City host the Londoners at the Academy Stadium in a 2pm kick-off, looking to extend our lead over Emma Hayes’ side to four points.
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As Chelsea have a game in hand, a win would ensure the title race remains in City’s hands and – according to Walsh – force others to stand and take notice of the quality of Alan Mahon’s side.
“It would be a massive statement,” she said. “A lot of the time, we go under the radar a bit and it seems to be Chelsea and Arsenal who are spoken about – but as a Club and a team, we’re happy about that.
“It’s served us well in the past and we’ve come through as Champions, winning trophies.
“As a top team with a lot of top players, this is the sort of game you want to play – this could potentially help us bring the trophy back to Manchester.
“We’re under pressure with it being a potential league decider but we’re really up for it and we know what it takes to win.
“That will be something we’ll be looking for on Sunday. Chelsea have scored a lot of goals and are in good form but so are we – we’re comfortable defending with and without the ball and against top teams, we’ve put in good performances, working hard with the grit and determination to win.
“We have top players and we should take confidence in that. Hopefully, that will get us through.”
Ever grounded, Walsh insists City will not be fazed by the pressure of the fixture.
“As a player, you try not to think about the pressure of the game or the occasion,” she added.
“We’ll try to approach the game the same – we prepare the same no matter who we play, with the same mentality.
“In the past, we’ve slipped up against teams you wouldn’t deem to take points from us but they have. That’s something we’ve tried to focus on more.
“If we win on Sunday, we’ll then have to focus on the teams outside the top three, who we’ve struggled against.”
The midfielder also believes home advantage could be key, with City riding the crest of the wave, having broken the record for consecutive league home victories.
“It does make a difference,” she continued. “When we play at home, we’re always really solid.
“We have a great fanbase and we’re really comfortable at the Academy Stadium.
“Whenever we play top teams at home, we always put in a good performance.
“We should take confidence from the win over Arsenal because for large periods, we were the better team and created a lot of chances.
“Even when we were under the cosh, we weren’t struggling – in parts, we were quite happy to block on the back foot.
“We’ll take confidence but we know Chelsea are a top team. It’s going to be a tough game – they have a lot of quality players and it will take a lot for us to win the game, but we can do it.”
