That’s it from here. Thanks for reading - now how about you head over to the Saturday clockwatch for some red hot news from Leagues One and Two, plus Non-League Day, with a red hot liveblogger. Cheers!
Well Chelsea weren’t as fluent as they have been this season, but in the words of Hayes they “gutted out” the win. The game became pretty scrappy and not a particularly enjoyable spectacle in the first half, and Liverpool played like a lower tier cup team on their ‘big day out’, rather than one who won the league three years ago and finished fourth last season.
Full-time: Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool
Peeeeeeeeeeeeep.
90 mins + 3: Dunn, who has been playing more in the middle and the left in the second half, motors down the left, but she’s crowded out as she gets into the area. And that will probably be about that.
90 mins: Three minutes of stoppage time. Kirby plays a one-two with Spence and wriggles into a bit of space, she feeds Aluko who hits a smart low shot on the turn, but Chamberlain gets down to her left and saves.
88 mins: A little spark now: Bright whips a cross over from the right, Spence goes up for it at the back post but Murray does well to just get in front of her and head away.
87 mins: Chelsea have the ball in the net, but it’s disallowed: Spence plays Aluko through, the flag goes up and it looks very, very, very tight, but Kirby’s neat finish after the pass to her is ruled out nonetheless.
86 mins: Ach, it’s gone very scrappy. Chelsea’s smart passing seems to have disappeared, or at least lost its purpose, and Liverpool still haven’t really managed to create much in attack. The only real notable thing of the last half hour or so is how Emma Hayes’s voice seems to rival Tony Pulis in the foghorn stakes.
84 mins: Final change for Chelsea: Carney trudges off, Eniola Aluko scampers on.
83 mins: Not much happening now. Just spilled a bit of tea on my keyboard. That’s about all I’ve got at the moment.
79 mins: Bright spots Spence making a run beyond the last defender, but the ball from deep is just a hair too strong and Spence can’t quite reach it. Great vision, mind.
78 mins: For all Chelsea’s dominance, Liverpool are still in this. Greenwood attempts a big cross from the left, but it’s cleared. Imagine if they nicked an equaliser...
77 mins: Another change, this time for Chelsea: Ji is off, and Drew Spence comes on.
75 mins: Away from this game for a second...
Miroslav Blažević on taking over Croatia: "I'm 80 now and I know I'm not demented yet - but, fuck it, that would be absurd."
— Aleksandar Holiga (@AlexHoliga) October 7, 2017
74 mins: Sub for Liverpool: Charles is off, and Caroline Weir is on. Double change, in fact: Clarke is also off, and Ashley Hodson comes on.
72 mins: Game is drifting a bit now. Chelsea put together another neat bit of passing but the final ball is too strong, and Kirby doesn’t even bother chasing it.
70 mins: Again Clarke finds herself in space, but Liverpool can’t take advantage as the ball through to her is poor. Clarke hasn’t been brilliant today but she’s had a thankless task: barely any support and not the best service.
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67 mins: Chamberlain has been in the wars today: she needs treatment again after receiving a bit of a battering after a corner from the right, but after a stretch and a click of the neck she should be OK to continue.
66 mins: Chelsea go close. Mjelde picks up the ball around 25 yards out, sees a bit of space open up in front of her and lashes a shot at goal. It looks to be curling into the far corner, but Chamberlain tips it around the post with a fine flying save.
64 mins: “KEEP SHIFTING THE BALL” yells Emma Hayes from the touchline. Chelsea do her bidding, but they’ll also need to find another goal to make this game safe.
61 mins: Change for Chelsea: Cuthbert is off, and Fran Kirby comes on.
59 mins: HHHHYYYYUUUUGE chance for Liverpool. Suddenly Clarke finds herself in behind the Chelsea defence, with a clear run on goal, but a heavy touch allows the ball to dribble through to Spencer in the Chelsea goal. Oh, if only she’d kept hold of that, the game would truly have been afoot.
57 mins: Dunn gets down the right side of the box then chips a cross over to the far post, where Ji - of all people - leaps to win the header. But she can’t direct it at goal, and the attack ultimately peters out.
55 mins: Davison powers through a couple of challenges and makes a bee line for the box... but for some reason the referee pulls it back and awards a free-kick for one of those challenges. Odd, and annoying for Chelsea.
