Chelsea FCW vs. Brighton & Hove Albion WFC, Women’s Super League: Preview, team news, how to watch

Just three games into the season, Chelsea are already in a situation where we can’t let any points slip, tied with Manchester City and Leicester City at the top of Women’s Super League table.

Normally, for a match against Brighton at home, that wouldn’t be much of a concern. But as the struggles of Manchester United and Arsenal have shown, teams in the bottom half of the league are no longer “automatic” wins for the big teams.

So, today’s game is a great opportunity to rediscover our cutting edge, which we’ve yet to show this season.

Date / Time: Sunday, October 22, 2023, 14.00 GMT; 9am EDT; 11:30pm IST
Venue: Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, UK
Referee: Stacey Fullicks
Forecast: Sunny intervals and light winds

On TV: none (UK); none (US); elsewhere
Streaming: none (UK); none (US); The FA Player (everywhere else)

Photo by Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Chelsea team news: Chelsea may have beaten West Ham, 2-0 last weekend, but we were far from our best. Despite dominating possession for large swathes and having the edge in most (other) meaningful statistics as well, it felt as if a better opponent would have made our lives much harder. We only made the win save in the 90th minute.

We need to be much more efficient against Brighton, which will hopefully happen with Sam Kerr getting back to rhythm and Fran Kirby slowly returning to her form of old.

Manager Emma Hayes didn’t provide any injury updates and that’s good news — though we’re still missing Catarina Macario and Kateřina Svitková, both still recovering from long-term injuries.

Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

Brighton team news: The Seagulls made huge changes to their squad in the summer. Ten players left, ten came in, plus goalkeeper Nicky Evrard on loan from Chelsea.

They began the season by winning against Everton, 2-1 away, before losing to West Ham and Tottenham. Manager Melissa Phillips will still likely take inspiration from the latter, as Brighton got an early score from Elisabeth Terland and managed to keep Spurs goalless up until the last minute of first half.

Previously: Right after last season’s League Cup heartbreak, where Chelsea lost the final and the trophy to Arsenal, in a 3-1 defeat, Chelsea faced Brighton at Kingsmeadow in the league, this time emerging 3-1 victors.