Celtic vs. Chelsea, Women's Champions League: Preview, team news, how to watch

Yesterday at 09:57 PM

To the north

Next up for Chelsea is a trip up north for a match against Celtic in the UEFA Women's Champions League. It's a chance for the Blues to make it nine wins in a row to begin the season and the new era under manager Sonia Bompastor. It's not always been smooth sailing on the pitch under the new boss, but results have been flawless and the expectation is for that to continue.

Date / Time: Wednesday, November 12, 2024, 20.00 GMT; 3:00pm EST
Venue: Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland
Referee: Hristiyana Guteva (BUL)
Forecast: Clear sky and light winds

On TV: TNT Sports 1 (UK); none (USA); elsewhere
Streaming: DAZN, discovery+ (UK); DAZN (USA)

Celtic team news: This isn't the first time Celtic have played in the Champions League, although it is their deepest run in the competition thus far after failing to get past the qualification playoffs in the previous two seasons.

Perhaps not coincidentally they managed to do so on the back of their first ever Scottish Women's Premier League title. They were runners-up to Glasgow City, who hold the competition's record of most trophies with 16, in 2022-23, missing out on the title by just two points. Current manager, Elena Sadiku arrived in January to help push them past that final hurdle, as they beat their historic rivals to the trophy on goal difference.

In the Champions League so far they're faring as well as expected, with two losses in two matches to FC Twente and Real Madrid. In both games they struggled to mount a proper challenge to the opposition, allowing six goals in total without a single answer.

Chelsea team news: The Blues finally beat Liverpool this weekend after five years trying to do so and failing, sometimes in spectacular manner. We also managed to rotate our squad a fair bit while doing so, which should put us in a good position for the Manchester City encounter in the Women's Super League this weekend.

But first things first, we need to beat Celtic not just to continue our winning streak, but also to get closer to clinching a Champions League playoff berth. With no reported new injuries, the absences should be the same as against Liverpool — i.e. Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel, and Lauren James.

Previously: This is the first match ever between Chelsea and Celtic. We did beat their great rivals, Glasgow City, 4-0 on aggregate in a Round of 32 tie back in 2015-16.