West Ham United women's team v Chelsea
Barclays Women's Super League, Chigwell Construction Stadium, Sunday 24 March, 4.30pm GMT.
West Ham United women's team take on Chelsea in the Barclays Women's Super League on Sunday 24 March.
The Hammers seek to extend their home unbeaten run, having taken four points from tough clashes against Arsenal and Manchester United in their previous two matches at Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Read on for everything you need to know ahead Sunday's London derby...
Tickets
A limited number of tickets are available for the clash against Chelsea, priced at just £13 for Adults and £5 for Juniors. Click here to purchase yours!
A small number of tickets in standing areas will be available at the ticket office on the day of the game.
How To Follow
The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage beginning 30 minutes before the scheduled 4.30pm kick off time.
Alternatively, you can also follow the action across our social media channels, while highlights and exclusive reactions will follow after the final whistle on whufc.com.
The Opposition
Chelsea are the reigning Barclays Women’s Super League champions and have continued their red-hot form this season, currently topping the table above Manchester City on goal difference.
The Blues’ fine run of form continued last weekend when they comfortably beat Arsenal 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, though there have been two rare slip-ups at the hands of their title rivals, with Emma Hayes’ side losing to both Manchester City and the Gunners earlier in the campaign.
After overcoming a potential banana skin against Ajax on Tuesday at the Johan Cruyff Arena, Sunday's visitors will travel to east London full of confidence, having all but booked their spot in the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League with a commanding 3-0 first-leg advantage.
When Emma Hayes took over Chelsea in 2012, they were going nowhere fast and were seemingly devoid of direction, but now, over a decade later, she has transformed them into serial winners and a dominant force in women’s football.
Hayes, who has taken charge of 327 matches to date as Chelsea boss and has a win percentage of 71 per cent, has decided to move on to pastures new at the end of the season. She has agreed to become the head coach of the United States Women’s National Team at the end of the campaign.
Coach's view...
"I think there have been a couple of games where we have shown we can turn up and have performed very well in those couple of games," Skinner told reporters in her pre-match press conference.
"We are looking forward to getting back in front of our fans this weekend. When we played Chelsea last time in the FA Cup, we gave a really good account of ourselves in that game, and I think the players are really up for it.
"It’s an opportunity to bounce back from this weekend as there were a few things that we were a bit disappointed with, so it’s another game, another opportunity and we are going to give it everything we absolutely can.
"The group love these type of games and I think we have risen to the challenge of making it a really tough game when we have played a team in the top four.
"Their [Chelsea’s] squad is in the position it is because of the depth of that squad, so every player on that pitch we have to be mindful of, and want to make sure we stick to what we are trying to do within our game plan. Hopefully we can make it as hard as possible, fight for everything, and make it as difficult as we possibly can.
"The squad is built to manage multiple game weeks, so I would never underestimate them and we’ve got a lot of respect for Chelsea, but at the same time we don’t fear them and have got to go out and do what we want to do within our game.
"We will be competitive, work really hard no matter their starting XI, and make sure we do everything we can to deliver our game plan and hopefully that gives us an opportunity to get some points out the game."
Supporter Information
Everyone should feel welcome and safe at West Ham United matches and events, as such the Club operates a zero-tolerance policy when dealing with discriminatory behaviour.
Ahead of this fixture, we would like to remind all supporters that the ‘rent boy’ chant is defined as a homophobic slur by the Crown Prosecution Service – the main public agency for prosecuting crimes in England and Wales – and therefore a hate crime and a prosecutable offence.
Furthermore, supporters who are not prosecuted by police or issued a Football Banning Order are still at risk of being banned from all West Ham United women’s team matches.
We thank you for your support in ensuring that our games remain a safe space for everyone.
