PREVIEW: Bristol City vs Chelsea

Chelsea will be looking to widen their lead at the top of the Barclays FA Women’s Super League table when they visit winless Bristol City on Sunday.

Emma Hayes’ side go into this fixture looking to break the Barclays FA Women’s Super League’s unbeaten record of 32, having extended their impressive run to 31 by beating title contenders Manchester United 2-1 last weekend.

This week, Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the FA Women’s Continental League Cup. Although they were forced into extra time by Manchester City, they came out on top scoring twice in extra-time to reach the last four of the competition. The Blues are not thought to have any injury concerns ahead of their latest fixture against Bristol City at Twerton Park this weekend.

Matt Beard’s first game as stand-in Bristol City boss saw his side struggle against Everton, losing 4-0 at Walton Hall Park. During the week, Beard reiterated that the main focus was improving intensity and fitness levels ahead of the Chelsea game, whilst using this game as a mini pre-season to give players minutes. The aim for Beard is to focus on collecting points from their big games in February, March and April as The Robins look to complete ‘The Great Escape’. During that three-month spell, Bristol City will face season-defining games against Brighton & Hove Albion, West Ham United, Aston Villa and Birmingham City. In terms of injures, Beard has stated that apart from the long-term injuries of Carla Humphrey, Sophie Baggaley and Jemma Purfield, he has a fully fit squad available to him.

Bristol City’s last meeting with Chelsea at Kingsmeadow in September saw Emma Hayes’ side run out 9-0 winners, which is the highest winning margin that they’ve recored in a single Barclays FA Women’s Super League tie.

Bristol City’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture against Chelsea is scheduled to kick-off at 2pm on Sunday and will be broadcast live on the FA Player.