WSL is back after the international break with a London derby on the cards it is a busy sunday as all the games are set of the second day of the weekend. This is your weekend preview for the game actions and quotes from the managers.
Chelsea look to put off-field gaffe behind them
Chelsea hope to maintain their 100% winning record in the WSL as they also bid to go the entire season unbeaten. However, with all the highs, there are some lows. Chelsea released their squad photo for the Lucy Bronze Photoshop error. From the image, it looks like Bronze was not at the photoshoot and, therefore, had to be edited in post-production. However, this was poorly done, and the club has not yet explained.
Chelsea are without some key players, with Sam Kerr still recovering from her ACL injury in January and Kadisha Buchanan, who also sustained a rupture, adding to Chelsea's lengthy list of long-term absentees. The Blues aim to continue their 100% start, and if they win at home this Sunday, they will match Arsenal's best-ever season start with nine straight wins from the 2018/19 campaign.
New Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor is also the first coach in the league’s history to win her opening seven games. She has won manager of the month again in the WSL
She said: "Yeah, maybe at the moment, the opposition can think that mainly because we had seven wins in a row in the league.
"But that's our standards, you know.
“Joining Chelsea, I was aligned with the vision and the ambitions.
“We are the holders in this competition, in the league, and we just need to keep these standards.
"If everyone thinks we are the team to beat, that's fine for us. As a manager, I love to embrace the pressure – that's the job.
“And for my players, having this feeling to be the team to beat, that's an excellent feeling."
Sonia Bompastor has confirmed that Niamh Charles is ready to return from injury and provided a fitness update before the game.
“I need to talk to the medical staff to see
everything. We have Maika [Hamano], who
just felt unwell.
She's fine now, but we will see if she is 100 per cent.
Lauren James is progressing well with her rehab.
“She's in a good position mentally.
“I think it will be challenging to see LJ
before the end of the year, but we still have
a small hope of that.”
'Brighton has started well this
season,'
'They are a team and a squad with a lot of experience and experienced players.
They have had great results and are in a good dynamic. We expect a challenging game.
'It's always good to see managers and teams with strong beliefs in their philosophy and game model.
Brighton is a confident team. They want to build up from the back line and the goalkeeper, which is something I love as a manager.
'Even in the game against Arsenal, when they were losing by several goals, they were still trying to build up from the backline.
“I think having this philosophy is good for the women's game.
Brighton has spread shockwaves through the league. They sit third in the League and are in contention for the Champions League play-off place. Though fourth-placed Arsenal and fifth-placed Manchester United are just one point behind, the Gunners will face Aston Villa, who have been complacent this season, especially in the goalscoring department. On the other hand, United faces bitter rivals Liverpool at Leigh Sports Village. At the same time, Brighton has made great strides in their women's team with new state-of-the-art training facilities on par with the men, something other WSL teams have not done. This season, Brighton side Fran Kirby, a Chelsea legend who spent nine years with the London team and won eight league titles. However, she injured her calf during the international break after playing against the USA at Wembley.
The game will be played at Kingsmeadow with kick-off at 2 pm.
Derby aplenty as fights at both ends heat up
The London Derby focuses more on the bottom end of the table: a relegation battle between Crystal Palace and West Ham. Both teams are at the bottom with five points, alongside Leicester; only goal difference separates them. However, Leicester will be playing title contenders Manchester City, so the fight is definitely on. While West Ham feared relegation for much of last season, they were able to stay up. This is Crystal Palace's first season in the WSL. Both sides have only won one match in eight games. Crystal Palace have three returning players who have made history with Wales, making it to their first international tournament – Elise Hughes, Josie Green and Lily Woodham. These two teams have faced each other six times; West Ham has won two, while Crystal Palace has won three.
Rehanne Skinner said, “Every point is important. Our preparation and plan is to go out and do our best over the weekend, and we trust that the performance will get us results.
"The things we’ve been doing and improving on take us into the game with Palace confidently, and that's what's important to us.
"We’re in a fantastic position to take three points out of it.”
They've [Crystal Palace] recruited well and have some experience on the team. We don't expect an easy game at the weekend.
"I've worked with Laura [Kaminski] before when I was at Tottenham; she was the Academy coach there, and she's been around the game a long time - she's gained experience that will help her.
"It's a tough league, but they are doing well. As always, we want to make life as difficult as possible for them this weekend.
"We won't be pulling back any punches; we'll go for it. It’s a London derby; we won't be messing about."
Laura Kaminski, Crystal Palace manager: “It’s always a challenge when they've been away all week.
"We’ve been working hard with the players who stayed behind, and those who returned have returned in good spirits, which is positive for us.
“There’s only a couple of points between seventh and bottom, so every point matters.
"But for us, it’s just another opportunity to get points on the board.
“We’ll approach it confidently, aiming to stay in the game and take something from it."
"It’s still early in the season, and the table can shift quickly; we’ve been performing well, and we need to manage key moments better to see those performances turn into points."
