Doubt crept in at Chelsea last season when they lost their Women's Super League crown - but early signs in this campaign suggest they have regained their spark. A crucial 1-0 victory over rivals Arsenal on Sunday meant they extended their WSL unbeaten run to 12 games and sit just two points off leaders Manchester City. They showed a different side - one that was willing to dig deep, control the game without the ball and defend with composure while Arsenal put pressure on.
It may have been the missing ingredient as Chelsea look revitalised and refreshed. Could they win the WSL title this year? It would be foolish to say they can't.
Find interviews and extra content on the BBC Women's Football Weekly feed Sonia Bompastor led Chelsea to an unbeaten domestic treble in her first season in charge, but it did not go to plan in 2025-26 as their six-year stranglehold on the WSL ended. City overtook them at the top and many believed Arsenal would be the main challengers this season after a strong summer's recruitment. Perhaps written off, Chelsea started the season tamely, drawing 1-1 with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge despite a dominant performance.
The same issues were rife as they lacked ruthlessness in front of goal and a mistake at the back gifted Villa an opportunity. But since then, Chelsea have turned dominant performances into results, winning three matches in a row, capping it off with a well-rounded display against Arsenal, who are seven points behind City in seventh spot. Bompastor said her side were prepared to "mentally fight" and able to "adjust" to Arsenal's pressure in a way perhaps they didn't last season.
It was a defensive masterclass and they delivered Bompastor's gameplan perfectly, capping off victory with a third successive clean sheet - a run of 315 minutes without conceding a goal. "In this league, you have so many different opponents and you have to be able to adjust and do something different," said the Blues boss. "I've been talking a lot about that, to be strong and to be together, I always want to see a group of players who are together in those high and low moments.
"We came into this game well prepared. We knew we would have moments in the game where we were not in control. We prepared for those moments.
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