This weekend, the Women's Super League will deliver the third of four straight meetings between Chelsea and Manchester City. 

When the scheduling stars aligned for them to meet each other four times in 12 days across three competitions, it was clear there would be drama. 

Chelsea drew first blood in this bout, winning 2-1 and securing the League Cup trophy at Pride Park. In a close game that could have gone either way, the famous Chelsea monster mentality, as former boss Emma Hayes called it, got them over the line. 

That victory extended the Blues' unbeaten run to 31 games in all competitions (W29 D2) and put them on the verge of making history with the longest unbeaten run by a WSL team - if they could avoid defeat versus City in the Champions League four days later. 

City, who had relieved Gareth Taylor of his managerial duties just five days before the cup final and brought back Nick Cushing on an interim basis, denied them that slice of history in the first leg of their quarter-final tie.

Vivianne Miedema scored twice as City put a huge dent in Chelsea's hopes of finally winning the Champions League – a trophy that evaded them under Hayes and remains a major objective under Sonia Bompastor.

While it remains half-time in that tie with the second leg to be played at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, the Blues will need a dramatic comeback.

But before then, their unbeaten record in league action this term is on the line at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Close but no cigar – Chelsea run ends 

Chelsea matched the longest unbeaten streak in all competitions by a WSL team with their 31-game run between May last year and Wednesday's quarter-final defeat.

The streak equalled a record set by Chelsea themselves between April 2019 and September 2020, providing a reminder of their dominance during the Hayes era.

The Blues' latest run began with an 8-1 thrashing of Bristol City in May 2024 and ended with them lifting the League Cup for a third time in their history last weekend.

The first trophy of the Bompastor era.   pic.twitter.com/RehkxSXFFh

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 15, 2025

Chelsea won 29 games during this run, bettering the 25 wins the Blues managed in their previous record streak. They conceded 20 goals during this record-equalling streak, matching the total they conceded in their previous record run while netting 97 goals. 

The only other club to come close to this record, you will not be surprised to learn, is Man City, who enjoyed a 27-match unbeaten run (W23 D4) between April 2016 and April 2017. 

Wednesday's Champions League loss also represented the first chink in Chelsea's armour under Bompastor, who had not tasted defeat since arriving from Lyon last year.

What did we learn in midweek?

Both teams made changes for their second meeting in four days, with Khadija Shaw and Aoba Fujino injured while Miedema dropped to the City bench. 

Even without those big names, Cushing's team took the game to Chelsea. With Jess Park, Kerolin and Lily Murphy joining Mary Fowler in attack, the Citizens created chances worth 0.94 xG on Wednesday, registering 15 shots with eight of those on target.

Bompastor also opted for two changes, with Keira Walsh and Aggie Beever-Jones coming in for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sjoeke Nusken. Chelsea accumulated 1.08 xG from their 10 shots, with both teams hitting the woodwork twice.

Bompastor's alterations had a limited impact. While Beever-Jones won possession eight times – level with Nathalie Bjorn as the most for Chelsea, she also lost possession on 18 occasions. Only City's Leila Ouahabi (19) gave the ball away on more occasions.

Chelsea were inefficient in attack overall, having recorded 24 touches in the City area to just 14 for their opponents at the other end. 

City also had the luxury of bringing on Miedema as a 60th-minute substitute, and she had the most shots on target (three), touches in the opposition box (six) and joint-most shots (three) among City players despite only playing 30 minutes.

Her total xG was 0.39, but her expected goals on target (xGOT) figures show just how impressive her finishes were, with the placement of her shots giving them an xGOT value of 1.25.

Miedema was not the only City forward to impress, with Fowler creating a game-leading four chances, while her five crosses were second only to the seven recorded by Chelsea's Sandy Baltimore.

While City trail Chelsea by a huge 12-point margin in the WSL, their midweek meeting provided a timely reminder of the depth available to Cushing in these crucial weeks of the season.

Previewing the third matchup 

This will be the third of four meetings between City and Chelsea in all competitions in March alone, the first time two top-flight clubs have met four times in a single month in the WSL era.

City were beaten 2-0 when they last met Chelsea in the league, back in November. They had previously been on a three-match unbeaten streak against the Blues in the WSL (W2 D1).

City were also unbeaten at the Etihad Stadium in the WSL (W3 D1) prior to losing 4-2 to neighbours Manchester United in January. This will be their first time hosting Chelsea at the stadium.

Cushing is, of course, the only manager to inflict defeat on Bompastor's Blues in any competition this season, and he also boasts five WSL wins against Chelsea in his career – no manager has beaten them more often in the competition, with David Parker also doing so on five occasions.

In midweek hero Miedema, City also have a player with a knack for inflicting damage upon the Blues. The former Arsenal star has been directly involved in nine goals in 10 WSL appearances against Chelsea (five goals, four assists).

She could become just the fourth player to be involved in 10 or more goals against the Blues in the competition, after Toni Duggan (13), Beth Mead (12) and Kim Little (11).

Chelsea may have lost their unbeaten run across all competitions, but they are still yet to taste defeat in 16 league fixtures under Bompastor. They are unbeaten in each of their last 19 WSL games (W17 D2) stretching back to Hayes' final few weeks in charge last year.

The last team to go 20 consecutive matches without defeat in the competition was Chelsea themselves between February 2019 and January 2021, when they set the longest unbeaten run in WSL history at 33 games.

Chelsea are the only unbeaten team remaining in England's top two tiers this season (P16 W14 D2), and the last team to avoid defeat in their opening 17 games of a WSL campaign was City in 2018-19 (first 19).

Bompastor, meanwhile, has the best win rate of any permanent manager in WSL history, having won 88% of her 16 games in charge in the competition.

What's expected?

The Opta supercomputer makes Bompastor's team slight favourites, but City are certainly not to be discounted.

Chelsea won 38.6% of our pre-match simulations, with City assigned a 35.4% chance of victory and 26% of projections ending level. 

Chelsea are given a 98.8% chance of retaining their title in our season predictions, compared to Arsenal's 1.1% hopes and Man Utd's 0.1%, while City finish in their current position of fourth in 56.8% of scenarios. 

The title race may be all but over, but Sunday's game represents one of the biggest obstacles Chelsea must navigate if they are to complete an unbeaten WSL campaign, while City will hope to land a psychological blow before the second instalment of their European tie.