Chelsea’s Guro Reiten predicts a challenging WSL season despite her team’s past dominance. While acknowledging Chelsea’s strength and recent treble, she emphasizes the increasing competitiveness of the league and the ambition of rivals like Manchester City and Arsenal. Reiten highlights the importance of focus and consistency in every game, especially with Chelsea starting their season against a revamped Man City. She also comments on Arsenal’s Champions League win, underscoring the quality of the WSL and Chelsea’s determination to pursue their own European title.
Chelsea forward Guro Reiten anticipates a fiercely contested Women’s Super League (WSL) season as Sonia Bompastor's squad aims to defend their hard-earned title. The Blues are coming off a dominant 2024-25 season, where they clinched their sixth consecutive WSL title, remaining undefeated under Bompastor’s leadership and finishing a significant 12 points ahead of Arsenal. This remarkable achievement was part of a larger domestic treble, with Chelsea also securing the Women’s League Cup and FA Cup.
Despite the Opta supercomputer projecting Chelsea as overwhelming favorites with a 72.4% chance of winning their ninth WSL title, Reiten believes the competition will be much tighter than the data suggests. Manchester City (13.6%), Arsenal (10.1%), and Manchester United (3.9%) are considered outside contenders, but Reiten emphasizes that the reality on the field will present a sterner challenge.
“All of them,” Reiten stated when asked about Chelsea’s main rivals for the 2025-26 title. “I think you know the leagues. It’s tough every year, there’s competition all the way, and this year is going to be the same. All of them can win it; all of them want to win it. We just have to work hard and be ready for every game because every game matters.”
Since joining Chelsea from LSK Kvinner in 2019, Reiten has become a pivotal player, making 109 WSL appearances and contributing 37 goals and 32 assists. Her impact is evident when comparing her stats to other top players in the league. Since her debut, only Beth England (74), Khadija Shaw (76), Sam Kerr (78), Lauren Hemp (81), and Vivianne Miedema (85) have surpassed Reiten’s 69 league goal contributions.
Reiten, now 31, has observed a marked improvement in the WSL, despite Chelsea's sustained dominance over the past six seasons under both Emma Hayes and Bompastor. This evolution underscores the increasing competitiveness and rising standards across the league.
“Like I said, it’s every game that really matters, you know, from the beginning till the end. You have to be focused. You can’t think ahead,” Reiten explained. “We’ve had different competitions, tournaments, Champions League in there, but if you want to win the league, you got to stay in the moment and in the games that’s come next.”
She added, “So, it’s very difficult, very tight. There have been some last games of the season, a couple of years we’ve won it in the last game which is crazy. So, it’s tight.”
Chelsea begins their WSL campaign with a highly anticipated match against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge this Friday. Last season, the Blues defeated City in the League Cup final and overcame a two-goal deficit in the Champions League quarter-finals to advance. Chelsea and Manchester City made history as the first WSL teams to clash five times in a single season across all competitions, with Chelsea winning four of those encounters (L1). Furthermore, Chelsea has won six of their last seven home games against City (L1), including both matches last season without conceding a goal.
“City are a great team, [they] brought in some new players. They want to keep possession, they’re fast up top, [and] have a lot of quality in their team and in their squad,” Reiten commented. “So, we know that’s going to be a tough test, but we have prepared really well. We had a good summer, and then pre-season [will] soon be done, and we’re ready to start.”
3 – Chelsea are the first @BarclaysWSL team to complete a domestic treble on two separate occasions, also doing so in the 2020-21 campaign. Domination. pic.twitter.com/Hl7BRLRKBe
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 18, 2025
One trophy that eluded Chelsea last season was the Champions League, where they suffered an 8-2 aggregate defeat against eventual runners-up Barcelona in the semi-finals. In a stunning turn of events, Barcelona, heavily favored to win their third consecutive title, were upset 1-0 by Arsenal in the final, with Stina Blackstenius scoring the decisive goal in the 74th minute.
Reiten acknowledged that Arsenal’s Champions League victory highlighted the growing strength and competitiveness of the WSL. However, she affirmed that Chelsea is fully committed to doing everything possible to secure their first European title.
“I think that’s amazing, [it's] amazing for England. It shows the quality of the league, but everyone is working really hard to win that title,” Reiten concluded. “The margins are very small, and Arsenal did it last year, [which was] very impressive. This year’s a new competition, and everyone wants to win it. So, it’s going to be hard, and we just have to work every day to be ready for this campaign.”