Liverpool manager Matt Beard believes Chelsea have grown stronger since the arrival of Sonia Bompastor in the summer, claiming the squad could be split into two Women’s Super League (WSL) teams and “finish first and second”.
Chelsea maintained their perfect start to the season with a 3-0 victory away to Beard’s side on Sunday afternoon, courtesy of goals from Mayra Ramirez, Guro Reiten and Aggie-Beever Jones.
The result kept Chelsea one point behind leaders Manchester City (with a game in hand) and ensured Bompastor was the first WSL manager to win each of their first four away games. The former Lyon manager took over from long-time boss Emma Hayes in the summer upon the latter’s appointment as head coach of the United States women’s national team.
Liverpool defeated Chelsea 4-3 in a memorable match in May that nearly toppled Chelsea’s charge for an historic fifth successive league title. But at St. Helens, Liverpool were unable to muster a similar performance and were consigned to their second defeat of the season.
And Beard believes that despite the change in management, Chelsea present a more daunting opponent than they did six months ago.
“I think they could put two teams in the Super League and probably finish first and second,” Beard said post-match. “Chelsea take more risks under Sonia (Bompastor) than they did under Emma Hayes.”
Liverpool finished fourth in the WSL last season but have yet to live up to the expectations set from last season’s historic exploits. Draws against Leicester City, West Ham United and newly-promoted Crystal Palace, along with defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea, have left them sixth in the table and 10 points off leaders City.
Liverpool have not been helped by injury with defender Lucy Parry, forward Sophie Roman Haug and midfielder Fuka Nagano unavailable on Sunday.
“They’re our top side,” Beard said. “We’ve beaten them 4-3 last year, 2-1 the year before that. If you look at the players I’ve got missing at the moment, we are really thin on the ground. But I don’t like losing games, the players don’t like losing games so it hurts. It doesn’t matter if it’s Chelsea or Man City, we want to win.”
(Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
