Mind the gap: will anyone catch serial champions Chelsea as WSL returns?
Share:
Second half of the season starts with a bunched table but the league-leading Blues still look a cut above. There is something about a pause that reinvigorates, builds anticipation and allows for a reset. The WSL will have halted for 32 days by the time Liverpool host Brighton on Friday to kickstart the second half of the season, but it has felt longer.
![[Suzanne Wrack]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2022/07/13/Suzanne_Wrack_2.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Perhaps it is that men’s football continues to be played, with matchday after matchday sliding by without women’s football. Perhaps we go into January, widely considered the most miserable month, desperately craving the joy of the game. Regardless, excitement is high. How will new players perform? Who is signing whom? What effect will player departures have? What tactical and technical changes will have been made?.
The likelihood of unbeaten Chelsea continuing to dominate is high. Their six-point lead is not unassailable, but in a 12-team league it is that bit tougher a gap to bridge. Injuries could derail them, but with a squad stacked with top-level talent even that feels unlikely. In addition to potentially strengthening in January, the club will welcome back Mia Fishel and Sam Kerr in this next phase.
When Sonia Bompastor’s formidable side host a rejuvenated Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on 26 January, their title credentials will be dealt a blow or it will mark the beginning of a procession. On Sunday, they open their year with another London derby, against West Ham.
