Chelsea vs Arsenal: Gunners improvement under Renee Slegers poses significant threat to Sonia Bompastor’s WSL title chase | Football News

Chelsea vs Arsenal is the most played fixture in the history of Women’s Super League. It’s part of what makes it so interesting.

But this particular meeting has another layer of intrigue, as Sonia Bompastor and Renee Slegers face off for the very first time – two power women at the top of the game.

The poignance of this fixture is also helped by recent context. The last time these two sides met at Emirates Stadium in October, Jonas Eidevall was in charge at Arsenal with Slegers his No 2. Emma Hayes watched on from the directors’ box for the first time since leaving Chelsea, as her former side dismantled the Gunners piece by piece.

A 2-1 win barely did the demolition justice. Chelsea were head and shoulders above, preying on a multitude of vulnerabilities that had crept into Arsenal’s game after a torrid start to the season. Opta put Arsenal’s chances of winning the WSL title following that loss at 1.4 per cent.

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

So far, the succession plan has worked perfectly. Arsenal are unbeaten in 13 games in all competitions, a record stretching back to that miserable day in October, while the style and fortitude of performances have helped regain supporter trust. Slegers has banked some serious credit with her command of such a dramatic turnaround.

Next comes the real acid test. Arsenal’s recent run has been impressive but not altogether unexpected given Slegers has one of the most gifted and well-rounded squads in Europe. They were not inherently bad towards the end of Eidevall’s reign, just misguided, and results since prove that.

But Arsenal have not won at Chelsea in the league since 2018 when Joe Montemurro was in charge, barely any team has. Chelsea have won 40 of their last 42 home games, a run that started with a 3-0 victory against Arsenal back in February 2021.

Slegers has proved she can devise a game plan cunning enough to beat Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Aston Villa in the league and she’s been tactically smart in Europe too, overseeing a statement win at Bayern Munich before the winter break to avenge a 5-2 loss in the reverse fixture.

This weekend’s proposition is different, though.

The Slegers project will be shaped by games against her biggest rivals, and resolve tested to the max at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as Arsenal attempt to do what no opposition team has ever done in that arena: win.

The belief that outcome is possible is the first hurdle and one of the reasons many have tried and failed against Chelsea – psychologically they always seem to have the upper hand. Hayes used monster mentality as Chelsea’s superpower throughout her wildly successful 12-year tenure, always shouldering the pressure, and Bompastor operates similarly.

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

“I just feel like Renee sees me,” Leah Williamson said in a recent 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 goal for nearly two years in last week’s 5-0 thrashing of Palace, says Slegers’ greatest strength has been her ability to create an environment that “empowers people”. Her style – confident and direct – has reshaped the dressing room and how they view what’s possible this season.

Arsenal have scored 21 WSL goals under Slegers at an average of three per game, and won their last five without conceding, boasting more cleans sheets (8) than any other side.

Chelsea’s rampant attack will of course stress test just how stable the Gunners’ much-improved backline is in reality, but any result in Arsenal’s favour to close the gap at the top to four points would breathe new life into this year’s title race – surely a welcome reinvigoration for the entire league.