Man Utd v Chelsea FC – Women’s Super League Clash

Squad Updates & Starting XIs

Manchester United introduced one change in their lineup from the one that started the previous weekend’s 2-0 win at the Reds. Anna Sandberg enters the lineup for top scorer Melvine Malard, who is among the substitutes.

The Blues make changes to a trio of players in/out of the starting eleven that started the 4-0 win against West Ham. Ellie Carpenter takes over from Buurman at the back, Macario comes in instead of Oriane Jean-François in the middle of the park, and Baltimore takes Alyssa Thompson’s spot in attack. All of the players dropped are on the bench.

Official Team Sheets

Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce (GK), Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Rolfo, Sandberg, Miyazawa, Park, Toone, Zigiotti Olme, Terland.
Substitutes: 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.

Build-Up

Only four matches into the season, and already this feels like potentially a crucial match. 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 with a victory this evening. It won’t be easy, despite playing at home, especially since Chelsea haven’t lost in the WSL since the tail end of the 2023-24 season – and they managed to claim the championship. Moreover, Erin Cuthbert and Aggie Beever-Jones are currently in impressive form that has them firing shots into the top corner.

However having said all that, United will still have belief in their ability to halt the long undefeated streak of the best team in the land. This is partly due to their defence is strong – they have allowed just a single goal in their first four gamedays – and they’ve got impressive strikes in their arsenal too: including Miyazawa, who can launch a howitzer. With Melvine Malard sharing the lead among the top scorers with the aforementioned Aggie Beever-Jones, there’s enough firepower on display for this to be an exciting match. Should fate tempt into serving up a goalless draw, I can only apologise in advance. Kick-off at Leigh Sports Village is at 19:30 BST. It’s on!