Chelsea went into this season as the Opta supercomputer's favourites to win the Women's Super League title.Before a ball was kicked, the Blues were given a 39.9% chance of winning the competition.However, Chelsea opened the season with a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa, with Veerle Buurman scoring a late own goal.And with likely title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal getting off to winning starts, Chelsea will be eager to get themselves up and running when they head to Manchester United in the WSL's headline fixture this weekend.Eva Olid's tenure in charge of Man Utd began with a defeat, as Alexia Putellas and her London City Lionesses team-mates prevailed 2-1.United are expected to finish fourth this season, but they will be out to show they can keep up with the best as Olid aims for her first win.Here, using Opta insights, we look ahead to this enthralling early-season showdown.Keeping the tempo high pic.twitter.com/0ImCMFU3kr— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) September 10, 2026What's expected?Chelsea have won 17 of their 20 meetings with United across all competitions (D2 L1), though the corresponding fixture last term did finish 1-1.Indeed, Chelsea are the only team that United have never beaten in the WSL, failing in all 13 attempts (D2 L11). Only four teams have faced an opponent more times in the competition without ever winning.Plus, since the start of the 2023-24 campaign, United have won just one of their 18 WSL matches against fellow ‘big four’ teams (D6 L11) – in that same period, Chelsea have won 36 points in such games (W11 D3 L4) compared to the Red Devils’ nine.Given this bleak track record, it is no surprise to see that United are not being backed by Opta's model to get a win here.United are handed a 27.8% chance of victory, while Chelsea come out on top in 48.1% of the supercomputer's data-led simulations.The threat of a draw comes in at 24.1%.Manchester United 1-6 Chelsea.A SEVEN goal thriller away at United in 2021. pic.twitter.com/w8jrAJ2FXQ— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) September 10, 2026However, Chelsea have not particularly enjoyed all of their recent trips to Manchester, or indeed, the surrounding area.The Blues have failed to win four of their last seven trips to the city, and Chelsea were hammered 5-1 by Man City in February.Meetings between Man Utd and Chelsea have also not offered much in terms of goals. The Blues won three games in a row 1-0, before the 1-1 draw at Leigh Sports Village last term.United out to stop the rotJulia Zigiotti Olme's early own goal got United's campaign off to a poor start last time out, with a stoppage-time effort from Simi Awujo ultimately proving a consolation.But new boss Olid will now be relishing a home bow against Sonia Bompastor's title candidates.United are currently on their longest winless run in the league since reforming in 2018 (P5 D2 L3).However, they have not failed to win either of their opening two matches of a league campaign since their debut in the WSL in 2019-20, when they lost 1-0 to Arsenal and Man City.United recorded just four shots against London City, their joint-second fewest in a top-flight match.And while United are not in good form in the top tier, their opponents can never be absolutely sure of a victory if they only have a one-goal cushion.That is because each of United's last three goals in the WSL have come in the 90th minute or later.No side has ever enjoyed a longer successive run of WSL goals scored in the 90th minute or later (Arsenal in October 2023 and Brighton and Hove Albion in March 2024).Olid has big shoes to fill following Marc Skinner's departure, but a winning start on home turf would be the ideal way to prove she is up to the job.And United must start finding that winning touch once again, or this slump could become a dangerous one.Chelsea need their shooting boots onLauren James put Chelsea ahead early on against Villa, but the Blues failed to get the job done.That is despite Bompastor's team tallying up 3.6 expected goals, 3.16 of which came from open play.In fact, Chelsea had their most shots ever in a WSL game that they failed to win (35).35 – Chelsea's 35 shots against Aston Villa were their most ever in a WSL game that they failed to win.It was the Villans' first point against the Blues in the WSL at the 13th attempt.Improbable. #OptaOnWSL pic.twitter.com/pQMZzICbKi— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 6, 2026Only in the 2011 and the 2018-19 WSL campaigns have Chelsea failed to win either of their opening two matches. They also failed to win the title in either of those seasons.And going ahead does not seem to be an ideal place for the Blues to be in, either.Since the start of last season, Chelsea have failed to win five of the 19 WSL games they have taken the lead in (D5), as often as across the prior 87 league matches in which they went ahead.Given United's penchant for late goals, this trend could be particularly worrying for Bompastor.However, if Chelsea have their shooting boots on and create the quality of chances they managed to against Villa, then United could be in for a rough ride.PLAYERS TO WATCHManchester United – Simi AwujoAwujo could become just the third United player to score in both of the Red Devils' opening two games of a WSL campaign, after Grace Clinton in 2024-25 and Melvine Malard in 2025-26.Her effort against London City was the 22-year-old's first goal involvement in the WSL for United, in what was her 24th appearance in the competition, albeit only six of those have been starts.The Canada international actually led United for shots (two) against London City, despite only coming on as a 69th-minute substitute.Chelsea – Lauren JamesJames has been directly involved in a goal in each of her four WSL appearances against United (four goals, two assists).Against Villa, James was involved in 15 shots (11 shots, four chances created) – the most by a Chelsea player in a WSL match since Ji So-Yun vs Yeovil Town in November 2018 (17).However, James' efforts ultimately proved fruitless when it came to claiming three points, so the England forward will need more support from those around her in this contest.The post The Numbers Game: WSL title favourites Chelsea mark Man Utd boss Olid’s first home opponents appeared first on SoccerNews.