Man Utd against Chelsea FC – WSL Clash
Team Changes and Lineups
Manchester United have made one change in their lineup from the one that started last Sunday’s victory at the Reds. Sandberg steps in for leading scorer Malard, who drops to the bench.
The Blues make changes to a trio of players in/out of the starting eleven that started last weekend’s victory at West Ham United. Carpenter takes over from Veerle Buurman at the back, Catarina Macario is included instead of Oriane Jean-François in the middle of the park, and Baltimore takes Alyssa Thompson’s spot up front. The players dropped 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.
Subs: Peng, Reiten, Thompson, Buurman, Kerr, Hamano, Jean-Francois, Nusken, Potter.
Preamble
Only four matches into the season, 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 can go top with a victory tonight. It won’t be easy, despite playing at home, not least because the visitors haven’t lost in the WSL since the tail end of the 2023-24 season – and they went on to claim the championship. Additionally, Erin Cuthbert along with Aggie Beever-Jones are displaying the sort of form that’s seen them pinging the ball into the top corner.
However despite that, United retain confidence in their capacity to halt the long undefeated streak of the top side in the land. Partly because their backline is solid – they have allowed just one goal in their first four gamedays – and they’ve got spectacular goals in them too: including Miyazawa, who can launch a howitzer. With Malard joint top among the top scorers alongside the aforementioned Beever-Jones, there’s enough firepower on show to make this an exciting match. Should fate decide to deliver a goalless draw, apologies are in order ahead of time. The match starts in Leigh, Greater Manchester will be at 19:30 BST. It’s on!