52 mins: Chelsea free-kick on the right, and Carney pings over another excellent cross. Erikssen gets her head to it, but it skews wide and over. In other news, the rain seems to have returned.
49 mins: Liverpool’s attacks do have a fairly significant ‘U13s playing U15s’ vibe to them. Clarke tries to get down the right, attempts to slide a cross into the middle (where nobody much is waiting), but only takes it out of play.
47 mins: Erikssen drives down the left, shifts it to Carney who puts over a cross, which skips into the area and looks to be creeping into the corner, but Chamberlain gets down in the nick of time to push it round the post.
46 mins: And we’re away. Chelsea get the ball almost straight away from kick-off, and keep it to themselves for a bit until an ill-advised punt down the left cedes possession.
The players are out for the second 45. Disappointingly the rain appears to have stopped a bit.
Well Chelsea have obviously been the better side, in terms of possession and general attacking intent, but they only have one goal and actually haven’t created that many clear chances either. Liverpool are hanging in there, but have looked a bit panicky when they have found their way into the attacking third.
Half-time: Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool
Peeeeeeeeeeep.
45 mins: First booking of the game, as Davison gets a yellow for a pretty nasty challenge on Harding. From that free-kick, Greenwood absolutely pings an inswinging, pacey cross into the box, it eludes everyone and only just goes wide of the far post.
44 mins: Cuthbert tumbles in the area, a Stoney hand roughly in the vicinity but there was no hint of a penalty: old stager Stoney gives the young forward a glare, and instructs her to get up, sharpish.
41 mins: Liverpool under it again. A couple of corners: the first is pinged over low by Carney but it’s flicked behind for the second one: that is half-cleared, eventually makes its way out to Chapman who tries a shot from range, but it goes waaaaaaaaaaay over the bar.
39 mins: Chelsea free-kick out on the right touchline, which Carney absolutely fizzes into the box, but a pair of centre-backs - Flaherty and Bright - got a bit giddy and darted ahead of the line too soon, and are thus offside.
36 mins: Ooof. Cuthbert chases a ball over the top, Chamberlain dashes off her line to challenge for it but rather than getting the ball, she gets a knee to the sternum. She needs treatment, but she’ll probably be OK.
35 mins: Priya knows.
Women's football is excellent to watch. Honestly don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
— Priya Ramesh (@Priya8Ramesh) October 7, 2017
34 mins: Greenwood puts a ball over the top as Liverpool try to break free of this oppressive pressure, but Clarke had started her run too early and is called offside.
31 mins: Oooh, lovely goalmouth scramble from a Chelsea corner, the ball bouncing around like a giddy new puppy, before it’s cleared before anything truly undignified could take place. Shame. Rain really hammering down now.
29 mins: A quieter spell. Liverpool even managed to get over the halfway line once or twice.
26 mins: Chelsea pressing hard: another nice passing interchange sets up Ji on the edge of the box, but her shot is deflected wide.
24 mins: Eriksson uses the wind to swing the corner right under Chamberlain’s bar, and she does well to reach over a crowd of bodies and punch clear.
23 mins: Beautiful sweeping move from Chelsea flows from left to right, Dunn flicks a nice pass through to Carney but a brilliant sliding block by Bonner diverts the shot away from goal, and behind for a corner.
21 mins: Clarke is pretty lucky to get away without a booking as she goes through Eriksson’s shins with a hefty sliding tackle on the left touchline. The ref in a forgiving mood today, it seems.
20 mins: Carney keeps making those runs down the left channel but Bonner is sticking to her like a fizzy drink spillage on a t-shirt. The Chelsea midfielder is pushed out to the flank and danger is averted.
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18 mins: Liverpool free-kick from the right, five yards or so outside the area. Coombs fizzes over a smashing cross, Cuthbert is there but she’s just beaten in the air and Chelsea clear.
15 mins: Always entertaining how the opposition announcement of a goal adopts such a mournful tone.
