In WSL showdown, Emma Hayes, Chelsea’s manager, admires Man City’s ‘world class’ capabilities.

Chelsea Women boss Emma Hayes looks forward to facing Manchester City Women in the WSL as both teams gear up for the crucial clash on Sunday. Chelsea Women are striving for their fourth straight win in the league, and a victory over Manchester City Women would put them five points clear at the top of the table, leaving their closest rivals, Manchester United Women, behind.

Emma Hayes is aware of the danger Manchester City Women pose, boasting a squad of exceptional players, especially in their wide areas, including Bunny Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp, and Chloe Kelly. Hayes admitted, “They are a team that has a really, really good run after their early-season losses, and they’ve got world-class international players that are capable of hurting any team, and we respect them as a team, and equally, it’s how we present ourselves to them on Sunday.”

The game against Manchester City Women is another test for the Chelsea Women, who have been busy with multiple competitive games recently, including their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Lyon, which they won 1-0. With a squad of their size, Emma Hayes is confident that her players will perform their best, and she said, “We like it busy, it’s something we’ve become accustomed to over the years. I think the team does really well when it doesn’t have too much turnaround time, and that helps, and the one-game-at-a-time approach is how we always manage it, and we’re just ready for the next one.”

Hayes acknowledges that their opponents are improving year after year, and she is continuously working with her team to find the little margins to stay ahead of the competition, “My staff and I are certainly working hard on doing that.”

Regarding Manchester City Women’s recent loss to Aston Villa Women in the FA Cup quarter-finals, Hayes had a perfect response to the media, “Just shows how little people know about the women’s game to make those assumptions. We all know the top three or four teams performing at the top end has come to be expected, but everybody is putting in a lot of money in our league, so the expectation should be on other teams as well as us at the top.”