WSL: Something must give as perfect Chelsea face unbeaten Man Utd

Something has to happen in the Women's Super League on Sunday when Chelsea put their perfect record on the line against Manchester United, the only other unbeaten team in the division.

The match at Kingsmeadow was postponed earlier this season due to player welfare issues arising from the Blues' busy Champions League schedule. So this is the last match before the international break and all twelve teams will be drawn even after eight matches played.

While Sonia Bompastor's Chelsea made history with last week's victory over title rivals Manchester City, this is United's longest unbeaten start to a WSL season since they went 10 matchdays without defeat in 2020/21.

A Chelsea win could see the defending champions take a five-point lead at the top before the break, while a United victory could blow the title race wide open. Which way will it go?

Leading the pack

Despite a change in the dugout, Chelsea have started this season with the same relentless pace that saw them end Emma Hayes' reign. Wednesday's 3-0 win over Celtic made it 11 wins in as many games in all competitions.

Chelsea earned a reputation as mentality monsters under Hayes, but this is actually their best ever start to a WSL season.

They have never scored more goals (25), conceded fewer goals (three), had a higher goal difference (+22) or a higher points total (21) than their current tally after seven games in a season.

Dating back to last season, the Blues have won 10 consecutive WSL matches, their longest ever winning run in the competition. The last team to achieve a longer winning streak was City, who recorded 14 straight wins between November and April last season.

Last Saturday, with a 2-0 win over City at Stamford Bridge, Bompastor became the first manager to triumph in each of their first seven games and manage a team in the WSL. Chelsea, meanwhile, become only the third team in WSL history to win each of the first seven games of a season, after Man City (2017-18) and Arsenal (2018-19).

This is nothing new for Bompastor, who has won 40 of her last 42 league games as manager at Lyon and Chelsea.

Across her career, Bompastor now averages 2.66 points per game and has a brilliant 85.9% win ratio in all competitions, having won 110 of her 128 competitive games as head coach. Her teams have scored just 78 goals while plundering 414.

Marc Skinner's United find themselves in the chase, six points behind Chelsea in fifth place but knowing a win could move them into second. The likes of City, Brighton and Arsenal may be quietly cheering them on in the hope they can prevent Chelsea from pulling away.

However, United have drawn three of their last five games, with the stalemate at home to Aston Villa earlier this month a particular source of frustration.

However, they are incredibly difficult to beat, something that can be attributed to their excellent defensive record. In Europe's top five leagues, Lyon and United (two each) are the only teams to have conceded fewer goals than Chelsea (three) this season.

United have therefore conceded the fewest goals in the WSL this season. They are one of only three teams to concede two or fewer goals after seven games in a WSL season, along with Birmingham City in 2011 (two) and Man City in both 2016 (none) and 2019-20 (one).

Chelsea have already scored 25 league goals this season, with their xG (expected goals) overperformance of +10.2 (14.8 xG) comfortably the best in the WSL. United's defense can expect their toughest test yet, and they must hold their ground if they want to get a result.

Colombian queen

One Chelsea player who has really stood out this season is Colombian forward Mayra Ramirez. Her strength, agility and skill have shocked defenders across the league, with several big goals – including one against title rivals Arsenal – showing why the Blues did everything they could to sign her.

She joined from Levante in January for a British record €450,000 plus extras. The 25-year-old has wasted no time in acclimating to the WSL and becoming a focal point for Bompastor's attack, with six goals and four assists in 13 league games for Chelsea.

She averages a goal or assist every 79 minutes in the WSL. In league history, only four players have a better minutes per goal or assist ratio than Ramirez (minimum 500 minutes played).

She scored three and assisted two in Chelsea's seven league games in 2024–25, tying her with Guru Reiten (five goals) and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (three goals, two assists) for the most goals for the Blues this season.

Only Man City duo Lauren Hemp (seven) and Khadija Shaw (eight) have recorded more goal contributions than the Chelsea trio this season.

