It is a huge week for Chelsea Women as they bid to win the first trophy of the season against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.
Derby County's Pride Park Stadium plays host to the Blues' Women's League Cup final against City on Saturday as Sonia Bompastor looks for her first piece of silverware since taking over from Emma Hayes last year. Remarkably, it will be the first out of four successive games against Man City in all competitions in less than two weeks.
Chelsea and City lock horns in the League Cup final before the first-leg of the Women's Champions League quarter-final, then a Women's Super League meeting and the second-leg in Europe, finishing an extraordinary less-than-two-week period on March 27. For the first game, though, the Blues will be without four players as you can read in our weekly Chelsea Women round-up below.
Bompastor delivers injury blows
Bompastor has confirmed Chelsea will be missing Keira Walsh, Naomi Girma, Guru Reiten and Maelys Mpome for this weekend's final in Derby. There are no new injury concerns after the win against Crystal Palace at the weekend, but the aforementioned four players will not be fit enough to take part in the first final of the season.
"No change," Bompastor said. "No new injuries for the Crystal Palace game. Keira Walsh, Naomi Girma, Guru Reiten and Maelys Mpome won't be available for the game at the weekend."
Chelsea progressed into the semi-final of the FA Women's Cup on Sunday afternoon as they edged past London rivals Palace with Lauren James' goal on 64 minutes enough for the Blues.
'Really big opportunity for the club'
Bompastor has described Saturday's League Cup final showdown with Manchester City as a "really big opportunity" for Chelsea as they look to continue their dominance in the women's game in England.
This competition has provided the Blues with some real pain in recent seasons. Last term, Hayes led her side to the final but they were beaten by Arsenal after extra-time at Molineux, with the two seasons before also seeing them defeated in the decisive game by the Gunners (2022/23) and Man City (2021/22). Speaking in her pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon, Bompastor wants her ladies to show their "winning mentality" at Pride Park and end their recent woes at this stage of this specific competition.
"The main focus for me is to make sure the club has the opportunity to win the first trophy [of the season] on Saturday and that's the main thing," the head coach explained. "Anytime we are in that situation, we just need to make sure we work hard and to be ready. We prepare the week in the best way possible to be ready for the game on Saturday.
"Of course, our ambitions are very clear: we've said since the beginning of the season that we want to be in every competition where we can fight for titles and that's the first opportunity for us to show that we have this winning mentality and it's an opportunity for us to win the first trophy and it's a really big opportunity for the club."
Cuthbert signs new deal
The big news earlier in the week was that Erin Cuthbert has put pen-to-paper on a new contract with Chelsea until the summer of 2027.
The 26-year-old Scottish midfielder joined the Blues way back in 2016 as a teenager from Glasgow City and she has enjoyed an unbelievably successful spell in west London, winning six WSL titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, the WSL Spring Series and the Community Shield. An almost-nine-year period that has now been extended and Cuthbert is delighted.
She said: "It's a good time to reflect on how far I've come over the last eight years. If you had said to the girl who joined Chelsea eight years ago that she would still be here, I wouldn't have believed you.
"I have fallen in love with a club and they have fallen in love with me. That is special."
Head of women's football at Chelsea, Paul Green, was also delighted with the news: "Erin is one of the leaders in the team and now she is in her prime. She has been a key player in our success over the last eight years and recently surpassed 250 appearances for the club, which is testament to her reliability and consistency.
"We have seen her develop into one of the best central midfielders in the world and look forward to seeing her continue to progress in the upcoming years."
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Chelsea ended the 2023/24 Premier League season on a high, but it is never quiet at Stamford Bridge and the summer looks set to be one full of news, with question marks over Mauricio Pochettino's future at the club and plenty of talk around transfers.
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