Chelsea welcomes Manchester United to Kingsmeadow on Sunday 12th March in a crucial Women's Super League title showdown.
Although the visitors boast the top spot at the moment, there is only a point difference between the two sides - and Chelsea has a game in hand.
Meaning, picking up three points on Sunday is vital for both teams' shot at the title.
The scale of the challenge should not be understated by Manchester United, who are yet to beat Emma Hayes' side. When looking at the pair's head-to-head statistics, Chelsea has won seven of the eight match-ups, with United taking a point from the Blues back in September 2020.
Furthermore, Chelsea is yet to be defeated at home this season. Their 100% home record only reinstates the challenges the Red Devils face on Sunday.
Marc Skinner will not be worried about this, however. He boasts a team of successful internationals, who are currently scoring goals for fun; as well as FIFA's 'TheBest' goalkeeper, Mary Earps, who has kept nine clean sheets in 14 games.
United come off the back of a 5-1 home win against Leicester and will be confident they can bring something back with them to Manchester.
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Team News
Assistant manager, Paul Green, took the stage for Chelsea's pre-match conference on Friday, due to Emma Hayes being off with illness. There is a chance she will not be present at the game on Sunday, but Green insists she will still play a vital role, via an earpiece, should she remain unwell.
In terms of players, the hosts are definitely without Fran Kirby (knee), Pernille Harder (hamstring) and Katerina Svitkova (knee). Kirby has no return date following a second injection in her knee; Harder has recently started to ramp up her pitch rehab following hamstring surgery in November 2022, and Svitkova is continuing her rehab after knee surgery, expected to be out for "months rather than weeks".
Marc Skinner boasts a near-fully fit team, with only January signing Jayde Riviere out of contention for Sunday's clash.
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Likely Line-Ups
Berger; Charles, Buchanan, Bright, Carter; Cankovic, Leupolz, Ingle; James, Kerr, Reiten.
Earps; Batlle, Le Tissier, Turner, Blundell; Ladd, Zelem; Thomas, Toone, Galton; Russo.
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Key Players
Chelsea - Lauren James
Lauren James has been on the lips of football fans across the country following her truly explosive second season in west London.
Her efforts domestically were noticed by England manager Sarina Wiegman, who called the 21-year-old up for the Lionesses Arnold Clark Cup tournament. James came back to the capital as a breakout star after her international duty, winning the Player of the Competition award.
Renowned for her impressive technical ability and skill to cut into the box to create goalscoring opportunities, James has the talent to expose any slight weakness of her opponents. This is reflected in her statistics this season, ranking first place in successful take-ons with a total of 21. James also ranks third in successful carries into the opposition penalty area, with 24.
Her former team, Manchester United, have a big job trying to dilute her attacking prowess on Sunday. This is will be a tough game for either Ona Batlle or Hannah Blundell, who will likely have the pleasure of picking James up.
Manchester United - Millie Turner
Keep your eyes firmly on defender Millie Turner. Having just celebrated achieving 100 appearances in the red colours of Manchester, the 26-year-old has proven to be an underrated key player for her side this season.
In the 14 WSL games United has played this season, Turner has not only started every one, but has played the entire 90 minutes. Although Mary Earps is deservedly credited for her clean-sheet rate this season, Turner has played a huge part in maintaining that record.
The Wilmslow-born defender ranks first across the league in overall pass completion statistics, boasting a near-perfect 93.2%. Breaking this down further, Turner has a short-pass completion rate of 90.8%, a medium-pass competition rate of 96.2%, and a long-pass completion rate of 87.5%. Chelsea will need to quickly shut down the defender in order to reduce her passing threat.
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Match Details
Where will the match be played?
The match will be played at Kingsmeadow in West London.
When will the match be played?
The match will be played at 12.30pm on Sunday, March 12th, 2023.
How can you watch the match?
In the UK, the match will be live to watch on BBC Two with coverage starting at 12pm. For international viewers, the game can be streamed on the FA Player. Live text coverage will be available on both Chelsea's (@ChelseaFCW) and Manchester United's (@ManUtdWomen) Twitter accounts.