Wednesday’s matchup features two teams coming off of interesting situations in the WSL. Chelsea leads the FA Women’s Super League with 26 points and games in hand against Aston Villa and Tottenham. Furthermore, Manchester City is fourth with 21 points and postponed matches against West Ham and Birmingham City. 

Both teams are in the round of 16 of UEFA Women’s Champions League, after winning against Benfica and Gotebörg in the previous round.  

The game kicks off at the Academy Stadium at 17:30 GMT.

The winner will host either West Ham or Durham in the last four of Continental Cup on 3/4 February.

Read more: Hege Riise named as caretaker England women’s head coach, Rhian Wilkinson as assistant

  • Team News: 

Chelsea's last WSL fixture was against Manchester United at Kingsmeadow looking to be atop of the competition. Pernille Harder opened the scoring for the Blues 29 minutes into the match. In the second half, Lauren James tied for Red Devils in the 59th minute and four minutes later, Fran Kirby put Chelsea in front again. The Blues have won their last six games in all competitions. 

The Sky Blues’ last WSL fixture ended with Manchester City trashing Aston Villa 7-0, goals by Lauren Hemp (2’ and 37’), Jill Scott (16’), Georgia Stanway (31’), Natalie Haigh (39’ OG), Ellen White (45’) and Chloe Kelly (79’). City have won their last five games. 

USA internationals, Rose Lavelle and Samantha Mewis, have been called up for their national teams’ double header against Colombia and will be unavailable for the rest of the month.

  • Previous Meetings

The last match between Chelsea and Manchester City was in the WSL and finished 3-1, goals by Maren Mjelde (penalty), Sam Kerr and Kirby for the Blues and by Chloe Kelly for City. 

Read more: Scottish Women's Premier League - Season so far Part 1 

  • Predicted Line Ups

Chelsea: Berger (GK), Mjelde, Bright, Eriksson, Andersson; Leupolz, Ji; Kirby, Cuthbert, Harder; Kerr/England. 

Manchester City: Roebuck (GK); Stokes, Greenwood, Houghton, Bronze; Walsh, Weir, Scott; Stanway, White, Hemp.

  • Ones to Watch

Since Fran Kirby’s return in December, she has scored seven times and assists one goal. Her performance is very important for the construction of plays with Ji So Yun and Erin Cuthbert. In addition to it, the duo Pernille Harder - Kerr has also resulted in several goals and assists: the Danish has four goals and six assists and the Australian has eight goals and two assists in 14 matches.

Otherwise, the top-scorers of Manchester City are Georgia Stanway with seven goals and Chloe Kelly with six hits. Beyond that, Lauren Hemp started last match and had a great performance, scoring two goals against Aston Villa. Lastly, the presence of December POTM Caroline Weir is essential for creating finishes.

  • How to Watch

The game will be shown live on the FA Player.