14: Goal. Chelsea take the lead through Maren Mjelde. [0-1] #LFCladies
— Liverpool Ladies FC (@LFCladies) October 7, 2017
14 mins: Davison runs down the left and puts a low cross into the middle. Coombs gets a foot on it but can’t control or clear, the ball bobbles and sits up nicely in the path of Mjelde, who rifles a right-footed half-volley through a thicket of legs and into the bottom corner.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (Mjelde 14)
Liverpool had been getting back into the game there. No more.
11 mins: Charles whips over a terrific cross from the left, but the offside flag goes up and Harding probably handled it anyway. Other than that it was spot on. Chelsea counter and Stoney hesitates a little over dealing with the ball over the top - the wind could be causing a few problems - but Ji can’t quite take advantage.
10 mins: Chelsea free-kick on the right, crossed into the box and a thousand Sunday league coaches cry out in terror as the Liverpool defence allow it to bounce. Someone’s dad is going spare on a touchline somewhere. Luckily for them, it bounces straight through to Chamberlain in nets.
8 mins: Mostly Chelsea so far, some sharp passing in midfield, but Liverpool have got a couple of jabs in too. Chelsea attack down the left, Carney clips into the box but Ji dithers when a shot was on and eventually the ball is smuggled clear.
6 mins: Carney jinks towards the box, then slips a pass to Davison overlapping on the left, but she gets the ball tangled in her feet and it skips out of play. Could have been a decent chance, there.
4 mins: Half chance for Liverpool as Clarke shoots from the edge of the box, but that was blocked before it could find its way anywhere near the goal.
2 mins: And Chelsea nearly take the lead in the second minute: Eriksson ventures forwards from the left side of defence, booms a massive cross over from deep and Ji tries a first-time volley, but drags it just wide of the post. Close. Liverpool marking could have been better, but that was a hell of a cross.
1 min: And we’re away, Chelsea kicking off. For those of you watching in black and white, they’re in blue shirts, blue shorts and white socks: Liverpool all in red.
We have players in the tunnel. Now the players are out of the tunnel. And we all know what that means: football!
Just as a quick indication of Chelsea’s strength in depth: their bench features four players who have been in the England squad this year, two who should have been and Maria Thorisdottir, Norway international.
To be honest that’s a slight guess at how Chelsea will line up: it’ll be a variant of 3-4-3, but there are a few changes from the Champions League game so you might see Karen Carney pushed a bit further up and Crystal Dunn at wing-back, but we’ll see how it shakes out. Liverpool a little more straightforward: if previous games are anything to go by, it’ll be a 4-3-3.
Team news
Chelsea
Spencer; Bright, Flaherty, Eriksson; Dunn, Mjelde, Chapman (c), Davison; Ji, Carney, Cuthbert. Subs: Thorisdottir, Rafferty, Aluko, Blundell, Kirby, Spence, Telford.
Liverpool
Chamberlain; Murray, Bonner, Stoney, Greenwood; Ingle, Longhurst, Coombs; Charles, Harding, Clarke. Subs: Flaherty, Harris, Fletcher, Weir, Johnson, Hodson.
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While we’re waiting for the teams, have a read of Suzanne Wrack’s weekly column: this one’s about the FA’s plans to restructure the women’s game, and the problems therein:
Preamble
In tribute to today of course being National Understatement Day*, we’ll start this liveblog by saying that Chelsea have started the season pretty well. Two WSL games, two wins, 12 goals scored, zero goals conceded. And then there was the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich in the week, won thanks to a Drew Spence goal and a fine performance by Hedvig Lindahl in nets. All of which is possibly even more impressive given that it’s been achieved with one or two outside distractions: Spence and Eni Aluko being at the centre of the Mark Sampson scandal, and manager Emma Hayes tagged as a potential long-term replacement for the England job.
Liverpool, not quite so much. A derby win over Everton first up was grand, but last time out they lost to Reading, thanks to a honking strike by Fara Williams. And manager Scott Rogers is very much playing the underdog card: “Chelsea have an expensively assembled squad with world class international players and we know it will be tough, but I have faith in our young group and we will stand up to the challenge and give it everything we have got.”
You would think Chelsea will be too strong for their less experienced opponents. You would think their collection of internationals will blow them away. But this is sport, glorious in its unpredictability, and if what you would think will happen actually does happen all the time, none of us would both. Stick with us to find out.
Kick-off: 12.30 BST.
*Obviously I’ve made that up.
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