Pernille Harder: Chelsea star dreaming big with club and country

Chelsea midfielder Pernille Harder has become accustomed to being a league champion. For the past six seasons she has won the title - whether that be in Denmark, Germany or England.

So it is not too surprising that, despite her team having trailed Arsenal in the Women's Super League table all campaign, she remains confident about her team's chances.

"We don't need to look at the table to know that at the moment Arsenal are in first spot," the 29-year-old Dane told BBC Sport.

"Our goal is to win the title, and we know that to do that we have to win as many games as possible. That's just what we focus on - to win the games and how to win the games."

The Blues, who lost their opening match of the campaign to the Gunners, faced a difficult few weeks this winter which saw them win just one game in five in all competitions, while top scorer Sam Kerr departed to play in the Asian Cup with Australia.

After that sticky period, Emma Hayes' side got back on track with a victory over West Ham in the league, and have since followed that up with comprehensive wins in the FA Cup and League Cup. They go into Sunday's match against Manchester City with a spring in their step.

"It was a tough end to 2021, so yes, the confidence has come back. It's important to win games and get this confidence," Harder said.

"The games in 2022 have really helped. Also bear in mind that we were missing lots of players - because of the Asian Cup and also because of injuries - so all the players who have been available in this period have been doing really, really well, and really stepped up.

"It gives a lot of confidence to the squad."

Capturing Harder - who came second in the Ballon d'Or in 2018 - from Wolfsburg at the start of last season was a statement move by Chelsea, who paid in excess of £250,000 - believed to be one of the largest fees in the women's game.

In her short time at the club, she has already added three trophies to her collection - winning the League Cup, Women's Super League and FA Cup - as well as a Champions League runners-up medal.

She experienced defeat just once in the league in her debut season but has already doubled that tally in the first half of this campaign - and the Blues have recently dropped points at Brighton and Reading.

"The funny thing with this league - it's not easy to be consistent and just win all the games because there are many good teams," said the attacking midfielder.

"Most of the teams are really good at defending, so you can end up playing 0-0 against Brighton - it's a game we actually should win but it happens.

"That makes the league fun," she said, adding: "But we want to win all the games we can win.

"You have to get into a flow of winning games to have this consistency - it's something Chelsea have been good at for many years."

The Dane, who scored 17 times in 37 matches in all competitions last season, puts the team's continued success down to the motivating powers of manager Hayes.

"That's one of her big strengths, that she's really good at motivating the team," she said.

"She loves football, and she loves to talk about football. When she talks, you listen to her."

Alongside her club exploits, she is also hoping for more success on the international stage when Euro 2022 comes to England in July.

Harder, who is Denmark's all-time leading scorer and captained them to the Euro 2017 final, said: "It's always in the back of my head that there is a Euros this summer.

"We know that we have been in the final, and we know that it's possible. But we also know it's difficult. It's hard work.

"We are a small country - we might not even be the favourites in our group to go through with Spain and Germany in the group. It's a difficult group.

"What we learned from last time was that if we believe in it, it's possible, and everything is possible in a tournament."

So what are her main ambitions this season?

"It's a big year. With Chelsea, we want to win all the titles it is possible to win this year.

"The dream, the big dream, would be to win something with Denmark this summer."