Will Chelsea remain unbeaten in the UWCL?
While the men of the guild are on international break and will not start their first qualifying matches for the 2024 European Championships in Germany until Thursday, Tuesday and Wednesday are all about the increasingly popular women’s game. The first legs of the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League will be played. Among others, with double German participation. Wolfsburg and Bayern have made it into the top eight.
In the following, however, we turn our attention to a match between two of the most renowned women’s divisions in world football. Lyon and Chelsea will meet at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais on Wednesday evening from 18:45. The odds on a home win for the French women are somewhat lower. However, there can be no talk of a clear favourite role, as a very ambitious opponent awaits with the guests from London.
This was already clear in the group stage, where the ladies from the English capital came out on top with flying colours and therefore have home advantage in the second leg next week. The Lyonnais, on the other hand, had to make do with second place and are thus already under pressure in the first match in front of their home crowd. Nevertheless, as we expect a match of equals, it is possible that Lyon and Chelsea will score few goals in the course of the match.
Lyon – Statistics & current form
Olympique Lyon’s women’s football team is still one of the most successful to tread the green turf in the last two decades. A total of 15 championships since 2007, nine cup victories and an outstanding eight Women’s Champions League triumphs adorn the letterhead of the club from the south-east of France.
Last season, coach Sonia Bompastor’s team once again took the crown in Europe’s most important women’s club competition. Thanks to a commanding 3-0 victory over FC Barcelona in the final, they are not only the reigning titleholders, but have also won the top division six times in the past seven seasons.
Can Lyon cope with the prominent absentees?
There are, however, good reasons why the best bookmakers are a little more cautious about the odds on Lyon as favourites in the upcoming quarter-final first leg against Chelsea. For one thing, the French side did not make the best impression in the group stage, finishing second in the final standings, losing their opening match against Arsenal 1:5 and also losing both games against Juventus. On the other hand, there are still important absences in terms of personnel.
With Griedge Mbock, Catarino Macario and Amadine Henry, three regulars will not be available due to injury. All three ladies were in the starting eleven in the 2022 CL final and even scored a goal each in the person of Henry and Macario. Record goalscorer Ada Hegerberg, who has crossed the goal line 59 times in the UWCL, is coming back from a long injury lay-off and is only scheduled as a wild card. The two Germans Marozsan and Däbritz will have to take on all the more responsibility in midfield.
The fact that the aforementioned absences do not pass the team by unscathed has recently become clear on several occasions. In the cup and in the league, OL only struggled to narrow victories. With a record of 14 wins, one draw and one defeat and only eight goals conceded after 16 matchdays in the French top flight, the Lyonnais nevertheless lead the standings by just one point ahead of PSG. Chelsea, however, are a completely different calibre than in the games before.
Predicted Lyon line-up:
Endler; Carpenter, Gilles, Renard, Bacha; Horan, Egurrola, Däbritz, Marozsan; Casarino, Le Sommer
Last matches played by Lyon:
Division 1 Feminine
11/03/2023 – Fleury Merogis U.S 1 – 2 Lyon
26/02/2023 – Lyon 3 – 0 Bordeaux
04/02/2023 – Rodez Aveyron 0 – 5 Lyon
22/01/2023 – Lyon 2 – 0 Montpellier
14/01/2023 – ASJ Soyaux 0 – 3 Lyon
Chelsea Women – Statistics & current form
The Chelsea FC women are the measure of all things in the Women’s Super League in England so far this season. After 14 matches, the Blues lead the standings by two points ahead of Arsenal and even have a game in hand.
Twelve wins compare to one draw and one draw. Compared to OL’s lead in the standings, the Londoners’ current performance is even more impressive, as the WSL is stronger, especially in terms of width.
Ladies in Blue impress with defensive strength
All the more impressive is the fact that they have not suffered a single defeat at league level since the first matchday and the defeat at Liverpool. If you exclude the loss of the WSL Cup final, which is of little significance, Chelsea Ladies have been unbeaten in the competition for more than half a year.
In the Women’s Champions League in particular, the team of coach Emma Hayes, who surprisingly dropped out of the group stage last year, has been convincing all along the line. Only in the away match against Real Madrid (1-1) did the English women lose a point. Chelsea won their group ahead of the women from Paris St. Germain, who were beaten twice to nil, and will now be looking for a good starting position for the second leg in Lyon. Incidentally, the reigning English champions conceded the only goal in the preliminary round in the aforementioned draw.
Two German internationals should also help. Ann-Katrin Berger and new mum Melanie Leupolz are expected to start after being rested in the FA Cup at the weekend. By the way, so are the key players Kerr, Buchanan and James, who will all be rested for this European Cup match. This is one of the reasons why we see the better value in the odds between Lyon and Chelsea Women on a good result for the visitors.
Predicted Chelsea Women line-up:
Berger; Perisset, Buchanan, Bright, Charles; Leupolz, Ingle; James, Fleming, Reiten; Kerr
Last Chelsea women’s games:
Women’s FA Cup
19/03/2023 – Reading FC Women 1 – 3 Chelsea FC Women
WSL
12/03/2023 – Chelsea FC Women 1 – 0 Manchester United Women
09/03/2023 – Chelsea FC Women 3 – 1 Brighton & Hove Albion Women
Women’s League Cup Final
05/03/2023 – Arsenal London 3 – 1 Chelsea FC Women
Women’s FA Cup
26/02/2023 – Chelsea FC Women 2 – 0 Arsenal London
Lyon – Chelsea Women Direct comparison / H2H balance
Although Lyon and Chelsea are two Champions League winners facing each other, there have only been two head-to-head duels. Those two come from the 2018/19 Champions League season, when they met in the semi-finals. Lyon won the first leg 2-1 in front of their own fans, meaning a 1-1 draw in the return leg in London was enough for OL to reach the final. Later, the French women also won the title.
Lyon – Chelsea Women’s Tip
At the 2022 European Championship, the English women won the title in front of their home crowd. However, while the French have tended to wear the hat in international club football so far, a changing of the guard in the UEFA Women’s Champions League is now looming. Before the quarter-finals, we do not rule out that both Paris St. Germain against Wolfsburg and Lyon against Chelsea will lose out after the first and second legs.
With regard to the French-English duel, it must certainly be taken into account that OL have won the title in the top division in six of the last seven seasons. Nevertheless, the current situation is somewhat different. The defending champions are without several important players and did not cover themselves with glory in the group phase.
The Londoners, on the other hand, were convincing in the preliminary round and have been unbeaten in the important competitions (league, European Cup) for half a year. Against this backdrop, we play the double chance X2 tip in conjunction with the Under 3.5 between Lyon and Chelsea Women. The top odds are 2.25 and we are playing with six units.
Both teams have excellent defensive lines. Moreover, there is a lot at stake, which is why we do not necessarily believe in many goals. If you want to use this approach to bet on few goals, you can bet on the duel Lyon vs. Chelsea with exciting odds of 1.93 on the under 2.5 at Betano. In addition, the interesting Betano bonus for new customers can be used here.
