Four head-to-head meetings across three competitions for Manchester City and Chelsea could define both clubs' campaigns. Friday afternoon's Champions League quarter-final draw pitted the former WSL title rivals against each other in European competition, while meetings are also scheduled in the Subway Cup final and the WSL in March.
Last Wednesday night, Chelsea and Manchester City secured their spots in the League Cup final, meaning they will face off at Pride Park on 15 March. The sides are also due to play one another the following weekend in the WSL on 23 March at the Joie Stadium.
However, with the two-legged Champions League quarter-finals taking place for the pair on 19 March and 27 March, Manchester City and Chelsea will now also play one another prior to and after the league contest.
Manchester City manager, Gareth Taylor was asked in his press conference to comment on the peculiar run of fixtures.
“It’s a strange (situation), it will be strange to play them four times in a row but it’s an exciting challenge.
“They’re unbeaten this season and have made a really strong start, some games have been quite tight but they’ve come out on the right side with their results.
“It will be a tough challenge, for sure.”
Chelsea boss, Sonia Bompastor also gave her thoughts to Hayters TV on the Champions League draw:
“I’m used to playing the same team often. In France we had that between Lyon and PSG. Last season we played them seven times. Almost every week at the end of the season.
“We will face them (City) in different competitions and it will be different games. When you have to face an English team (in UWCL) you wish you could have a different opponent because you always play them but that is the draw.”
While the situation may be far from ideal, it will present both sides consecutive chances to produce a result in four of the most important matches of their campaigns to date.
Searching for Silverware
The League Cup final presents both sides with the chance to secure their first trophy of the season. While the final at Pride Park will be Chelsea’s sixth consecutive League Cup final appearance, Manchester City last featured in the final during the 2021/22 season.
In fact, the Citizens defeated Chelsea 3 - 1 that day. However, while the result at Plough Lane demonstrates City have had recent success in the competition against the Blues, the names of those who were both City’s heroes and Chelsea’s runners up are much different than now.
Taylor’s team will hope that the likes of impressive winger Mary Fowler and prolific striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw can be those to mark their names in the history books for the first time since adorning the blue and white shirt.
However, Chelsea will be looking to make amends for their three consecutive defeats in the League Cup final since 2022. The plethora of talent manager Bompastor will have at her disposal means that the Blues could certainly do so.
European Nights
Manchester City made history after securing their spot in the Champions League quarter-finals, having never before progressed out of the Group Stage.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are a much more established side on the European stage, having come close to winning the competition in the past three seasons.
In the 2020/21 season, Chelsea suffered a 4 - 0 defeat in the final to Barcelona. Since, Barcelona has continued to prove the triumphant side, defeating the Blues 2 - 1 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the 22/23 and 23/24 campaigns.
The seamless replacement of the highly decorated and adored Emma Hayes by Bompastor means Chelsea’s desire to win the Champions League remains very much the same.
While Barcelona are in fact the bookies’ favourites to retain their European crown for a third time running, with an odd of 5/4, Chelsea make the top three at 4/1.
The Blues certainly have the experience required to advance to the semi-finals once more, however Manchester City have already proven they can produce results against the odds.
An unforeseen and emphatic performance against Barcelona at the Joie Stadium on 9th October secured Manchester City a 2 - 0 victory in the Group Stage.
Manchester City will look to stage a similar result in the first leg at the Joie Stadium, as a second leg away at Stamford Bridge is not an enticing prospect.
Title & Top Three Races
The league match on 23rd March will be a hotly contested match as Chelsea will look to extend their unbeaten run. Manchester City currently sit just adrift of the three Champions League spots for next season, with Arsenal two points ahead of them in third.
Even if City manage to defeat Bompastor’s Blues at the Joie Stadium, they would only leapfrog the Gunners and close the gap on Chelsea if Arsenal were to slip-up, with what would be just five games remaining.
The title however is close to a foregone conclusion, with Chelsea's dominance under Emma Hayes continuing under Bompastor so far, something Connor Booth looked at a couple of weeks ago.
In the reverse WSL fixture between City and Chelsea on 16th November, Chelsea secured a 2 - 0 victory at Stamford Bridge as two moments of quality from Guro Reiten and Mayra Ramírez concluded an otherwise evenly matched tactical affair.
With City having home advantage this time around, they certainly have a chance of handing Chelsea their first defeat of the season.
Talking Tactics
The four consecutive matches in just twelve calendar days will provide both managers with a lot to ponder.
While the bosses may wish to prioritise playing their best starting XI for the Champions League quarter-finals in place of the League Cup final, both competitions are imperative to the success of each clubs' season.
Bompastor is accustomed to rotating her squad and may rest key players such as Ramírez, Erin Cuthbert and Millie Bright in the league match, as the gap her side holds over 2nd-place Manchester United allows some room for error.
Although Manchester City also have strength in numbers, they do not possess the same luxury of rotation, as the result must keep their hopes of a spot in next season’s Champions League alive and kicking; defeat could leave them five points behind.
It would be wise to note, however, that all personnel decisions will rely heavily on each result from the individual matches. The same could be said for the slight tactical changes which could be employed to Chelsea’s 4-2-3-1 formation and City’s 4-3-3, as prior efficacy will indicate whether they should be repeated.
The players will also know not to focus on the noise surrounding the four highly anticipated matches, as focusing on themselves rather than their opposition (in this case, the external noise as well as their opponent) may just mean they find their trophy aspirations within touching distance.
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