Chelsea's season so far: Can Sonia Bompastor's perfect start end in European glory?

Jessy Parker Humphreys takes a closer look at how the WSL table-toppers have got on at the halfway point

The league-leading Blues huddle up before a match at Kingsmeadow | Credit: Chelsea FC women

The season so far

Chelsea’s new era under Sonia Bompastor could hardly have gone any better. They went unbeaten in all competitions, topping their Champions League group with maximum points, and headed into the Christmas break six points clear at the top of the WSL.

Their only blemish was a 1-1 draw against Leicester City in the final gameweek before the Christmas break, a frustrating coda which suggested their free-scoring start to the season had tailed off somewhat.

Despite the impressive results, it has not been all smooth sailing. There have been impressive performances against Manchester City and Manchester United but they rode their luck against Arsenal at the Emirates and played themselves into trouble on plenty of occasions against Brighton. Injuries have also proven to be an issue with Kadeisha Buchanan’s early season resurgence in a Chelsea shirt cut short by an anterior cruciate ligament injury, whilst Lauren James and Niamh Charles both missed large portions of the first half of the season.

Biggest surprise of the season

The biggest surprise has clearly been how well Bompastor has settled in at the club. Many people, myself included, assumed there would be a natural bedding in period where results and performances were a bit rockier than you normally expect from a Chelsea side, but the opposite has been true.

Whilst Chelsea’s points advantage in the WSL table does say a lot about their rivals’ inability to really put the serial title winners under pressure, the fact is that Bompastor equalled the best start to a WSL season ever with her nine wins in a row. That run also included wins in all three of the equivalent fixtures that Chelsea lost last year - Manchester City at home, Arsenal away and Liverpool away.

Beyond the results, Sandy Baltimore’s success at left back was particularly surprising. With Charles dislocating her shoulder in pre-season, Bompastor’s choice of Baltimore in that role was a masterstroke, reminiscent of her use of another converted forward, Selma Bacha, at Lyon. The importance of Baltimore’s combination of attacking flair and defensive solidity was particularly clear when she picked up a small injury towards the end of the year with a consequent downturn in Chelsea’s performances.

Expectations for the rest of the campaign

It will be all about silverware for Chelsea from this point. They have a very favourable Subway Cup draw with a quarter-final at home to Durham followed by a potential semi-final against Tottenham or West Ham, so the expectation will be that they make that final. Similarly, the pressure will be on them to win a sixth consecutive WSL title given how big a gap there is between themselves and Manchester City in second.

But as always, the main target will be the elusive Champions League. Chelsea can be drawn against Manchester City, Bayern Munich or Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals, with the draw not taking place until February. On the one hand, it feels not quite as meaningful as it did in Emma Hayes’ seasons, given that Bompastor has not yet won anything with Chelsea so whatever she can get her hands on will be a big deal. On the other hand, her start has been so impressive it almost feels like this is the only serious challenge Chelsea will have this season.

What do Chelsea need in January?

Chelsea already have a very big squad and will need to factor in the hoped for returns of Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel from ACL injuries within the next couple of months. That means if there are to be incomings, there will also need to be exits. The fact that 20 year old Spain midfielder Julia Bartel did not travel to Portugal with the team for their warm weather training suggests she may depart on loan.

If Chelsea are to bring a player in, it will surely be a centre-back. The injury to Buchanan has left Millie Bright and Nathalie Bjorn as the first-choice pairing, with Bjorn having been recruited last January to cover for Bright’s injury. But she has not shown the same assurance she managed in the second half of the 2023-24 season and it is clearly an area where Chelsea could upgrade, particularly given that summer signing Maelys Mpome has looked far too raw to meaningfully contribute. Bompastor has tried back threes with both Lucy Bronze and Eve Perisset at different points in her time in charge, but a high quality partner for Bright should be a priority if Chelsea are going to recruit in January.

Ashely Lawrence and Millie Bright enjoying warm weather training in Portugal | Credit: Chelsea FC women

Will you be amending your pre-season prediction?

I predicted Chelsea to finish second but caveated it with the assertion that it would depend on how strong Arsenal and Manchester City could be. Given Chelsea’s position as it stands, it would be a colossal embarrassment if they did not win the league from here.

I’m not sure if I’m convinced that their performances are developed enough to win the big one though. I do feel the element of surprise that comes from having a new manager has been an advantage for them in the league, and maybe it will prove the same in the Champions League too. Bompastor did, after all, win a Champions League title in her first year at Lyon, against a Barcelona manager in his inaugural year. It is not implausible that history could repeat itself.