Emma Hayes admits Chelsea only have 'small chance' of winning WSL title - despite already 'moving on' from heart-breaking Champions League defeat to Barcelona

The Blues have to stitch together a perfect run of results in the final lap of the WSL campaign if they are to defend their WSL crown. Currently, they find themselves six points behind leaders City and have an inferior goal difference of seven, but do still have two games in hand.

City have been in marauding form and have scored 20 goals in their last five matches while conceding just three. Hence, Chelsea must not only win their next two matches but beat their opponents by a significant margin which will help them scale down the goal difference margin.

Hayes was pragmatic before facing Liverpool and insisted that Chelsea have put their Champions League defeat to Barcelona in the history books and are focused on the league campaign even though the odds are stacked against them.

“We have moved on [from Barcelona]. We had a day off. We have discussed our objectives, and now focus on this game," said Hayes.

"After any loss, the worst thing you can have is a long period of time off. We have a small chance of winning the league, we have to focus on doing that. We are not in the driving seat, we don’t have the goal difference, we have to catch up."

While City have third-placed Arsenal and a stuttering Aston Villa to deal with in their last two matches, Chelsea face a bit more formidable lineup of opponents starting with Liverpool, followed by away fixtures to Tottenham and Manchester United. It remains to be seen if the London outfit can shift that extra gear at the business end of the campaign to hand a memorable farewell to Hayes, who is set to take charge of the USWNT in the summer.