Three key reasons why Chelsea Women’s unbeaten run came to an end

Last weekend saw one of the biggest upsets of the season, and given how it’s been going so far, it might take some beating. Brighton & Hove Albion Women managed to clinch a 2-1 victory away to Chelsea Women. Suffering their first loss of the season comes at a time when Manchester City recorded a victory against Arsenal Women on the same weekend which has hotly increased the battle for the FAWSL title.

On paper, this tie appeared to be a possession-based style against a pragmatic, counter-attacking approach. Emma Hayes has swatted aside Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 in recent weeks and this was expected to bear a similar result.

This tactical analysis will look to examine and explain where it went wrong for Chelsea Women and what Hope Powell’s side did tactically to enforce the mistakes.

Lineups

The game saw a few surprises, especially from Chelsea with Maren Mjelde. Ji so-Yun, Pernille Harder, and Fran Kirby left on the bench. Millie Bright was out of the squad altogether which meant there was a reshuffle across the pitch. The reshuffle also saw a change in formation with Hayes using a 4-3-1-2 formation rather than her preferred 4-2-3-1. Their system has always been very fluid but with the personnel that started, it seems that the game plan would go in one direction. Brighton started in a 4-1-4-1 system but shifted between a 4-5-1 and 5-4-1 depending on the situation in-game. 

Brighton’s defensive diligence & Chelsea’s attacking method

Brighton’s main strategy was to create numbers behind the ball in a compact, organised manner. The aim behind their 4-5-1/5-4-1 off the ball system was to theoretically outnumber Chelsea in midfield and create defensive overloads. The two number ‘8’s had to be compact whilst the wingers had to be narrow and stop Chelsea’s busy midfielders from making forward runs. Chelsea often use the half spaces to create their attacking opportunities and Powell ensured they didn’t have too many chances by adding more players in these areas. Creating overloads here meant that Chelsea weren’t able to play with the freedom they usually do.

Teams have played with a deep block against Chelsea before but no one has been able to successfully stop the movement in the half spaces. One factor was the missing Harder who is excellent at finding spaces and movements off the ball, one which Cuthbert was unable to replicate it effectively.