Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Heading into matchday four, only one team in the Women’s Super League has a perfect record, with champions Manchester City setting the pace in 2026-27.
Chelsea were the pre-season favourites for the title, with Arsenal also expected to be challengers, but they have not matched their rivals’ fast start.
There is still a very long way to go in the title race and both teams are still unbeaten, but Sunday’s head-to-head clash at Stamford Bridge already feels pivotal for City’s chasers.
Chelsea come into this match after a narrow 1-0 win over Austria Wien in the Women’s Champions League on Wednesday.
Arsenal prevailed by the same scoreline against Koge on Tuesday, needing a 93rd-minute Mariona Caldentey penalty to secure the three points.
So, can one of these teams kick into gear in the WSL this weekend? Here, using Opta data, we look at some of the key storylines.
These two sides have been hard to split in recent meetings, making it tricky to guess who will prevail.
This will be the 10th meeting between Chelsea and Arsenal in all competitions since 2023-24, with both teams picking up four wins apiece in their last nine (one draw).
Arsenal were 2-0 victors in the league at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea last season.
However, not since the first three WSL campaigns between 2011 and 2013 have they won consecutive top-flight away matches versus the Blues.
And it is Chelsea who are expected to come out on top, winning 51.9% of the Opta supercomputer’s 10,000 pre-match simulations, compared to Arsenal’s 23.6%.
The chances of a draw are only slightly higher than an Arsenal win, at 24.5%.
It is worth noting that Arsenal (20 games) and Chelsea (11) are on the two longest current unbeaten runs in the WSL.
Since the start of Chelsea’s run on MD15 last term (February 7 onwards), the Blues have averaged the most points-per-game in the top flight (2.64), ahead of the Gunners (2.5).
Chelsea building from solid foundation
Chelsea are looking to go unbeaten in their opening four games for the fourth successive WSL season.
After a disappointing 1-1 draw with Aston Villa, in which a Veerle Buurman own goal served as a late equaliser, Chelsea have strung together two wins, hammering Manchester United 5-0 before beating Birmingham City 2-0.
While they looked comfortable against Eva Olid’s struggling United, there was something left to be desired against Birmingham, namely in their finishing.
They accumulated 3.9 expected goals (xG) from 22 shots, getting eight of those on target and hitting the woodwork once, while also recording five Opta-defined ‘big’ chances, but could only score twice.
Melvine Malard came off the bench to net on her WSL debut for the club in the second half, settling the nerves after they failed to get the goals their early dominance deserved.
Only Man City (17) have had more open-play sequences of 10+ passes that have ended in a shot or touch in the opposition’s box this season in the WSL than Chelsea (15). The Blues also have the slowest direct speed this term (1.33m/s).
But while there may be question marks over their conversion, they have started the season well at the defensive end.
They have one of the best records so far, conceding just one goal (along with Everton and Arsenal) and are one of four teams to keep two clean sheets.
No team has faced fewer shots (14), with seven of those testing Hannah Hampton, and the Blues have also limited their opponents to just 1.3 expected goals against (xGA).
With a record like that behind them, if they score the first goal, Arsenal could be in trouble; Chelsea are unbeaten in each of their last 45 WSL matches when leading at any stage (W38 D7), the longest run in the competition’s history.
Can Slegers unlock Arsenal’s attack?
Arsenal were expected to pick up where they left off at the end of last season, but it has been a stuttering start to their title charge.
They edged to a 1-0 win over Brighton on the opening weekend before drawing with Crystal Palace and Man Utd.
At this point, they are hoping to avoid matching an unwanted record.
Arsenal could win as few as five points from their first four matches for the second time in the last three seasons, after 2024-25, when the fourth game was a defeat to Chelsea (W1 D2).
In the WSL, they have netted just two goals – only newly promoted duo Palace and Charlton Athletic have scored fewer (both one) – and have massively underperformed their 5.9 xG, with a differential of -3.9.
It is the first time Arsenal have failed to score in any of their opening three games of a WSL campaign since 2014 (one goal in three matches).
The Gunners’ current shot conversion rate of 3.3% this term, meanwhile, is the worst figure seen in the WSL since bottom-of-the-league Yeovil Town in 2017-18 (2.2%).
They rank fourth for shots (60), with 10 of those classed as ‘big’ chances, and have had 22 attempts on target.
It was a familiar story against Koge as they racked up 19 attempts worth 1.9 xG – a figure inflated by their late penalty – but only two of those shots were on target.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 42 games when taking the lead in the WSL (W38 D4), one off their own record run of 43 set between August 2016 and September 2019.
Like Chelsea, they also have a good defensive record this term, but Renee Slegers knows that will count for little if they cannot change their fortunes at the other end.
But Slegers does have a good record against Sonia Bompastor. Having already beaten her twice this calendar year, she could be the first manager ever to win three games against the Frenchwoman in all competitions.
Only Lauren Hemp (nine) has made more ball carries into the final third so far in the 2026-27 WSL season than Carpenter (seven).
She has also recorded the most touches in the opposition box (33), created the most chances (nine) and had the joint-second-most shots (11) of any Chelsea player this term.
Little could make her 184th WSL appearance for Arsenal, equalling Millie Bright for the most outings made for one club in the competition (184 for Chelsea).
She has 11 goal involvements against the Blues in the division (six goals, five assists), with only Beth Mead (14) and Toni Duggan (13) having more.
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