Emma Hayes‘ Chelsea once again had an impeccable season in 2022/23, landing a fourth consecutive WSL title, a third successive FA Cup and therefore a third straight double. They also went to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Similar to Arsenal, Chelsea were another team that suffered the affects of losing key players to injury durign their 22/23 campaign, missing the key value of Fran Kirby, Millie Bright, Kadeisha Buchanan and Pernille Harder at various points of the season.

Whilst these injuries caused issues on pitch, it failed to derail the formidable side, with Hayes using every ounce of squad depth available to her to keep the team on track.

Even spending much of the WSL campaign chasing surprise leaders Manchester United, Chelsea’s late games in hand eventually made the difference once the campaign unfolded at the end – and home and away league wins over United, who they also beat at Wembley, were decisive.

Despite all the success, the end of the campaign was also bittersweet as club captain Magdalena Eriksson bid farewell ahead of a new challenge next season. Pernille Harder will also leave, with the pair expected to join Bayern Munich together when the summer transfer window opens.

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Chelsea headed into 2022/23 on the hunt for more silverware. Last season echoed a lot of similarities to this one, suffering a loss on the opening day of the league in both cases (against Arsenal in 2021 and Liverpool in 2022), losing the Conti Cup final, ultimately doing a WSL and FA Cup double, but falling short of their ultimate goal in the Champions League.

Chelsea had clinched the league last season by just one point from Arsenal, but failed to make it out of the Champions League group stages after drawing two and losing one game. As such, they went into 2022/23 hoping to retain their domestic dominance but itching for elusive European glory.

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Guro Reiten

Unsung hero of the season, Guro Reiten, has been immensely important to Chelsea’s successes again this season, leading the way for combined goals and assists and constantly being arguably the Blue’s most important player, appearing in 39 games for the side in all competitions.

Reiten often flies under the radar due to sharing a pitch with superstars like Sam Kerr and Pernille Harder and usually doesn’t receive the accolades she deserves. But her return of 13 goals and 19 assists across all competitions speaks for itself.

The Norweigan was picked for 90min’s WSL team of the season, having caused opposing right-backs no end of trouble all season. As soon as she was allowed the ball and saw a pocket of space, the punishment was there for the opposition, and it is hard to think that Chelsea wouldn’t have struggled to find as much success this season as they did without her input.

Honourable mentions: Niamh Charles, Sam Kerr, Erin Cuthbert

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Guro Reiten vs Aston Villa

REITEN EXTENDS CHELSEA’S LEAD! 🔵🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/NDbeOmgJM4

— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) April 2, 2023

Another accolade for Reiten, her goal against Aston Villa was truly a magical moment. Dispossessing the defence, it is a true testament to her ability to win the ball back and create chances out of seemingly nothing – it is why she is so effective.

It is easy to call on prolific striker Sam Kerr to find the back of the net, moments like this from Reiten make her so important.

Honourable mentions: Lauren James vs Spurs, Sam Kerr vs Liverpool, Erin Cuthbert vs West Ham

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Chelsea 2-2 Lyon (win on penalties)

In probably one of the most tense games in Champions League history, Lyon took an aggregate lead in extra-time. Yet Chelsea earned a penalty with the last kick of the game, dispatched calmly by Maren Mjelde in the 127th minute of the second leg. That forced a shootout that the Blues won.

Knocking the reigning champions and eight-time winners out of the competition, Chelsea showed incredible resilience to keep fighting until the last second of the game, all the while battling with an injury-stricken squad and intense fixture congestion.

Not only did this game seal their ticket to the semi-finals, but it rang true to the mentality that Emma Hayes had gushed about all season, proving just how dominant of a team they really are, not just domestically but in Europe as well.

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Eve Perisset

Eve Perisset has been in great nick for the Blues, starting the majority of games for the side and fitting into the star-studded team impressively well.

The French right-back signed from Bordeaux last summer, having also played for both Lyon and PSG earlier in her career, with a reputation as one of the most reliable performers in D1F. Making the move to England, Perisset made 32 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions.

Honourable mentions: Johanna Rytting Kaneryd

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Niamh Charles

Niamh Charles has been previously a little hit-and-miss for Chelsea, struggling to make one position on the pitch her own, darting from winger to full-bac. Although her versatility has been incredibly useful for Hayes, it has meant the player did not always have the best of times for the Blues.

However, this season, Charles has become the favoured left-back option, playing 39 games in total, tallying the most appearances for the side alongside the aforementioned Reiten.

Hayes recently commented on the 23-year-old, stating how impressed she has been with the Lioness and praised the season she has had, scoring four goals and registering six assists.

Regardless where on the left flank she has been placed, Charles has certainly proved herself, earning her minutes for club and country in recent months and has been a vital edition to Hayes‘ success this season, much developed from the performances she had in the previous campaign.

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Losing to Barcelona once again

Despite being a formidable force in the WSL, Chelsea once again were unable to topple European giants Barcelona, the side that thrashed them in the 2021 final, and stumbled out of the Champions Legaue after a 3-1 aggregate defeat over two legs in the semi-final.

It was a tough loss for a side that was without first choice centre-back pairing Millie Bright and Kadeisha Buchanan due to injury. Fran Kirby, a pivotal addition to the midfield, was also missing, while Pernille Harder was returning from injury but not fit enough to play a full 90 minutes.

In the first leg, it only took Caroline Graham Hansen three minutes to punish a lack of concentration to set the visitors 1-0 up, a goal that would determine the trajectory of the tie for the Blues.

Unable to give themselves a leg up going into the second tie at Camp Nou, despite their best efforts, the London side succumbed to defeat at the hands of Catalans once again.

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Most appearances

Top scorers

Chelsea 2022/23 top assist makers

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