Manchester United against Chelsea FC – Women’s Super League Fixture
Squad Updates and Starting XIs
Man Utd have made one change to the lineup compared to the side that began last Sunday’s victory against the Reds. Sandberg comes in for leading scorer Malard, who is among the substitutes.
Chelsea make changes to a trio of players in and out of the XI that started the 4-0 win against West Ham. Ellie Carpenter takes over from Buurman in defense, Catarina Macario is included instead of Jean-François in the middle of the park, and Baltimore claims Alyssa Thompson’s spot in attack. All of the three replaced are substitutes.
Confirmed Lineups
Man Utd: Tullis-Joyce (GK), Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Rolfo, Sandberg, Miyazawa, Park, Toone, Zigiotti Olme, Terland.
Substitutes: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, Blundell, George, Awujo, Ildhusoy, Naalsund, Malard, Williams.
Chelsea: Hampton, Bjorn, Bright, Carpenter, Kaptein, Cuthbert, Walsh, Baltimore, Kaneryd, Macario, Beever-Jones.
Subs: Peng, Reiten, Thompson, Buurman, Kerr, Hamano, Jean-Francois, Nusken, Potter.
Preamble
Only four matches into the season, and it seems this feels like it could be a crucial match. Look! the league positions:
Pos Team P GD Pts 1 Chelsea Women 4 8 12 2 Man Utd Women 4 10 10 3 Man City Women 4 7 9 4 Tottenham Hotspur Women 4 0 9 5 Arsenal Women 4 7 8
Man Utd could take the lead if they win tonight. It’s a big ask, despite home advantage, especially since Chelsea haven’t lost in the WSL since the tail end of last season – and they still went on to win the title. Moreover, Cuthbert along with Beever-Jones are currently in the sort of form that has them pinging the ball past goalkeepers.
However having said all that, United will still have confidence in their capacity to halt the long unbeaten WSL run of the best team in the land. Partly because their defence is strong – they’ve only conceded one goal so far this season – and they possess spectacular goals in their arsenal too: step forward Miyazawa, capable of launch a howitzer. With Malard sharing the lead among the top scorers alongside the previously mentioned Beever-Jones, there is ample firepower on show to make this an exciting match. If fate decide into serving up a 0-0, I can only apologise in advance. The match starts in Leigh, Greater Manchester is at 19:30 BST. Let’s go!