Manchester United aims to recover from their defeat against Chelsea, but they have not lost consecutive WSL matches since the end of last season. Historically, United have had a strong home record against Liverpool in the WSL, with Liverpool having struggled recently, losing their last two league games without scoring. Liverpool’s most recent loss came against Everton at Goodison Park after a controversial penalty was given to the hosts. Manchester United have Grace Clinton returning from getting her third England goal in five appearances for her country. At the same time, Millie Turner was given her first start for England in the game against Switzerland in Sheffield.
Marc Skinner Manchester, United Manager, said: "We want to create more.
“I think when we came off the back of the Villa game, we went into the Leicester game, and obviously, we increased that shot ratio.
“It's something we've got to do – that we won't hide from.
“We want to improve that. It's not about being defensive about that.
“It's about going: ‘What does it look like with our personnel?’
“We're still finding little connections and [learning about] where we keep the ball versus when we invade.”
"We can always be braver in every game. Whether you get 20 shots, you can then try and get 25.
“We want to be more attacking; of course we do, and we'll continue to look at that.
“I'm sure we are returning to where we want to be.
“I think it's a balance between all-out attack and then having to balance the defending.
“So I think we're learning.
“We're going to make sure that we improve that.
“It's something we looked at over the last two weeks, and we'll continue to put it into our performances."
"Liverpool are slightly different than they were last season.
“They've always been good, defensively strong, solid box defenders.
“What they've added in is counter-attack speed quality.
“Watching Olivia Smith and Leanne Kiernan work together, they've been perfect.
“I expect a formidable opponent as it is with Liverpool, with Matt Beard's teams always.
“We have to get to our standards quickly.
“It's after an international week, so I think both managers get their players for two days."
Matt Beard, Liverpool manager, said:
“Now, as always, we wait and hope everyone returns fit, healthy, and ready for our final three games of 2024.
“Unfortunately, we will be without Hannah Silcock, who went off injured while playing for England U23s. This is a blow because she got herself into the team.
“On a positive note, Teagan Micah will be available for Sunday.
“Australia put two extra games into their schedule, and they asked whether we would consider letting them have Teagan, but we need her, and we’ve got three games.
“I was pleased with our last outing against Newcastle United in the League Cup, and I felt it was a good team performance with some excellent moments to come from it, with Kappy [Cornelia Kapocs], Smithy [Olivia Smith], Mia [Enderby] and Leanne [Kiernan] all scoring and Zara Shaw staking a claim for a place.
“Manchester United has been up and down lately, but I think there has been a lot of unfair criticism of Marc Skinner.
“As always, it’s going to be a tight game, but it’s one we are looking forward to; it’s similar to the Everton fixture in the sense that we always look out for when the fixtures come out.
“I always say this, but we know we can compete with anybody in this league on our day.
“I do feel Chelsea have gone to that next level regarding the players they have brought in and their squad depth, but pretty much everyone else, I think we can beat anyone on our day.
“I just think we have been so unlucky with the injuries that we’ve had to key players like Sophie Roman Haug, and, as I’ve said recently, we have to find a way to win games without her.”
“It’s just been how the season has gone so far in the sense we get one player back only to lose another one or two; it’s just been constant since day one.”
“Manchester United is our priority on Sunday. They are in a similar position to us, with one or two injuries, and they are also awaiting players back from international duty.
“In these games, you have to be clinical. We’ve been in that position plenty of times already this season when we have gone 1-0 up and not killed games off, and it has come back to haunt us.
“So from our perspective, we have to be clinical when we get these opportunities, and I think the performance in our last game at Newcastle, especially the front players, will give them a big lift.”
Arsenal has been on red-hot form since Jonas Edivall left the club, and interim coach Renee Sleger is looking to extend her unbeaten record against Aston Villa. Alessia Russo aims to score in her fourth straight WSL game. They also won the Champions League match against Juventus 1-0 at the Emirates, which secured their place in the next round. Fellow English sides Chelsea and Manchester City have also qualified for the quarter-finals with two games, whose loan ended, and she returned to Manchester United. Tottenham have had an indifferent start to the WSL, with back-to-back losses to Manchester City and Arsenal before the international break. They face Everton, who are on a high after securing their first win by defeating their Merseyside opposition Liverpool last time. Spurs have conceded 21 goals this season.
Manchester City played Leicester City to close the gap from the league's top, Chelsea. Their winning streak ended with a 2-0 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which stalled their momentum and gave them an early advantage straight to Chelsea. Manchester City's last match before the international break was a cagey 2-1 victory away at Hammarby in the Champions League. Leicester's last fixture was having beaten Brighton & Hove Albion on Penalties at Broadfield Stadium in the league cup.
Elsewhere, Hannah Cain’s penalty sent Wales on their way to the 2025 UEFA Women's European Championships. After their qualifying success, Janice Cayman and Sari Kees’ Belgium and Finland joined them.
Taylor used it to reflect on the start of the season and what has gone well.
“As coaching staff, we can pause and reflect on the first third of the season.
“Lots of positive things to discuss and things we want to implement in the next phase.
“It was a different type of break because it feels like Hammarby was a long time ago with that game on a Thursday and then nothing at the weekend, but it allowed even international players two or three days to recover and shut down mentally.
“That was a pleasant experience, especially for the players away and training every day. It isn’t easy.
“It was nice to give them free time.
“Looking forward to the whole group being back together today and preparing for the game at the weekend.”
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