Sonia Bompastor has vowed Chelsea will “fight until the end” to defend the Women’s Super League title ahead of Sunday’s “must-win” showdown with runaway leaders Manchester City.
The Blues, who have been crowned champions in each of the past six seasons, slipped nine points adrift of City with nine games to go following Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at home to third-placed Arsenal.
Head coach Bompastor initially conceded the title race was “probably” over but is refusing to give up ahead of the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
“Our mentality is to fight until the end, no matter what happens,” she said.
“The only thing is right now we are not in control, and the most important thing is we need to focus on what we can control.
“Man City are top of the table and in control. We need to make sure we put the focus on how we want to perform going into the next games to make sure we have a better chance to win.
“Every game is a must-win game for Chelsea, so we will never give up.”
City go into the match having lost only one league game of 13, which came against Chelsea on the opening day of the season.
The teams met earlier this month, with Bompastor’s side claiming a hard-fought 1-0 win in the League Cup semifinals, with Wieke Kaptein’s goal the difference.
City head coach Andree Jeglertz hopes Aoba Fujino can be involved in Sunday’s match and emphasised the importance of squad depth.
“Aoba, she was training fully today. Let’s see the evolution of today but most likely she will be available on Sunday,” Jeglertz told a pre-match news conference.
“[Squad depth] that will be crucial definitely. We talked about playing the same 11 but at the same time we need players.
“I think we are on top of substitutes coming in and scoring for us, so that’s an important statistic.
“We say quite often that everybody’s important but we also do substitutions that are affecting the game.
“It will be even more important on Sunday that we have players that can either keep a result or chase a result.”
With Arsenal’s game against Leicester City postponed due to the Gunners’ involvement in the Champions Cup, Manchester United will be aiming to climb into the top three when they come up against Liverpool.
Sunday’s remaining fixtures see Brighton face London City Lionesses, Aston Villa take on Everton and West Ham United host Tottenham Hotspur.