Crystal Palace vs. Chelsea, Women's Super League: Preview, team news, how to watch
Today at 03:55 PM
The new girls
Another Friday night of Women's Super League action for Chelsea, this time on a short trip to Gander Green Lane to face Crystal Palace.
The recently promoted Eagles will surely be trying to impress, just like in their attempt last season against us in the Women's FA Cup. However the WSL is a different beast, and we ought to show them why.
Date / Time: Friday, September 27, 2024, 19.30 BST; 2:30pm EDT; 12am (next day) IST
Venue: Gander Green Lane, Sutton, UK
Referee: Emily Heaslip
Forecast: Partly cloudy and a gentle breeze
On TV: Sky Sports (UK); none (USA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky GO (UK); ESPN+ (USA)
Crystal Palace team news: Palace finally got promoted to the top flight after five years in the Championship, which included two top-five finishes in the second tier competition. It's an impressive feat by manager Laura Kaminski, getting her team to win the league in her debut season.
Promotion led to some squad changes, with nine players joining the club, including veteran defender Katrine Veje and former Gotham FC forward Katie Stengel. Most notably, they also have three Chelsea loanees: defenders Jorja Fox and Brooke Aspin, and midfielder Lexi Potter. (Ed.note: though Fox is out for the season with an ACL injury unfortunately.)
Potter started in their first WSL match, in which they were beaten 4-0 away to Spurs. Aspin came off the bench as a substitute to Veje in the second half, but got a double yellow card and was sent off late on by complaining to the referee right after fouling an opponent.
Additionally, midfielder Hayley Nolan and forward Elise Hughes have been ruled out through injury, and Kaminski likely won't be able to call on Potter either.
Chelsea team news: In head coach Sonia Bompastor's first ever official match, Chelsea did what needed to be done to take the win against Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's first half goal was a relief, as the Villans kept knocking on Hannah Hampton's door until the very last second of the game.
Obviously, it's far too early to judge what Bompastor is bringing to the table, but against Palace we should have more room to show what we're capable of, especially up front (so that we don't have to rely on a moment of individual brilliance to get us the winning goal).
Chelsea's injury room remains filled, with defenders Aniek Nouwen and Niamh Charles, midfielders Sophie Ingle and Oriane Jean-Francois, and forwards Mia Fishel and Sam Kerr all out of contention. The good news is we could see Lauren James back in the starting lineup after her five-minute cameo last time out.
Previously: Mayra Ramírez's late goal took us through to the Women's FA Cup quarter-finals on a day with plenty of chances created but not nearly as many accurate shots.