Bompastor's Blues certainly give their attackers plenty of chances, with Ramirez recording 40 of her touches (19.8%) in the opposition's area this season. Only five WSL players have recorded a higher percentage of touches in opponent areas (minimum 20 touches in opponent area) in 2024-2025.

Ramirez's physical prowess only adds to her reputation as an all-around threat. Ramirez has contested more matches (79) than any other Chelsea player this season, winning 27 of them. Only Lucy Bronze (30), Sjoeke Nusken (34) and Millie Bright (35) won more matches for Blauw-Zwart. Having a forward who isn't afraid to lead the press from the front will help Bompastor's teams get in – only Man City (86 times) have won possession in the final third more times this season than Chelsea (68 ) in the WSL.

While City have forced more high turnovers (134 to 122) and shot-ending high turnovers (32 to 22) than Chelsea this season, the Blues have converted six of their high turnovers into goals, compared to five for Gareth Taylor's team.

Ramirez has quickly established himself as one of the WSL's best all-round forwards and will be one to watch on Sunday.

United's saving grace

United, meanwhile, will rely on Grace Clinton, who will pick up where she left off after enjoying a breakout loan spell at Tottenham in 2023/24.

As well as being United's top scorer with three league goals this season, Clinton also contributes from possession, competing 111 matches to rank second in the WSL behind Katie Stengel (113).

She has won 55 of these matches, more than any other player in the WSL, while she also leads all her Red Devils teammates in tries tackled (26) and wins (17).

She recently starred for England in a 2-1 friendly win over South Africa, leading many to suggest that she could be the long-term midfielder for both club and country.

Clinton's ability to hit the box from deep has become an important facet of her game, and only forward Elisabeth Terland (35) has had more touches among United players than her 23. Clinton is also second only to Terland in what regarding shots taken. 15) among United players.

However, Clinton is not the only player looking in the red. Since the beginning of October, only Man City duo Hemp (two goals, five assists) and Shaw (six goals, one assist) have been involved in more WSL goals than Celin Bizet (one goal, three assists), who came off well for the club against Leicester City last time.

Another standout performer was defender Maya Le Tissier. Although United's determined backline has them in hot pursuit early in the season, it is with the ball that they really stand out from the crowd.

The trust. The technology

That's our @MayaLeTissier #MUWomen

– Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) November 21, 2024

Le Tissier has had a team-leading 601 touches in the WSL this season, with an average of 85.8 per game, while no United player has attempted (505) or completed (397) as many passes as she has.

Only Man City's Alex Greenwood (120) – an English colleague of Le Tissier's – has completed more passes ending in the final third than her 90 of any WSL player.

Red Devils face Uphill Battle

Although United have played excellent defense so far this season and have kept five clean sheets in the league, their expected goals against (xGA) figure of 8.2 is only the fourth best figure in the league, behind Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City, suggesting they have taken advantage of their opponents' poor finishing.

It's possible they won't have any luck at Kingsmeadow. Chelsea have thrown away 14 of their 23 big chances (60.9%) in the 2024/25 season, while United have converted eight of their 17 (47.1%). If Skinner's team are to stop Chelsea's perfect start, they will need to combine solidity at the back with greater ruthlessness at the other end.

Chelsea are truly a bogey team for United, who have beaten every WSL team they have faced except the Blues. So far it has drawn once and lost eight times.

They have lost more games, scored fewer goals (seven) and conceded more goals (27) against Chelsea than against any other opponent. They were defeated 6–0 when the teams last met on the final day of 2023/24, as Hayes' Blues clinched a fifth straight league title.

The Opta supercomputer gives United a very slim chance of breaking the record this weekend. Our predictive model saw them come out on top in just 12.2% of pre-match simulations, with a 16.3% chance of a draw.

Chelsea are heavy favorites to win, triumphing in 71.5% of scenarios. The Blues currently retain their title in a whopping 90.1% of the supercomputer's season simulations, with United topping the pile on 0.1%.

Should Bompastor see another success against a potential rival, rumors of Chelsea completing their first unbeaten 22-match WSL season will only intensify. There is still a long way to go, but all signs indicate that they will have to stop for a while.