🔗 Share this article

Squad Updates and Lineups

Manchester United introduced one change to the lineup compared to the one that started the previous weekend’s 2-0 win against the Reds. Anna Sandberg enters the lineup for leading scorer Malard, who is among the substitutes.

Chelsea rotate three players in and out of the starting eleven that started the 4-0 win against West Ham. Carpenter takes over from Veerle Buurman at the back, Macario comes in instead of Oriane Jean-François in midfield, and Sandy Baltimore takes Alyssa Thompson’s place up front. The three replaced are on the bench.

Confirmed 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.
Subs: Peng, Reiten, Thompson, Buurman, Kerr, Hamano, Jean-Francois, Nusken, Potter.

Preamble

Only four matches into the season, and already this appears to be potentially a decisive fixture. Check out 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

Manchester United may climb to first place if they win this evening. It’s a tough challenge, even with home advantage, not least because Chelsea haven’t lost in the WSL since late in the 2023-24 season – and they still managed to claim the championship. Additionally, Erin Cuthbert and Aggie Beever-Jones are displaying the sort of form that has them pinging the ball into the top corner.

However having said all that, United will still have confidence in their ability to end the 500-day-plus undefeated streak of the best team in the land. Partly because their backline is strong – they have allowed just a single goal so far this season – and they possess spectacular goals in their arsenal too: step forward Hinata Miyazawa, who can unleash a powerful shot. Since Melvine Malard joint top among the top scorers with the previously mentioned Beever-Jones, there’s enough firepower on display to make this an exciting match. If the Football Gods tempt to deliver a goalless draw, I can only apologise ahead of time. The match starts at Leigh Sports Village is at 7.30pm BST. It’s on!