How Chelsea's labouring strikers are costing big in Women's Super League title race and Bunny Shaw proves why she is best
Digital journalist Laura Hunter pens a new Sky Sports column which analyses the big talking points from across the WSL; this week looks at Chelsea's poor strike-rate and the reasons why, as well as Bunny Shaw's scoring prowess and Arsenal's turbulent week
Monday 8 December 2025 13:21, UK
Sky Sports columnist Laura Hunter analyses the big talking points from the latest Women's Super League matches, bringing you closer to the key stories at the heart of the women's game. This week:
- Chelsea unable to compete with labouring strike force
- Bunny Shaw back to best for Manchester City
- Arsenal's issues run deeper than first thought
Ruthless Chelsea are no more
It was 585 days in the making, but Chelsea have finally lost a football match. In truth, this result had been coming, and not just because of the length of time they had gone unbeaten - as impressive as that stretch was.
Chelsea are not themselves this season. I hypothesised some reasons why last week and most, if not all, were stress tested by a stubborn Everton side who rode their luck but ground out a 1-0 win by staying as compact as possible.
Brian Sorensen's side, previously winless in eight, made a staggering 85 clearances. Courtney Brosnan made six saves. And they made something stick at the opposite end via their only big chance of the game, catching Chelsea on the break. Never before have the Blues been so susceptible in transition.
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Despite the immense fortitude of Everton, what was glaringly obvious was just how wasteful Chelsea have become. They attempted 30 shots in defeat, their most ever in a home game they failed to score in, with underperformance at the top end a pattern.
The momentum chart below tells you how little ground Chelsea actually conceded over the course, maintaining 79 per cent possession, 19 per cent higher than their seasonal average. But unlocking Everton's packed defence with a labouring forward line proved impossible.
"We created enough situations to win the game so it's a really frustrating result," said Sonia Bompastor afterwards, falling to her first league defeat since taking over at Chelsea some 14 months ago. She has used the term "frustrated" multiple times in each of her last three post-match addresses, with this Chelsea's longest winless streak since 2018. The data tells us why.
Despite netting in 31 straight league games before Sunday, Chelsea have the league's worst xG differential (-4.97). Simply, it means the value of their chances does not match goals scored - a concept fairly alien to a side like Chelsea, who have often built title-winning campaigns on being on the right side of fine margins.
Under Bompastor 1-0 is their most common margin of victory. This version of Chelsea, though, lacks the same finality to push that result over the line.
The defending champions have attempted the second-most efforts at goal (177) this season and the highest number of those efforts off target (75), equating to over 40 per cent.
At the weekend, Everton scorer Honoka Hayashi (0.53) created better xG threat than the entirety of Chelsea's forward line - Alyssa Thompson, Lauren James, Catarina Macario and Aggie Beever-Jones - combined (0.43). Bompastor's system has lone striker Beever-Jones drifting into wider areas this season compared to last, where she operated almost exclusively between the width of the posts - she hasn't scored since September.
Chelsea are victims of their own poor finishing and the longer that continues the more ground they will concede in this season's title race. The dip is dramatic enough to suggest this year is unlikely to be their year after all.
Shaw fast becoming WSL's best ever
When I spoke to Bunny Shaw over the summer months she assured me that Manchester City are "all business" this season. With a new manager, different system and fresh ideas, she told me they were better equipped than ever to compete for trophies, and more importantly still, rival Chelsea for the title.
Turns out she was right. All over the pitch Andree Jeglertz's Man City are a cut above, opening up a six point gap at the top, while Shaw herself is in a league of her own. Speaking after beating Leicester 3-0 away from home, she told Sky Sports she "backs herself against anyone" - and it's that maverick-level confidence that sets her apart.
Shaw delivered a masterclass in how to open up sides that are set up to restrict space in a back five. Chelsea take note. It was clear Leicester had spent the week preparing for Shaw's aerial threat and command of the box and managed to keep it tight for 73 minutes. "They made it difficult for Bunny to get opportunities," Sky Sports' Rachel Corsie reflected in studio.
And yet the league's leading scorer had a hand in all three goals, netting twice in nine minutes and assisting the other in stoppage time. The defence-splitting pass to tee up Kerolin late on as masterful as both of her goal-scoring actions.
This is a player unafraid of doing the hard graft if it makes for the right outcome - her ability to beat a marker in the air is the best the league has ever seen and she now holds the all-time record for most headed goals (28). Biding time until the final quarter of a game won't have fazed her either, her wait so often rewarded.
"The players showed patience," Jeglertz reflected. Unlike Chelsea in their current malaise, "there is never frustration, only belief," he added.
Blackstenius bail out masks Arsenal problems
Stina Blackstenius is a difficult player to analyse with any real consistency because, well, she rarely plays with any. But no doubt her ability to rescue Arsenal from the bench, often in times of dire need, is unrivalled.
Her thunderous finish to earn three points against Liverpool could not have been better timed - her 13th strike as a substitute, more than any WSL player in history. Against the backdrop of a rocky week where Renee Slegers had to defend against rumours of dressing room unrest, Blackstenius' bail out will have been most welcome.
Running off the shoulder of the last defender is what she does best but timing issues means she is offside more often than not. When it works, though, it's highly effective and made for another telling contribution to Arsenal's otherwise stodgy season at the weekend. For now, the Gunners stay in touch with the three sides immediately above but the performance did little to dissuade onlookers that squad harmony is not a genuine problem.
Read the last column
Last time's column analysed Arsenal's creative issues, which reared their head again this week, and assessed Manchester City's chances of a sustained title hunt having fallen short so many times in recent years.
