Nine saves on a debut
Thirty-five shots. Chelsea have never had that many in a Women’s Super League match and come away without the win. Akane Okuma is the reason.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper was making her WSL debut. She left Stamford Bridge with nine saves and a point, a haul beaten only once on a league bow: Lisa Weiss, 10 saves for Villa against Reading in September 2020.
Chelsea were also opening their first season with Stamford Bridge as a permanent home. New surroundings, familiar frustration.
Try it for $0.99.
Thirteenth time lucky for Villa
Twelve league meetings with Chelsea, twelve defeats. The thirteenth finally gave Villa something to take home.
Lauren James had put the hosts ahead and stretched a run that is getting hard to ignore: a goal involvement in each of her last five WSL appearances, four goals and three assists across them.
Chelsea have now scored in 10 consecutive league games, their best sequence since the 39-match run between March 2024 and November 2025. The attack was never the problem on Saturday. Finding a way past Okuma was.
A jumpy opening weekend elsewhere
London City Lionesses beat Manchester United 2-1 on Friday night. Michelle Kang’s side became the first team in WSL history to name a starting XI without a single English player for a league opener.
United’s reply arrived 99 minutes and 15 seconds in, the latest away goal the competition has recorded. They are seven matches without a win in all competitions now, the longest such run in the club’s history.
Liverpool took the weekend’s heaviest scoreline, 4-0 at newly promoted Charlton. The home side managed two shots. Nobody in the division managed fewer.
Discover the rest of the FOOTBALL news on our mathodds website and app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply