In early March, Manchester United were Chelsea's closest rivals for the Women's Super League title. Just five points behind the Blues and with a clash against them to come in late April, their chances were somewhat slim but not at all far-fetched. However, the last two months have seen the Red Devils produce nothing like title-winning form, meaning Wednesday's loss to Chelsea not only handed the Blues the title but also weakened United's hold on the third and final Champions League place.
Defeat to an up-and-down Liverpool in mid-March was extremely costly and a draw at West Ham a few weeks later only compounded United's misery, meaning they went into Wednesday's game just four points ahead of chasing Manchester City. A win against the champions-elect suddenly felt massively important, especially ahead of the visit of City this coming weekend.
The nature of their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea will have been particularly frustrating, then. United were the better team for most of the game, and yet they came away empty-handed. It means a rejuvenated City can close the gap to the European spots to just one-point with victory this weekend, a result which would put the Red Devils under real pressure away at Arsenal on the final day.
