Chelsea and Everton meet at Stamford Bridge with the home side still unbeaten in all competitions and top of the WSL. Everton begin the first of five fixtures this month with a trip that asks an immediate question: how do they slow down a Chelsea team that has won its last seven league matches?
That search for answers is sharpened by the numbers. Chelsea lead the WSL scoring charts and have the division’s meanest defence, conceding four goals in eight matches. Melvine Malard heads their scoring with six goals, and Sonia Bompastor’s side have already won 16 of their last 18 WSL matches against Everton, drawing one and losing one. The pattern has been brutal enough that a one-sided fixture has become the expectation, not the exception.
But Everton have already shown they can break that pattern. Last season they ended Chelsea’s 31-game unbeaten league run, and Honoka Hayashi was at the heart of it, scoring after 12 minutes when she met Toni Payne’s cross. That result still hangs over this meeting because it proved Chelsea’s grip is not absolute, even if the broader record now points the other way.
Everton’s problem is that they may not be at full strength to test that gap again. Scott Phelan is weighing his options after Honoka Hayashi and Holly McNamara both picked up knocks in the Subway Players Cup win away at Sheffield United, leaving both doubtful. Everton also arrive after a goalless draw with Manchester United at Goodison Park last week, a result that showed discipline but not enough punch.
For Chelsea, the timing is straightforward: they can extend a perfect league run and keep pressure on the rest of the division. For Everton, the trip is about managing doubts, protecting what they have, and finding a way to turn one upset last season into more than a memory at Stamford Bridge.
