Chelsea Women vs Barcelona Women prediction: Goals galore at the Bridge

Chelsea Women face Barcelona Women on Thursday in a repeat of last season’s Champions League semi-final, which was won convincingly by the visitors (8pm, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, Disney+).

The Spanish side won both legs in April 4-1 as they reached their fifth successive final, only to be beaten by Arsenal.

Betting sites have put Chelsea and Barca at the top of the outright market, with Barca the odds-on favourites after a strong start to their European campaign.

Barcelona currently sit top of the Champions League table with maximum points from their opening three games, while the Blues are fourth with two wins and a draw away against Twente.

In a rare turn of events, Chelsea are not top of the WSL either, sitting three points behind leaders Manchester City, after drawing three of their nine matches, but they are still unbeaten in all competitions this season.

Barcelona, meanwhile, are sitting pretty at the summit of Liga F, leading Atletico Madrid by six points after just 11 games but they were beaten 1-0 earlier this month by Real Sociedad.

They have scored 51 goals in 11 league games so far, conceding just two, while in the Champions League, they have scored 14 and conceded one, so it will be a real test for Chelsea.

This match at Stamford Bridge will be the eighth meeting between the two sides and Chelsea have only picked up one win so far.

That came in the first leg of 2023/24 semi-finals when Erin Cuthbert scored the only goal of the game in Spain, only for the visitors to win the second leg 2-0 after the Blues were reduced to 10 players when Kadeisha Buchanan was sent off.

Barca have knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage for the last three years and each time they have won at Stamford Bridge, so it’s not a surprise that it’s the visitors who are the favourites with football betting sites.

Despite dominating the domestic game, Chelsea are yet to win this competition, reaching the final just once, back in 2021, when they were beaten by, you’ve guessed it, Barcelona in Gothenburg.

When Emma Hayes left to become the USA boss, the Blues appointed a manager who has won the competition as both a player and manager in Sonia Bompastor and she would love to add a European title to the domestic treble she achieved last season.

They won the FA Cup, the League Cup, and finished the WSL season with a record-breaking 60 points, securing a sixth consecutive title.

Barcelona, with 14 goals and Chelsea, with 11, are the two top-scoring clubs in the league phase at the halfway point, so we can expect goals on Thursday.

Chelsea Women vs Barcelona Women prediction: Over 3.5 goals - 21/20 Ladbrokes

Chelsea: Sam Kerr will sit out Thursday’s clash as part of her rehabilitation but Lauren James could come back into the starting line-up after coming off the bench in Chelsea’s last two games. Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton remains sidelined, along with Kadeisha Buchanan and Mayra Ramirez.

Barcelona: Aitana Bonmati is expected to start having only been fit enough for the bench in the win over Barcelona. Esmee Brugts left that game early and is a doubt, while Patri Guijarro and Salma Paralluelo are out.

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