By Chloe Reynolds (16/11/25)
Above: Chelsea forward Alyssa Thompson strikes her goal. Photo: ChelseaFCW on X.
Liverpool held reigning WSL champions Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at St. Helen’s stadium thanks to Beata Olsson’s goal.
Chelsea made the trip to Merseyside to face a winless Liverpool in the hope of continuing their unbeaten run. The hosts had yet to win a game under new manager Gareth Taylor, and the pressure on his side had been building.
With England’s Hannah Hampton missing through injury, Livia Peng came into goal for the Blues, making her Women’s Super League debut. Australian star striker Sam Kerr was rested for the occasion.
The action
Erin Cuthbert had an early chance but could not take advantage and dragged her effort wide. It did not take long for the visitors to take the lead, however, with Alyssa Thompson’s third goal of the season. Wieke Kaptein ran straight through the Liverpool defence before playing the ball wide to Thompson, who curled a perfect finish with the inside of her right foot past Faye Kirby.
It was not all Chelsea, however, as Grace Fisk struck a half-volley, but it went wide of the target.
Thompson then came close to giving Chelsea a second. She found space in a similar position to where she had scored earlier, but this time the Liverpool defence marked her well and cleared the danger. Lily Woodham then outran Chelsea captain Millie Bright and threaded the ball through to Beata Olsson, who calmly slotted it past Peng to become the first Liverpool player to score in three consecutive WSL games since Rachel Furness in February 2020.
Equal at 1-1, there were subsequent chances on both sides. Cat Macario had a perfect opportunity to restore Chelsea’s lead when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s shot bounced off Lily Woodham and fell to her. She took a touch to settle but sent the ball wide from ten yards.
At the other end, Ceri Holland had an attempt on goal, but it was deflected for a Liverpool corner. The set piece was swung in from the right, where Nathalie Björn met it with a header, but the ball went over the bar, much to Faye Kirby’s relief.
Introduced after half-time, Aggie Beever-Jones put the ball in the net after receiving a pass from Erin Cuthbert, but the flag went up for offside. The young Lioness then had another chance after Kirby left the net open, but her strike went wide. Woodham almost gave Liverpool the lead with an angled pass across goal, but fortunately for Peng, it went narrowly off target.
The result proved to be a fantastic boost for Liverpool and a major step forward for Gareth Taylor. However, for Chelsea, the result is less pleasing: it means two dropped points, giving Manchester City a more comfortable three-point cushion at the top of the table.
Liverpool pack the box
Whilst much will be made of Chelsea’s inability to get the win in the end, it is worth noting that Liverpool were excellent defensively, and set up in a way that was increasingly difficult to penetrate.
For the last ten minutes, all eleven Liverpool players packed into their own penalty area, happy to hold on to the draw whilst breaking forward whenever possible. Chelsea had a number of chances in the last minutes of the game, but these all went begging as they were blocked by a tangle of red-clad legs.
Combined with the Blues’ forwards struggling for form – Beever-Jones has recently been suffering with a dead leg and missed their midweek European match, and Lauren James has only just returned from injury. Kerr’s minutes are being carefully managed, leaving the bulk of the responsibility to Macario – who was effectively dealt with by Liverpool.
Next weekend, Chelsea will look to return to form against a struggling Everton after the international break – but have a huge midweek test against FC Barcelona in the Champions League. Liverpool’s midweek opposition will provide a different kind of test, as they head to Sheffield to face Sheffield United in the League Cup. Their next WSL game sees them travel to London to face Arsenal in early December.
Liverpool “learning every day” – Woodham
Following the game, Liverpool’s Lily Woodham spoke to Sky Sports: “I think in the first half we showed more composure on the ball and in the second half it dropped off a little bit,” she reflected, adding that the team “knew, if we got a point today, it would put us in a great position for the next few weeks because we have some big games coming up before the Christmas break.”
She also highlighted new head coach Gareth Taylor: “He [Taylor] has been really good with us, we’re learning everyday, trying new things and we’re just going to stick to that and see from there.”
Goalscorer Olsson’s reflection was more tactical, focusing on the weaknesses they had identified in Chelsea’s defence (also to Sky Sports): “Lily [Woodham] did all the hard work and played the ball through to me. We knew we were quick up front and they were slow with their centre-backs.”
She was also quick to highlight that the result today was a team effort, not down to her own performance as an individual.
“Everything we do sets us up for these small moments so I’m really happy to score the goals but, I think I’m just in the position to receive really great balls and the whole team is behind it.”
TEAMS: LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Kirby, Fisk (c), Clark, Evans, Woodham, Nagano, Kerr, Kapocs, Enderby, Olsson, Holland. Substitutes: Borggräfe, Bonner, Kiernan, Laws, Lundgaard, MacLean, Parry, Silcock, Szymczak.
Scorer: Olsson 1-1 (33′)
CHELSEA (4-1-4-1): Peng, Carpenter, Bright (c), Björn, Charles, Cuthbert, Walsh, Kaneryd, Kaptein, Thompson, Macario. Substitutes: Baltimore (for Kaneryd 55′), Beever-Jones (for Macario 46′), Girma (for Bright 46′), Hamano, James (for Charles 72′), Jean-François, Nüsken, Spencer, Bronze (for Björn 63′) .
Scorer: Thompson 0-1 (9′)
Attendance: TBC
Referee: Edward Duckworth
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