WSL preview: Albion entertain leaders Chelsea

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All you need to know ahead of Saturday's game at the Broadfield Stadium.

Bruce Talbot

2024-01-27T06:00:00Z

Elisabeth Terland will be hoping to have more goals to celebrate against Chelsea on Saturday.

Albion take on Chelsea on Saturday looking to extend their winning run to four games against the WSL champions and current league leaders. Kick off is 5.30pm at the Broadfield Stadium and tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

Our Fan Guide, with all you need to know including a link to the digital match programme, can be found here

Team News

Head coach Melissa Phillips reporter no new injury updates from our midweek game against Charlton in the Continental League Cup.

View from the Head Coach

Last time out

Player to watch

England international Lauren James has ten goals in the WSL this season.

Only two players have scored more WSL goals than Elisabeth Terland (9) and one of them is Chelsea’s Lauren James. The England international’s hat-trick against Manchester United took her tally to ten and it was the 22-year-old’s second successive Stamford Bridge hat-trick after she also scored three in the win over Liverpool in November. Head coach Emma Hayes says Chelsea’s strikers have to step up in the absence of Sam Kerr, who is sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury. “She is a genius footballer and I am happy for her, her hold-up play is unbelievable,” said Hayes.

Match facts

Albion goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley is set to make her 100th appearance in the Women’s Super League; she has played the most games without ever missing a single minute in the competition (99 games, all starts, never been subbed or sent off).
Albion have won just one of their ten WSL meetings with Chelsea (D2 L7), coming from a goal down to win 2-1 in February 2021 at Kingsmeadow.
Chelsea are unbeaten in all five of their away matches against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Women’s Super League (W3 D2), conceding just once across those games; the Blues have only travelled to West Ham (W5) as often without suffering defeat in the competition.
There have been at least two goals scored in each of Chelsea’s last 16 away Women’s Super League matches, with 59 goals netted in total (W11 D2 L3, 45 for, 14 against). In their last four alone there have been 17 goals scored (W3 L1, 13 for & 4 against).
Chelsea have won 16 of their last 18 Women’s Super League matches (D1 L1), winning eight of their last nine in the WSL. The exception in this run was a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal in December.
Although they’ve only had 11 Opta-defined big chances in the WSL this season, Albion have the best big chance conversion rate of any team (73%), scoring eight of those 11 big chances. Opponents Chelsea have had the most big chances (46) and have the second-best conversion rate (54%).
Chelsea’s Niamh Charles has carried the ball the furthest distance in the Women’s Super League this season (1,970m) and is the only player to have progressed the ball upfield by 1,000+ metres in 2023-24 so far (1,111m).
Sjoeke Nusken’s was involved in all four of Chelsea’s goals against Brighton earlier this season in the WSL, scoring a hat-trick and assisting Aggie Beever-Jones’ goal. The most goals a Chelsea player has scored or assisted against an opponent in a single WSL season is seven (Fran Kirby vs Reading in 2020-21, 6 goals & 1 assist).