Manchester United v Chelsea FC – WSL Clash
Team Changes & Lineups
Man Utd introduced one change to the lineup compared to the one that started the previous weekend’s victory against Liverpool. Sandberg steps in for top scorer Malard, who is among the substitutes.
The Blues make changes to a trio of players in and out of the starting eleven that started the 4-0 win against West Ham United. Carpenter takes over from Veerle Buurman in defense, Catarina Macario comes in instead of Jean-François in midfield, and Sandy Baltimore takes Alyssa Thompson’s place up front. All of the three replaced are on the bench.
Official Team Sheets
Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Rolfo, Sandberg, Miyazawa, Park, Toone, Zigiotti Olme, Terland.
Subs: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, Blundell, George, Awujo, Ildhusoy, Naalsund, Malard, Williams.
Chelsea: Hampton (GK), Bjorn, Bright, Carpenter, Kaptein, Cuthbert, Walsh, Baltimore, Kaneryd, Macario, Beever-Jones.
Substitutes: Peng, Reiten, Thompson, Buurman, Kerr, Hamano, Jean-Francois, Nusken, Potter.
Match Preview
Just four games in, and already this appears to be potentially a pivotal encounter. Look! the table:
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
Manchester United can go top with a victory tonight. It won’t be easy, despite playing at home, especially since Chelsea are unbeaten in the WSL since the tail end of last season – and they still went on to win the title. Additionally, Cuthbert and Beever-Jones are displaying impressive form that’s seen them pinging the ball into the top corner.
However having said all that, United retain confidence in their capacity to halt the 500-day-plus unbeaten WSL run of the top side in the land. Partly because their backline is strong – they have allowed just one goal so far this season – and they possess impressive strikes in them as well: including Miyazawa, who can launch a howitzer. With Melvine Malard joint top of the early goalscoring charts with the previously mentioned Beever-Jones, there is ample firepower on show for this to be an exciting match. Should fate tempt to deliver a goalless draw, I can only apologise ahead of time. Kick-off at Leigh Sports Village is at 7.30pm BST. Let’s go!
