Sam Kerr appreciation post

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Sam Kerr dropped a first-half hat trick against Birmingham City over the weekend. The Chelsea star has now scored in 17 goals in 19 FAWSL matches this year, tying her with Vivanne Miedema for the most in the league.

• Together with Fran Kirby, the two have single-handedly scored more goals this season (31) than seven other teams. That’s incredible.

It’s hard to remember now, but Kerr got off to a rough start when she first joined Chelsea in early 2020.

• She sailed a wild shot in her debut game, while a particularly rough performance in the Women’s Community Shield was called a “Wembley nightmare” by the BBC.
• “I’m out of my comfort zone,” the Australian star admitted last February. “There’s huge tackles flying in everywhere, but that’s why I went to this league, because I knew it would challenge me as a player.”

Kerr arrived in England with huge expectations. She was already the leading scorer in both NWSL and W-League history.

• She’s now found her stride in England, having scored 10 goals in her club’s last six matches to go along with two assists.
• Crucially, Chelsea sit atop the table with three games left in the season. They’re also on to the Champions League semis after downing Wolfsburg last week. To dethrone Lyon, they’ll need Kerr to keep up her play.

The big picture: Kerr is already a soccer superstar on three different continents, but the biggest stage is yet to come with Australia set to host the Women’s World Cup in 2023.

• Kerr is the national team captain, and will be squarely in her prime at age 29 when the tournament begins.
• In the meantime, she’ll keep scoring. And scoring. And likely scoring some more.

Go deeper: Chelsea and Australia striker Sam Kerr on settling in England, Kirby form and Olympic hopes (ESPN)