When Manchester City sacked Gareth Taylor only days before the Women's League Cup final and asked predecessor Nick Cushing to step in on an interim basis, the new/former boss could hardly have wished for a more difficult start to his second spell in charge.

Chelsea won a hard-fought encounter at Pride Park on Saturday to win their first trophy under Sonia Bompastor, who remains undefeated since replacing Emma Hayes in the summer, winning 26 and drawing two of her 28 matches.

That victory has kept the Blues on track for an unprecedented quadruple.

With the WSL all but won and mid-table Liverpool awaiting in the FA Cup semi-finals, delivering Chelsea's first ever Champions League triumph will be Bompastor's priority for the remaining months of the campaign.

As for Cushing, his sole focus in the short-term is, unavoidably, Chelsea. This will be the second of four successive meetings between the teams in just 12 days, across three different competitions.

Although his side competed well at the weekend, as Taylor's team did in a 2-0 league defeat at Stamford Bridge back in November, at the prices it's hard to look past a CHELSEA WIN.

CLICK HERE to back Chelsea with Sky Bet

The 29/20 about them leaving Manchester with a first-leg advantage in this quarter-final is too big considering the results each side has produced since November, when Chelsea were 10/11 for victory. The Blues were also 8/11 to win in Derby only four days ago.

Chelsea winger GURO REITEN looks to have been overpriced at 11/4 TO SCORE ANYTIME, with the Norway international enjoying a superb season, scoring 11 goals in 22 appearances.

CLICK HERE to back Reiten to score anytime with Sky Bet

In terms of goalscoring she is a clear beneficiary from the change in management with Reiten only two goals from matching her most productive campaign for the club, with that best tally of 13 taking 39 matches to reached in 2022/23.

Her price is particularly generous given she is also Chelsea's penalty taker, with four of her 11 goals coming from the spot.

Already advised

2pts Alessia Russo to score anytime in Real Madrid vs Arsenal (17:45) at 15/8 (bet365)

0.5pt Russo to score first at 7/1 (bet365)

1pt Russo to score 2+ goals at 12/1 (bet365)

0.5pt Russo to score a hat-trick at 66/1 (bet365)

Real Madrid Women vs Arsenal Women

Kick-off time: 17:45 GMT, Tuesday
TV: TNT Sports 1
Home 21/10 | Draw 11/4 | Away 1/1

There's plenty of pressure on Arsenal as they head to Madrid on Tuesday night for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

As Chelsea run away with the Women's Super League and after a shock FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Liverpool 10 days ago, this is their only remaining hope of silverware this season.

Renee Slegers' side responded well to their recent setback by winning 3-1 at Everton in the WSL, inspired by a player-of-the-match performance from ALESSIA RUSSO, who scored twice to take her to 15 goals in 26 top-flight and European matches this term.

That only tells part of the story though, with Russo finding the net just once in her first nine appearances of the campaign, meaning she's scored 14 times in her last 17 games.

Backing her TO SCORE ANYTIME, FIRST and 2+ GOALS at generous 15/8, 7/1 and 12/1 quotes is advised.

The England striker has scored three braces in her last 10 appearances, and while she hasn't scored a club HAT-TRICK since joining Arsenal from Manchester United in 2023, the 66/1 price on her bagging her first for the Gunners is worth taking to small stakes too.

CLICK HERE to back Russo hat-trick with Sky Bet

Since starting their Champions League campaign with a shock 1-0 defeat at Swedish club BK Hacken, Arsenal have scored 21 times in seven matches, scoring 3+ goals in five of those fixtures.

This will be a serious step up in challenge for Real Madrid, whose domestic division Liga F is dominated by a Barcelona team (who are chasing a third straight Champions League title) streets ahead in terms of quality, winning 21 of their 22 league matches this season.

Madrid have played them four times already this season, losing 5-0 twice, 4-0 and 3-1. WSL holders and champions elect Chelsea, meanwhile, scored five goals across their two group games against the Spanish club.

Odds correct at 1430 GMT (18/03/25)

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