Man Cityvs.Chelsea

Chelsea emerged victorious from last Sunday's Women's League Cup final, while the Citizens claimed a 2-0 win in Wednesday's Women's Champions League clash.

Match preview

Nick Cushing is still in the early stages of his second spell as Man City boss after replacing Gareth Taylor in the dugout earlier this month.

Cushing began his second stint with a narrow 2-1 defeat in last weekend's League Cup final against Chelsea, before his team got their revenge in Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Joie Stadium.

Half-time Substitute Vivianne Miedema scored a brace to guide her team to a 2-0 victory, putting them in a strong position ahead of Thursday's return leg at Stamford Bridge.

They may be dreaming of reaching the UWCL semi-finals for the first time since 2017-18, but Man City's current focus will be on their quest to secure European football for next season, as they return to league action for the third instalment of their quadruple-header against Chelsea.

Having picked up 32 points from 16 matches, Man City are sitting in fourth place and four points adrift of the top three with six games left to play.

While they have lost two of their last five league games, the hosts will still believe they have the firepower to take all three points from Sunday's fixture, having scored at least three goals in four of their previous five WSL matches.

Chelsea's League Cup celebrations were ultimately cut short by their first defeat of Sonia Bompastor's tenure in Wednesday's European meeting with Man City.

Prior to the trip to Manchester, Bompastor has overseen 26 wins and two draws in 28 competitive matches, taking Chelsea's overall unbeaten run to 31 games in all competitions.

However, Miedema's second-half brace ultimately condemned the Blues to their first defeat since losing 4-3 in a WSL clash against Liverpool in May 2024.

While they have to do in their European campaign, Chelsea are in a strong position to win a sixth consecutive WSL title, having established an eight-point lead at the top of the table, courtesy of 14 wins and two draws in 16 league games.

The Blues are the league's top scorers with 45 goals to their name, while they also boast the second-best defensive record after conceding just 10 WSL goals this season.

Chelsea have the chance to complete a league double over the Citizens after claiming a 2-0 win in November's reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, although they have failed to win their previous two head-to-head away WSL games since running out 4-0 winners in November 2021.

Manchester City Women Women's Super League form:

L

W

L

W

W

D

Manchester City Women form (all competitions):

Chelsea Women Women's Super League form:

W

W

W

W

D

W

Chelsea Women form (all competitions):

Team News

Cushing has confirmed that Man City are still without the injured trio of Rebecca Knaak, Aoba Fujino and Bunny Shaw.

The hosts are also unable to call upon the services of Risa Shimizu, Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp, with the trio all working on their rehabilitation from knee injuries.

Miedema is set to come into the starting lineup after coming off the bench at half time to score a match-winning brace in the midweek European win.

As for the visitors, Bompastor has revealed that Sam Kerr will not return before the international break, as she continues to recover from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Kerr is joined on the sidelines by Kadeisha Buchanan, Femke Liefting, Sophie Ingle and Guro Reiten, while Naomi Girma and Maelys Mpome are unlikely to be ready for Sunday's contest.

Bompastor could make changes following Wednesday's defeat, with Niamh Charles, Wieke Kaptein, Sjoeke Nusken and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd among those who could come into the starting lineup.

Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:

Yamashita; Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri, Ouhabi; Roord, Hasegawa, Park; Kerolin, Fowler, Miedema

Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:

Hampton; Bronze, Bjorn, Bright, Charles; Cuthbert, Kaptein; Rytting Kaneryd, Nusken, James; Beever-Jones

We say: Manchester City Women 1-1 Chelsea Women

Written by

Ben Sully

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