Will Arsenal be team to end Chelsea's 'ridiculous' unbeaten run?

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Women's Super League: Arsenal v Chelsea

Venue: Emirates Stadium, London Date: Saturday, 8 November Kick-off: 12:00 GMT

Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app

Chelsea have not lost a match in the Women's Super League in 555 days.

Their French manager Sonia Bompastor has never experienced the feeling of defeat in the English top flight.

Since losing 4-3 to Liverpool on 1 May 2024, Chelsea have claimed two WSL titles, changed managers and gone 32 league games unbeaten.

If they avoid defeat on Saturday, the Blues will equal the longest unbeaten streak in WSL history - set by Chelsea under Emma Hayes between 2019 and 2021.

But Arsenal, who are desperate to keep their title hopes alive, stand in their way.

Could the Gunners be the team to finally end Chelsea's unbeaten run? BBC Sport looks at the key statistics and talking points surrounding the fixture.

While Chelsea have stayed unbeaten at the start of 2025-26 campaign and sit top of the WSL table, Arsenal have been less fortunate.

The Gunners' hopes of a title charge suffered an early blow with a defeat by Manchester City and draws against Manchester United and Aston Villa.

Those results have left Arsenal five points behind Chelsea and a defeat on Saturday would surely end their dreams of winning a first league title since 2019.

While they have endured a shaky start to the season, the Gunners did strengthen in the summer and Slegers has a deeper squad to challenge the reigning champions.

Arsenal will also take confidence from their triumphant Champions League run last season, when they beat eight-time winners Lyon and favourites Barcelona to lift the one trophy that Chelsea have yet to win.

Former Gunners defender Jen Beattie says Arsenal have the players to cause Chelsea problems.

"I do think that they have more than enough quality in their squad to [win], " she told the Women's Football Weekly podcast.

"We've seen that over the past sort of 12 months of course - it's whether they get it tactically right."

Slegers will also be well aware that Bompastor's side have looked far from invincible this season.

The Blues overcame a slow start to beat Aston Villa and they narrowly edged past Leicester, while they dropped points in a surprise draw against Dutch side Twente in their Women's Champions League opener.

Describing Chelsea's unbeaten run as "ridiculous", former England striker Ellen White added: "It is going to be a real challenge for Arsenal and I think it comes at a good time for them.

"They have to put everything together now and they have to perform and improve and really kickstart their season."

But if the Gunners fail to get any points on Saturday, White says the title, which they last won in 2019, will be "out of reach" again.

On their way to becoming the first WSL side to finish a 22-game season unbeaten, Chelsea did the league-double over Arsenal last term.

One goal separated the two teams on both occasions.

During their last outing at the Emirates, Chelsea netted twice in the opening 16 minutes - a cushion that the Gunners, who were playing under Jonas Eidevall, could not overturn.

In January's reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, Guro Reiten's late penalty saw off to Renee Slegers' side.

Arsenal have won three of their past 10 meetings against Chelsea in all competitions, losing six.

Their last victory against the Blues arrived in the 2024 League Cup final, when Stina Blackstenius scored a 116th-minute winner.

More than 50,000 tickets have been sold for Saturday's meeting, which Slegers says will be "a beautiful occasion", as well as a "great opportunity" to get back into the title race.

If Chelsea were to win, they would move to 22 points - eight ahead of Arsenal, whereas if the hosts were to triumph, they would cut the deficit to the Blues to just two points.

And Arsenal boast an impressive home record, having lost just one of their past 24 home matches in the league - although that did come against Chelsea last season.

"This is why the players work so hard, what they live for, to play these kinds of games where there's so much at stake," says Slegers.

"It's going to be about execution. I think there are two really good teams going against each other. There will be fine margins on the pitch."

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