Chelsea return to Women’s Super League (WSL) action this weekend with the visit of title rivals Manchester City.

Stamford Bridge will stage this top-of-the-table clash between two teams battling for this season’s title. Gareth Taylor’s City side currently hold the advantage in the standings, but they have played a game more than their rivals.

For Sonia Bompastor, this is her first season coaching in England having previously managed French side Lyon. The 44-year-old currently has a 100 percent record with Chelsea across all competitions, so they will hope to avoid a first defeat of the season.

All WSL matches will be taking place at Premier League stadiums this weekend and this will be Chelsea’s second match at the Bridge this season. They previously hosted Real Madrid in West London in the group stage of the Champions League last month.

Here is 90min’s guide to this weekend’s meeting between the two title rivals…

Sonia Bompastor remains without long-term absentees Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel and Sophie Ingle. Lauren James has also been sidelined since before the last international break, and won’t be back until December at the earliest.

The Chelsea boss was also able to rest a number of key players midweek for their Champions League group stage clash against Celtic. Mayra Ramirez, Millie Bright, Kadeisha Buchanan and Sjoeke Nusken didn’t travel with the squad to Glasgow and are expected to be fresh and ready for Saturday’s game at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea predicted lineup vs Man City

Chelsea predicted lineup vs Man City (4-2-3-1): Hampton; Bronze, Buchanan, Bright, Baltimore; Nusken, Cuthbert; Kaneryd, Hamano, Reiten; Ramirez

Laia Aleixandri and Naomi Layzell both remained sidelined for City’s midweek Champions League clash against Hammarby, although Taylor didn’t indicate whether the weekend’s match at Chelsea would also come too soon for the defensive pair. City are also without long-term absentees Vivianne Miedema Risa Shimizu as they recover from knee injuries.

Lauren Hemp was absent from the squad that beat Hammarby on Tuesday night, and Taylor confirmed post-match that she wasn’t fit enough to play having potentially picked up an injury during the Crystal Palace game earlier this month. 

“She was able to play against Spurs, but wasn’t able tonight,” Taylor explained after the game. “It will just take a little longer to assess and find out a bit more.

“Hopefully [Lauren can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there. So we’ll just have to take our moment tomorrow and have a conversation with the medical staff and find out where we’re at.”

Man City predicted lineup vs Chelsea

Man City predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-3-3): Keating; Casparij, Kennedy, Greenwood, Ouahabi; Park, Hasegawa, Roord; Fowler, Shaw, Hemp

Chelsea have enjoyed a really strong start to the 2024/25 season as they remain unbeaten in all competitions. They are currently second in the standings behind City having played a game less than their title rivals.

Bompastor’s side have the home advantage on Saturday, but this will arguably be their toughest test yet. It’s a tough one to call, but the London club should have just enough to come away with a win to claim top spot in the standings.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Man City

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