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Squad Changes & Lineups

Man Utd have made a single alteration in their lineup compared to the side 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.

Chelsea adjust three players in/out of the starting eleven that began the 4-0 win at West Ham United. Carpenter takes over from Buurman at the back, Catarina Macario is included instead of Oriane Jean-François in the middle of the park, and Baltimore claims Alyssa Thompson’s place up front. The players dropped are substitutes.

Official Team Sheets

Man Utd: Tullis-Joyce (GK), Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Rolfo, Sandberg, Miyazawa, Park, Toone, Zigiotti Olme, Terland.
Subs: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, Blundell, George, Awujo, Ildhusoy, Naalsund, Malard, Williams.

The Blues: 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

Just four games in, and it seems this feels like potentially a decisive fixture. Look! 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

Man Utd may climb to first place if they win this evening. It won’t be easy, despite home advantage, especially since Chelsea haven’t lost in the WSL since late in the 2023-24 season – and they still managed to win the title. Moreover, Cuthbert and Beever-Jones are currently in the sort of form that has them firing shots past goalkeepers.

Yet despite that, United will still have confidence in their capacity to halt the long undefeated streak of the best team in the land. This is partly due to their backline is formidable – they have allowed just a single goal so far this season – and they’ve got impressive strikes in their arsenal too: step forward Miyazawa, who can launch a howitzer. Since Malard joint top among the top scorers with the aforementioned Aggie Beever-Jones, there’s enough in-form attacking talent on display to make this a thriller. If fate decide into serving up a 0-0, apologies are in order in advance. Kick-off at Leigh Sports Village will be at 7.30pm BST. It’s on!