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Sam Kerr's Chelsea starting spot at risk after Mia Fishel's stunning WSL debut

talksport.com, 8 October 2023, 09:28
Sam Kerr is often hailed as one of the greatest strikers of her generation - but the Chelsea forward could find herself on the bench against Man City after a new signing threatened to take her place.

After missing the Blues' WSL opener due to a calf injury, Kerr is set to be available for the game with their title rivals.

But Kerr may find that slotting straight back into the team is not as simple as she thought.

Her place on the starting line-up could be in jeopardy following the outstanding performance of summer signing Mia Fishel against Tottenham.

Fishel had a dream debut for Chelsea, scoring their first goal in their 2-1 victory over Spurs in front of the adoring crowds at Stamford Bridge.

Her skill and persistence have proved her to be not just an excellent understudy to the Australian goal-scoring machine, but also a potential starting striker in her own right.

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Not to mention Chelsea's other attacking options including Lauren James, Guro Reiten and Fran Kirby who made her return from injury against Tottenham.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes will have a dilemma on her hands as she is forced to decide whether to start the reliable Kerr or the exciting new Fishel as they travel to the Joie Stadium.

Given the severity of Kerr's injury, it seems most likely that she will start Fishel up front and look to bring Kerr on later in the game as an impact substitute.

But Man City have a dilemma too with Bunny Shaw set to return.

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They pulled off a 2-0 win over West Ham in their opening game, despite being reduced to 10 players for the final 20 minutes.

Leila Ouahabi was shown a straight red after she raising a leg against Emma Harries.

West Ham lacked the skill to make the most of their advantage but Manchester City displayed moments of weakness which a stronger team may have capitalised upon.

Not to mention that England's Chloe Kelly failed to convert a penalty, despite her typically inch-perfect spot-kicks for her country.

Manchester City's two goals came from individual moments of brilliance from Lionesses star Lauren Hemp and newly-signed Dutch midfielder Jill Roord.

Roord, who previously spent two years at Arsenal, is already a fan-favourite

Despite their faults, Manchester City ultimately emerged from the match as one of only two teams in the WSL not to concede on the opening day (the other being Liverpool).

And their final 2-0 victory bettered that off Chelsea who did allow a determined Tottenham side to pull one back on them.

Gareth Taylor's side are also set to be boosted by the return of last year's WSL Golden Boot runner-up Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw after she missed the season opener through injury.

"Bunny is in good shape, better than last weekend," said Taylor.

"So she's been with us this week over the last few days training and is in contention for the weekend. So that's good news."

It is early days in the WSL, but the opening round of fixtures offered a glimpse into who could challenge for the title this year.

Both Chelsea and Man City looked firm favourites, and last season's runners-up Manchester United came from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1.

Arsenal - widely predicted to be Chelsea's main contender for the WSL title this year - suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at the Emirates in their opening game.

But Hayes was adamant in her pre-match press conference that it was far too early to make any predictions about what that result could mean for the title race.

She said: "We lost to Liverpool last year - it didn't affect what our outcome was.

"I suspect teams will take points off of each other at different point in the year."

And she admitted the Manchester City fixture would be a challenging one for her team.

She said: "There's no denying that there's an advantage for Manchester City playing at home, but my team has to play our game and make sure we build on the good work of the opening game of the season.

"We have enough characters and enough depth and enough quality and clarity in what we want to do that my only interest is making sure we implement that first and foremost."

And Hayes' comments about the home advantage paying off were certainly true last season.

Chelsea won their first meeting 2-0 last season when they were at home in Kingsmeadow, while Manchester City won their second meeting by the same scoreline at the Academy Stadium in Manchester.

Despite missing out on a top three finish last season, Man City had a strong season which saw them win all of their home games.

And Taylor emphasised how crucial it was for the team to maintain that record going forward.

He said: "Its important (to have good home form). It's your home ground, we really utilise the support and the fans are amazing."

And he said the support of the fans in their new Joie Stadium will be an important factor in maintaining that record.

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"(The fans) enjoy what we've tried to achieve," he said. "To go unbeaten like we did is no mean feat so to be able to do that and in an ever-increasing WSL standard is great."

He added: "We're looking forward to a good challenge on Sunday."

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