Bristol City boss Smith expects no change to Chelsea’s aims following Liverpool defeat | OneFootball

Bristol City head coach Lauren Smith says that she expects Chelsea’s goals to remain the same when the two clubs meet at Kingsmeadow on Sunday evening.

The Blues’ Barclays Women’s Super League title hopes are hanging by a thread after they were defeated 4-3 by Liverpool at Prenton Park last night. After the match, Chelsea boss Emma Hayes and her players looked distraught with the club heading towards a trophy-less campaign.

Hayes has already dismissed her side’s title hopes with three games remaining but Bristol City boss Smith still expects The Blues to come out and try to chalk up a big scoreline against her side this weekend.

“[Defeated] will be how they felt straight off the back of a crazy game of football which was brilliant for everyone else to watch,” Smith said when speaking to the media about Chelsea’s defeat at Liverpool.

“I think Emma has come out and said ‘that’s it, it’s all gone now, never-mind’. I would say that’s very clever, she’s taken the pressure away but there’s no doubt in my mind that they will be looking to still go for that goal difference because there’s games to play and there’s tough games for Manchester City equally. They’re not going to just back away that easily. I don’t think it will have changed how they approach our game and what they want out of it.”

Bristol City already face the prospect of Barclays Women’s Championship football next season after being relegated last weekend. Nevertheless, Smith still wants her side to go out, test themselves and try to get some more points on the board.

She said “It gives us another opportunity to go toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the league. From recent history, they’re the best team that’s been around. We’ll look at it as an opportunity and equally, two weeks after when we play Everton, that’s an opportunity for us to still try and get some points in front of a home crowd. For us, there’s plenty to play for.”

Bristol City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Chelsea kicks-off at 6.45pm on Sunday evening.