Chelsea’s Niamh Charles says that this season’s Barclays Women’s Super League title race is impossible to predict.
The Blues are expected to contest a three-way battle with Arsenal and Manchester City for the Barclays Women’s Super League title, however, some of the other clubs in the league have invested heavily in their squads over the summer.
Chelsea star Charles knows that The Gunners and The Cityzens will be seen as the biggest dangers for the South West Londoners this season but the player says that nothing can be assumed or predicted prior to the business end of the campaign
“It’s hard to say, it’s a very long season and if you were to say anything now, it’ll probably change by the end of the season,” Charles said when speaking to FAWSL Full-Time about the potential title race.
“You expect from the very high calibre of Arsenal and Manchester City that they are both always going to be very strong and competing. Arsenal have the experience of playing with each other for a few years now so they will be looking to build on that and Manchester City have fresh players and will be looking to gel quickly.
“It’ll be really tough at the top but you also can’t discount the other teams who are building and progressing really well. It’ll be interesting and good for the women’s game on the whole from the top to the bottom that it’s really tight and competitive.”
On a personal level, Charles is also remaining open-minded and level-headed with her thoughts ahead of the new campaign. She explained that she has set herself some standard goals for 2022/2023 which haven’t really changed from her previous two seasons with The Blues.
She said “My goals have been similar each time I have come into this team. It is an incredibly high-performing team so every day in training, you need to compete and you need to be ready.
“I like the idea of going in and trying to improve every single day, reflecting on things and going forward into this season, I don’t think I have set too many expectations. I just really want to focus on the now where I am and take each day as it comes and really look to build those little blocks which help me progress.”
Chelsea kick-off the new campaign against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Tickets for the match remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.