Chelsea v West Ham United women’s team
Barclays Women’s Super League, Kingsmeadow, Saturday 14 October 2023, 5:30pm BST
West Ham United women’s team head to Chelsea on Saturday for their third Barclays Women’s Super League fixture of the 2023/24 campaign.
Rehanne Skinner’s side travel to Kingsmeadow on Saturday buoyed by picking up back-to-back victories over Brighton & Hove Albion (2-0) and Charlton Athletic (2-1), the latter coming in the Continental Tyres League Cup on Wednesday evening.
Chelsea, meanwhile, did not feature in cup action in midweek due to their participation in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, so will head into the game after a full week of rest having drawn 1-1 with Manchester City last Sunday.
And with the Sky Sports cameras in position in West London, everything is set for another top contest in the WSL.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match...
Tickets
West Ham United supporters will be able to purchase tickets at Kingsmeadow on the day of the game, subject to availability. Tickets are priced at £15 for Adults and £7.50 for both Over-65s and Under-20s.
How to follow
The match will be available to watch live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage of the match beginning at 5pm BST. The game will not be available to watch on The FA Player due to being picked for broadcast by Sky.
Alternatively, you can also follow the action across our social media channels, while highlights and exclusive reactions will follow after the final whistle on whufc.com.
Matchday information
Prior to kick-off across this weekend’s fixtures in the WSL, Barclays Women’s Championship and FA Women’s National League, we will remember the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine.
A moment of silence will be observed before matches, and we would recommend that supporters are in their seats at Kingsmeadow at least five minutes before the scheduled 5:30pm kick-off time to be ready to mark this.
The Opposition
Chelsea are aiming to clinch their fifth consecutive WSL title and are firm favourites to do so in 2023/24.
Last season was less of a cruise than in seasons past, with Fran Kirby and Millie Bright among those on the absentee list for stretches of the campaign, but they were still able to finish with a WSL and FA Cup double.
After a summer that saw a whole host of promising young talents land in west London, the Blues have built for the future. Most notable on their list of arrivals were Lyon’s Catarina Macário, Canadian full-back Ashley Lawrence and former Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Sjoeke Nusken.
Stalwarts Pernille Harder and former Captain Magdalena Eriksson both left for Bayern Munich as the only permanent departures, leaving Hayes with a strong squad to pick from for 2023/24.
The Chelsea boss will have her sights firmly set on lifting a trophy that has so far eluded her, the Champions League – but she will also have one eye on keeping the chasing domestic pack away from exerting pressure as they defend their title.
Previous Meetings
The Hammers haven’t tasted success against Chelsea in the previous ten matches against the Blues in WSL action. Back in 2019, the teams drew 1-1 when Gilly Flaherty cancelled out a first half strike from Bethany England in late March.
The two sides met early on in the 2022/23 season, with Paul Konchesky’s team traveling to Kingsmeadow for a fixture that was due to be played on the opening day of the campaign, but was postponed after the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Dagný Brynjarsdóttir opened the scoring after three minutes of action, but Fran Kirby pulled a goal back just before half time as the sides went in level at the break. The champions then scored twice either side of the hour mark through Sam Kerr and Millie Bright to complete the comeback for Emma Hayes’ side.
