Chelsea handed major James boost as West Ham meeting confirmed
It is a huge weekend in the capital as Chelsea Women and Arsenal Women go head-to-head at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon. A big match in the calendar, the Blues currently sit top of the Women's Super League table after 11 games and their London rivals are just one place behind them.
Seven points separate the teams, though, and the result of Sunday's match could possibly have a big say on where exactly the league title ends up come the conclusion of the campaign. A win for Chelsea and they would hold a ten-point lead over Arsenal heading into their remaining fixtures, with the Gunners having the opportunity to cut the gap down to four points.
Chelsea should certainly go into the match full of confidence after recording two victories over the past week. Firstly winning 5-0 at West Ham last Sunday, the Blues then recorded another 5-0 triumph after beating Durham in the Subway Women's League Cup.
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Ahead of the match between Chelsea and Arsenal, football.london takes a look below at all the big news emerging from SW6 over the past few days.
James boost
Chelsea could be set for a huge Lauren James boost going into Sunday's London derby clash against Arsenal. The Blues ace was absent for last weekend's 5-0 win at West Ham and the midweek Subway Women's League Cup win over Durham, but she does appear to be in line to return for the mouth-watering showdown at home to the Gunners.
"She should be," Blues boss Sonia Bompastor told Chelsea's official website after the victory against Durham. "She was still feeling a little bit unwell - not 100 per cent to be involved in the game. She practiced this morning, an individual session was good enough for us to have hope."
Cup progress
Fresh from the league triumph over West Ham, Chelsea hit five again as they defeated Durham in the Subway Women's League Cup on Wednesday evening. Aggie Beever-Jones opened the scoring for the Blues, before Oriane Jeane-Francois doubled their lead just after the hour mark.
The Championship side were then put to the sword following further goals from Erin Cuthbert, Guro Reiten and Maika Hamano. Despite the victory, head coach Bompastor pointed to a lack of clinical edge as she believed that they could have scored more goals on the night.
"If we reflect on the performance, we were not able to score really early in the game. I think we created a lot of opportunities tonight and we were not clinical enough," said the 44-year-old in an interview with Chelsea's official website.
"It happens sometimes that when you create chances, you are not able to be efficient. This is probably why in the first half the game was not going the way we wanted, but my players stayed confident. We had a lot of possession of the ball and created a lot of chances.
"The only thing we were talking about at half-time was being in the box with more players and also having more intent when we go in the box. In the second half, we were able to score more, even if again we had a lot of opportunities. We created good opportunities and scored some great goals."
Semi-final set
Following the cup win over Durham, Chelsea now know who they will be taking on in the semi-finals of the competition. West Ham are their opponents, with Chelsea having home advantage as they target a place in the showpiece finale.
The semi-final takes place at Kingsmeadow on Wednesday, February 5, with the game kicking off at 7pm. The winners of Chelsea and West Ham will take on either Arsenal or Manchester City in the final.
Jean-Francois praise
Bompastor was keen to dish out the praise to Jean-Francois following her goal against Durham. After her previous troubles with injury, the Chelsea midfielder has caught the eye and the head coach opened up on the qualities she brings to the team.
"She had a great performance. If you know a little bit more about Oriane, she struggled a little bit because she didn't play for almost two seasons with an ACL injury," outlined the boss to Chelsea's official website. "She also had a pelvic injury, so she was in the first part of the season trying to build her fitness. She's a really smart player and understands the game and that position as a pivot.
"She has a lot of quality and can be really good in possession of the ball, even if she still has room for improvement. Out of possession, she's really strong in helping the team to defend. She showed tonight that she's able to play 90 minutes, play many games in a row and score a great goal."
