Defending Women’s Super League champions Chelsea faces current league leaders Manchester United in a pulsating title-deciding clash.
CHL-W vs MUN-W Match Details
Date: Sunday, 12 March 2023
Time: 12:30 (BST) / 18:00 (IST)
Venue: Kingsmeadow, London
CHL-W vs MUN-W Match Preview
Chelsea Women
Chelsea Women went back to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Brighton Women in the midweek following their 3-1 defeat to North London rivals Arsenal Women in the League Cup final last weekend. Emma Hayes’s side led in that game inside a minute of the start but the Gunners came back scoring all three goals in the first half to lift the trophy. The Blues took an early lead in the game against the Seagulls as well through Guro Reiten’s 12th-minute penalty although there was no set-back this time out. Jessica Carter and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd got the other goals for the win with Danielle Carter’s late consolation for the away side not ruffling feathers.
Back-to-back wins for Chelsea in the league gave them positive momentum ahead of a potential title-deciding clash against leaders Manchester United Women this weekend. The Blues are just a point away in second and are adamant to carry forward their unbeaten record against the Red Devils in WSL to regain the top spot. Chelsea are unbeaten in their home having won a mind-blowing 20 games out of 21. Since losing to Liverpool on the opening day, they have dropped points only once in the league since this season and have scored 38 goals in this period, equal with United but conceded two more goals than the opposition with 12. Therefore, Chelsea will be the favorites to retain their title once again if their 100% record remains intact on Sunday.
Manchester United Women
Manchester United Women also were in the winning front and in some style as bottom-placed Leicester City became the victim of a 5-1 thrashing in their visit to Leigh Sports Village Stadium the previous weekend. Red Devil’s talismanic striker Alessia Russo scored a stunning hat-trick while Leah Galton and substitute Lucia Garcia completed the scoring later. The victory keeps United at the top of the table with 35 points making the next game against Chelsea Women a significant one as city rivals Manchester City Women, third with 32 points, have also joined in an exciting three-horse race for the WSL title.
Marc Skinner's side are unbeaten in 12 matches across all competitions. Moreover, they are the only team in the division to not have lost a single game away from home this season with six wins and a draw. United are just three points away from equaling their total win tally from last season having won 11 of their 14 league matches this season. Victory this weekend will also give them a four-point cushion at the top of the chart, something they achieved on the back of a fabulous run and with other contenders dropping off. However, their sole defeat this season came in the hands of Chelsea as they ran 3-1 winners in the reverse fixture in November. United will try to use their stunning away record this season to break the jinx in this fixture and eventually win their first WSL title.
Recent Form (all competitions)
CHL-W: WLLWW
MUN-W: WWDWW
Recent Form (WSL)
CHL-W: WWDWW
MUN-W: WWDWW
CHL-W vs MUN-W Team News
Chelsea Women
Chelsea have a lot of important performers missing through injuries namely Pernille Harder, Katerina Svitkova and Fran Kirby. After rotating her side heavily in the win against Brighton, manager Emma Hayes is expected to bring Ann-Katrin Berger, Sophie Ingle, Lauren James, Niamh Charles, Magdalena Eriksson and Erin Cuthbert for this pivotal clash. Sam Kerr has scored six goals in her last five appearances in this fixture in WSL including in the last meeting this campaign.
Manchester United Women
Manchester United are injury-free in their squad but January signing Jayde Riviere remains unavailable. Spanish winger Lucia Garcia could slot into the starting eleven after scoring the last of the 5-1 routing of Leicester Women last weekend. Awarded the best at FIFA awards, Mary Earps will be looking for her 10th clean sheet of the season having already topped the list while Alessia Russo is willing to add more to his eight-goal tally this season after bagging a hat trick in the previous match.
CHL-W vs MUN-W Predicted Lineups
CHL-W: Ann-Katrin Berger; Eve Perisset, Millie Bright, Magdalena Eriksson, Jessica Carter; Sophie Ingle, Erin Cuthbert; Lauren James, Jelena Cankovic, Guro Reiten; Sam Kerr
MUN-W: Mary Earps; Ona Batlle, Le Tissier, Millie Turner, Hannah Blundell; Hayley Ladd, Katie Zelem; Lucia Garcia, Ella Toone, Leah Galton; Alessia Russo
CHL-W vs MUN-W Head to Head
CHL-W won: 6
Drawn: 1
MUN-W won: 0
CHL-W vs MUN-W Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Earps (8)
DEF: Battle (8.5), Bright (8.5), Carter (7.5), Blundell (7.5)
MID: Reiten (9), Toone (9), Galton (8.5)
FW: James (8), Kerr (9), Russo (9)
Vice-captain: Sam Kerr
Captain: Alessia Russo
Sam Kerr has scored six goals and delivered 4 assists, including two in back-to-back games, in 13 matches. She has scored in the last three meetings against Manchester United with a brace in both matches last season.
Ella Toone registered seven assists this season level with his teammate Ona Batlle and two behind leader Chelsea’s Guro Reiten.
Reiten has combined for 13 goals in 13 matches, second-best in the league. Toone is ranked second in terms of creating big chances with seven. The 23-year-old has created 37 chances in total.
Jessica Carter has made 1.6 blocks per 90 which is the best in the league. The full-back has also scored two goals in eight matches.
