Man Utd against Chelsea FC – WSL Clash

Team Changes and Lineups

Manchester United introduced one change in their lineup from the one that started last Sunday’s 2-0 win at the Reds. Anna Sandberg enters the lineup replacing leading scorer Melvine Malard, who drops to the bench.

The Blues rotate three players in and out of the XI that started last weekend’s victory against West Ham. Carpenter takes over from Veerle Buurman at the back, Catarina Macario comes in instead of Oriane Jean-François in the middle of the park, and Baltimore takes Thompson’s spot up front. All of the players dropped are substitutes.

Official Lineups

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, Bjorn, Bright, Carpenter, Kaptein, Cuthbert, Walsh, Baltimore, Kaneryd, Macario, Beever-Jones.
Substitutes: Peng, Reiten, Thompson, Buurman, Kerr, Hamano, Jean-Francois, Nusken, Potter.

Preamble

Just four games in, and already this feels like it could be a decisive fixture. Check out the standings:

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 with a victory this evening. It won’t be easy, despite home advantage, not least because Chelsea are unbeaten in the Women’s Super League since the tail end of the 2023-24 season – and they went on to claim the championship. Moreover, Cuthbert and Aggie Beever-Jones are displaying impressive form that’s seen them pinging the ball into the top corner.

However having said all that, Manchester United will still have confidence in their capacity to end the long unbeaten WSL run of the top side in the land. Partly because their backline is strong – they have allowed just a single goal in their first four gamedays – and they’ve got spectacular goals in their arsenal too: step forward Hinata Miyazawa, capable of launch a howitzer. Since Malard joint top among the top scorers alongside the previously mentioned Aggie Beever-Jones, there’s enough in-form attacking talent on display to make this a thriller. If fate tempt to deliver a 0-0, apologies are in order ahead of time. The match starts in Leigh, Greater Manchester will be at 7.30pm BST. Let’s go!