- Arsenal (W) lead 3 - 1 on aggregate after a clinical win in the first leg of their UWCL quarter-final.
- Chelsea have shown mixed form in their last five matches, including a 3 - 1 loss to Arsenal and a 1 - 1 draw with London City Lionesses.
- Arsenal have won all five of their matches across competitions, scoring at least two goals in each.
Gunners can stay on course for European double
The Gunners are in fine form ahead of Wednesday’s second leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Renée Slegers has certainly got the best out of her talented squad since taking charge, installing the high-intensity, attacking football that is the Arsenal way and maintaining the club’s momentum from the European success.
The Gunners have won all of their last five matches and have scored at least twice in each, thrashing West Ham 5-0 in the WSL and beating Bristol City 3-0 in the FA Cup last weekend. Arsenal are second in the WSL table with 38 points from 17 games, one point ahead of Chelsea, who have played an extra game.
Chelsea are also flying high this season with Sonia Bompastor’s tactical flexibility and positive style of play helping them to League Cup glory. Chelsea have more of a direct approach to their football, taking risks in possession, pressing aggressively and always trying to play on the front foot.
Stamford Bridge will be buzzing
Arsenal’s style is a lot more process-driven and they use the width and positional interchanges very well, as they did at the Emirates when they picked the Chelsea defence apart. The ball is moved quickly to create space in behind for their attackers to run into and they are just as good at pressing the opposition high up the field to win it back. The London derbies are always high-energy games and Stina Blackstenius, Arsenal’s big-game striker, is a safe punt to score anytime, as she has scored in the 2025 UWCL final and the 3-1 win over Chelsea last week.
Chelsea have some potent strikers themselves with Lauren James scoring in the League Cup final and the UWCL first-leg. Sam Kerr is the focal point of Chelsea’s attack and can score anytime, while Johanna Rytting Kaneryd has been excellent for them this season, driving their transitions from wide areas and creating chances.
Chelsea must attack from the start
Bompastor’s side will have to attack from the off in this return leg, which should open up plenty of space for Arsenal to break into on the counter-attack. The visitors have enough of an aggregate cushion to cover any mishaps on Wednesday, but with the form they have shown since the previous clash, we have enough confidence to back the visitors to progress to the UWCL semi-finals.
Arsenal are 3.3 with the bookmakers for this game, while Chelsea are slight favourites at 1.97 to win it at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal have two wins and a draw in their last three games against the Blues in the WSL and Europe, but the Arsenal team is superior to the Chelsea side at the moment, so we’re going for a draw or Arsenal win in 90 minutes, which should be enough to see the Gunners through.
The Over 2.5 goals market is well supported at 1.67, which suggests an open game is expected. Arsenal have kept multiple clean sheets in recent domestic matches while Chelsea have looked porous at the back, conceding three in the first-leg. But the Blues are a high-energy team who will take the game to Arsenal from the outset, so this should be a thriller.
