Manchester City vs. Chelsea, WSL: Preview, team news, how to watch
03/23/2025 01:37 AM
Three of four
After 28 games (twenty. eight!), Sonia Bompastor tasted defeat for the first time in charge of Chelsea earlier this week, with the Blues losing the first leg of our Champions League quarterfinal against Manchester City. Our 2-0 deficit for next week's second leg isn't insurmountable, but before we get to all that, we have yet another match against City that we need to take care of.
In this unprecedented run of four straight against them across three different competitions, this game is the one we could've afforded to lose. It's never easy to beat any team four times in the span of just a couple weeks, but given our comfortable lead at the top of the table, this one we didn't need to have. And we still don't, though it would be nice for the mentality and momentum to put in a better performance than on Wednesday.
We were "miles off our game," said Lucy Bronze after. Can't let that happen again.
Date / Time: Sunday, March 23, 2025, 14.30 GMT; 10:30am EDT
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Referee: Kirsty Dowdle
Forecast: Rainy
On TV: BBC One (UK); ESPN Deportes (USA); elsewhere
Streaming: BBC iPlayer (US); ESPN+ (USA)
Manchester City team news: City's injury situation is unchanged, with Bunny Shaw and Aoba Fujino still out, alongside long-term absentees Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp. Of course, when you can have Vivianne Miedema to come off the bench, you clearly have the squad to compete still.
Interim head coach Nick Cushing will look to utilize that depth to rest and rotate ahead of the second leg.
"The team is in a good place [...] It's a tight turnaround from Wednesday's game so [...] probably will look to rotate a little bit and bring in some fresh legs because I was really pleased with the intensity and way we applied ourselves. Everyone is desperate to play. That's a huge positive but it gives me problems."
-Nick Cushing; source: Manchester City
Chelsea team news: The vibes are slightly less positive in the Chelsea camp, with Sonia Bompastor looking to quickly move beyond that first stinging defeat and focus on what's next.
We're not getting any help from our lengthy injury list, so like Cushing, she will probably look to rotate a bit. Though, above all, we need a bit of positive momentum for the second leg. Just goes to show that confidence can be fleeting even after a 28-match unbeaten run.
"It's always difficult to lose games. I am someone who is really positive and I need to bring this positive energy to my team and to my squad, so it's ok for everyone, players and staff included to have a tough day after a loss. Our job is now to make sure we focus on the future as we can't control the past."
-Sonia Bompastor; source: Chelsea FC
Previously: Wednesday's 2-0 defeat not only ended our 28-match unbeaten run, but it ended a run of three straight wins against City. Time to start a new streak!
