy Hope, Nathalie Bjorn, Elise Stenevik all remain out while are number of players are being assessed ahead of the fixture with Emma Hayes’ side.

Sorensen is also having to contend with a bout of sickness within the squad but insists he is not feeling the pressure and highlighted a number of good performances he has seen from his side so far.

“No, I’m not (feeling the pressure), I feel the performances have been better than just the one win,” he said. “We have look at those performances, but those two big losses against United is not something any of us in the group want.

“It’s done, it’s history. There is nothing we can do about except look forward and prepare for an even tougher match against Chelsea. But we will have more of the main starters back which means that we can better compete over the 90 minutes.

Photo by James Chance - The FA/The FA via Getty Images

“We were the better team for large parts of the game against Brighton, didn’t get the result. Against Leicester, we missed the penalty and missed some big, big chances.

“If those games go for us, we could be sitting here with ten points but as it is we only have four because we didn’t get those over the line.”

The Opposition

Emma Hayes champions are the only unbeaten team in the WSL along with Manchester United, with Manchester City the only side to take league points from them so far.

Top scorers with 15, the West London outfit will smell blood against their hosts as they look to increase their lead and goal difference, which was very well boosted with a 6-0 win over Aston Villa in their last fixture.

Boasting a wealth of talent throughout the ranks, the forward play often earns most of the plaudits, with the likes of Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby leading the line.

One player who will be well known to Everton will be Aggie Beever-Jones who enjoyed a successful loan spell last season with the Blues and already has two goals to her name this campaign.

But it is not all about the striking talent, with seasoned pros Millie Bright and Jess Carter marshalling a back line that has only been breached four times in the WSL this season.

Previous Meetings

A Kadeisha Buchanan own goal actually levelled proceedings at Walton Hall Park last season. The Blues were trailing to a Pernille Harder goal, and the Dane would go on to restore the visitors lead before Niamh Charles added a third in stoppage time to give Chelsea the win.

Everton have failed to score in 11 of the last 13 games all competitions against Chelsea, the only games the Blues found have found the net was the FA Cup Quarter Final at Goodison in 2020, which saw the Toffees advance 2-1 thanks goals from Lucy Hope & Valerie Gauvin, and the aforementioned game at Walton Hall Park.

Everton’s last league victory over Chelsea came in a 3-2 win on the 1 September 2013, Toni Duggan, Michelle Hinnigan and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah were all on target that day.

It will be a tough test but with a few more bodies back and the crowd behind them, can Everton reverse their fortunes and stop the Chelsea juggernaut?