We welcome London rivals Chelsea to Emirates Stadium at 12pm on Saturday, November 8 for a crucial game in the Women’s Super League.
With three wins in our last three games, we come into the derby on good form having thrashed Leicester City 4-1 last weekend.
While we start the weekend five points behind our London rivals, we can close the gap to two with victory over the league leaders.
blues boast unbeaten start
Chelsea have once again been the team to beat in the opening stages of this WSL season, winning six of their seven league games so far.
The Champions made a statement in their very first game of the season, beating last season’s title rivals Manchester City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Victories in their next three matches over Aston Villa, Leicester City and West Ham gave the Blues an early advantage at the top of the table.
But in their fifth game of the season, Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United, closing the gap between the top five to just five points.
Sonia Bompastor’s side dropped points again in their next outing, drawing 1-1 with Dutch side Twente in their first game of the league phase in the Champions League.
After two draws away from home, the Blues had a run of three home games in a row and won them all without conceding a goal, beating Tottenham and London City in the WSL either side of a 4-0 win over Paris FC in the Champions League.
WHAT the managers SAY
Slegers: “It is still early in the season and like we said at the start of the season, every game is important. But of course, this is a great opportunity that we have ahead of us tomorrow and we look forward to it.
“This is why the players work so hard, what they live for, to play these kinds of games where there’s so much at stake, but also a beautiful moment in a fantastic stadium, playing for a beautiful club, and having so many fans in the stadium tomorrow.”
Bompastor: “It comes from having the right mentality and good behaviours on the pitch, and the quality.
“I am someone who is always looking for the fine details, and in that sense, this week has been incredible. So hopefully, we will show that on the pitch tomorrow in the game.”
facts and stats
Our London derby with Chelsea is the most played fixture in WSL history with 29 meetings, and is one of just two fixtures in the competition to see both sides win at least 10 times (along with ourselves against Manchester City).
If Chelsea were to beat us on Saturday, they would become the first team in WSL history to beat us in four consecutive meetings.
We have won 19 of our 28 home London derbies in the WSL era, with our only six defeats coming against Chelsea. Equally, Chelsea have lost 10 of their 59 London derbies in the competition, all of which have come against us.
Since Renee Slegers’ first game in charge, we have scored four or more goals in 13 different WSL games, at least six more than any other side.
Chelsea haven’t fallen behind in any of their last 12 WSL games, last trailing to Manchester City in March.
We have won 20 of our last 24 WSL home games, scoring in 23 of those 24 matches and losing just once.
match officials
Melissa Burgin will be in charge of Saturday’s derby, her first Arsenal game since our 4-3 win over Manchester United on the final day of last season, a game which saw both sides awarded a penalty.
Referee: Melissa Burgin
Assistants: Isabel Chaplin, Leoni Harland
Fourth Official: Ryan Atkin
beating the blues
Our last victory over Chelsea was certainly a memorable one, as we thrashed our London rivals 4-1 in December 2023.
Beth Mead opened the scoring after seven minutes at Emirates Stadium, before the visitors grabbed a quick equaliser. Amanda Ilestedt and Alessia Russo then scored within two minutes of each other to put us 3-1 up, before Russo converted a second-half penalty to round off a famous win.
bumper crowd expected at emirates stadium
Our statement victory over the Blues in 2023 saw us set an attendance record of 59,042 for a WSL game, a record we’ve since broken with 60,160 people watching our 3-1 win over Manchester United in February 2024.
With over 55,000 tickets already sold for Saturday’s game, we’re well on our way to another sell-out at Emirates Stadium, so make sure to get your tickets and be a part of history in N5.
Read more
Get your tickets for Arsenal v Chelsea on Saturday
how to watch
If you can’t get to Emirates Stadium on Saturday, the game will be available to watch from home.
The derby is being shown live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event in the UK, with a whole host of international broadcasters showing the game around the world.
Read more
How to watch Arsenal Women v Chelsea on TV
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