Defender Amber Tysiak is looking forward to returning to Chigwell Construction Stadium for West Ham United women’s team’s Barclays Women’s Super League clash against Chelsea on Sunday.
The Belgium international has insisted her side will head into the London derby full of confidence following their sensational 5-1 success at Charlton Athletic in the Subway® Women's League Cup on Wednesday night.
Tysiak had the best seat in the house in midweek, as she watched her teammates display moments of magic at The Valley - most noticeably through Manuela Paví and Leila Wandeler, who both picked out the top-right corner with audacious strikes from range.
To make the victory sweeter, the 25-year-old, with the captain’s armband sitting proudly round her, led the Hammers out of the tunnel for the first time.
“It was nice to win the game,” she said.
“I think the way we won the game, with players making their debuts like Selin [Cemal] and Emily [Taylor-Brown], and having a lot of different goalscorers scoring different goals [was great].
“I think it will be hard at the end of the season to pick a Goal of the Season, and I hope we score more bangers this season! I think they (Paví and Wandeler’s goals) were both good. All the players have so much quality, and you saw that in the goals we scored.
“I'm very proud [to wear the captain’s armband], especially for this special Club. It was an honour to be captain."
As Tysiak mentioned, Cemal made her West Ham United debut from the off in south-east London, as the pair lined up together at the heart of the defence. And our No5 was full of praise for the debutant.
“She was the left-sided centre back, and it's harder when you're right-footed, but I think she did brilliantly,” Tysiak continued.
“She had confidence, and it didn't look like it was one of her first official games, so I'm really proud of her.”
The visit of Chelsea is up next for the Hammers, which will see the teams go head-to-head in a 2.30pm BST kick-off in Dagenham.
Sonia Bompastor’s side have picked up where they left off last term, winning their first three league matches of the campaign, having lifted the WSL title after an impressive, invincible 2024/25 season.
The Irons are aware of the threat the Blues will pose, but Tysiak wants her side to find that fortress feeling around Chigwell Construction Stadium that served them so well last season.
She said: “It's always nice to play in our fortress, especially in front of the fans. I really hope we will make it a fortress for Chelsea, and that it will be a good game for us and for the fans.
“I think we needed this kind of game [against Charlton] after the tough start of the season. But I think we have now picked up some confidence from the game, and I think different people had some minutes, so I think that's also very important going into the game at the weekend.
“If you score those kinds of goals, I hope you get some confidence out of it!”
