The Blues lead the way at the summit, albeit having played a game more than the Gunners, which makes the points on offer at the Emirates Stadium particularly significant.

A bumper crowd will greet the two sides in north London and the Chelsea head coach is looking forward to the sounds and sights of a busy matchday following over three weeks without action.

‘It’s nice that’s it at a stadium with a packed crowd,’ said Hayes. ‘I know the players enjoy that. They’re used to packed stadiums and big games.

‘I actually think we probably need to spend less time talking about them being big games at big stadiums because it’s really normal for us now and maybe it’s about how we turn 44,000 into 66,000.

‘That’s the next step we should be aiming for and Arsenal have done a tremendous job in packing the numbers in at the Emirates. They’re an inspiration for the rest of the league in terms of putting large numbers in big stadiums.’

However, beyond the big crowd and the even bigger expectations, Hayes was reticent to over-hype the occasion, pointing to her years of experience and decade in charge of the Blues as reasons why she was taking this as just another game.

‘They’re all the same to me,’ she said of the match. ‘I’ve done this for 10 years and we’ve faced Arsenal probably in double digits in that time now. It’s a fantastic game and one that we look forward to but it’s no more significant to me these days than the game next week against Liverpool.

‘I love that it’s at a big stadium with a packed crowd. That’s something we’re excited about, that we’re going to play with that noise and volume. We’re looking forward to it.’

Arsenal’s Beth Mead will be one of the home side’s absentees as she continues to recover from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, though the Lionesses forward is also grieving the recent loss of her mother after a battle with cancer and Hayes had words of comfort for the England international.

‘I try not to focus on players that are absent from squads because first of all that’s not going to play a part in the game on Sunday,’ she added. ‘The players that are fit for them are the ones we have to focus on but of course my condolences are with Beth Mead more importantly as a human being.

‘What an extremely tough time that person is going through and I’m thinking about her today, she deserves that. While her absence will be greatly felt on the pitch by her team, I think it’s about the football community being around her in what is a really tough time in her life.’

Melanie Leupolz has also received support from the club in recent months following the birth of her first child, with the German having recently returned to training during our warm weather training camp in Spain.

However, Hayes believes there is still plenty of room to improve the offering for players who take time out during and after pregnancy and revealed how Chelsea were continually trying to be at the forefront of that work.

‘One of the good pieces of work we’ve done as staff is recognise where our expertise is and what we’ve needed to draft in,’ she added. ‘One of the big things that we’ve done really well is to bring in a pelvic floor specialist for pre- and post-natal, and that expertise has guided our medical team because it’s an area we don’t necessarily have expertise in.

‘We need to recognise that there isn’t a timeframe that people can return in. A natural birth versus a C-section section is something very different, and then there’s also the emotional impact not only of leaving your child to come back to training but how and who is going to manage that side.

‘These will all be learning curves across the league and I know this having gone through the situation myself. I don’t think you can have a box of clear answers because every culture is going to be very different.’