Chelsea will once again kick off the weekend’s WSL action when they make the short trip to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Friday night.
Sonia Bompastor began her tenure with the Blues with a much needed win last time out against Aston Villa, while Friday’s hosts kicked off their season with a big defeat away at Tottenham Hotspur. Laura Kaminski’s side will need a much more resilient defensive display this week if they’re to keep the current WSL champions at arm’s length.
Chelsea, on the other hand, will hope to climb up the table after last week’s narrow victory at home to Villa. A big win on Friday could catapult them up the table , and significantly improve their goal difference in the early weeks of the season.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Friday’s WSL clash.
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Crystal Palace |
Chelsea |
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Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 Crystal Palace – 22/09/24 |
Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa – 20/09/24 |
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Country |
TV channel/livestream |
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United Kingdom |
Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Showcase |
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USA |
ESPN+, ESPN App |
Palace will be without long term absentee Elise Hughes after the forward suffered an ACL injury in April this year. Manager Kaminski confirmed the 23-year-old is now training outside and running again, but is still some way from making a return to action.
The Eagles will also be without loanee Brooke Aspin for this fixture. The 19-year-old is on loan from Chelsea, so is ineligible to face her parent club, and she will also serve her one-match suspension after picking up a second booking against Tottenham last time out.
Another loanee from Chelsea, Jorja Fox, also sustained an ACL injury over the last week. She will undergo her rehabilitation with her parents club and will not feature for Palace.
Crystal Palace predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-1-4-1) Yanez; Green, Everett, Veje, Gibbons; Potter; Riley, Gejl, Blanchard, Weerden; Stengel
Speaking ahead of Friday’s game, Chelsea boss Bompastor confirmed she has the same squad available this week. Julia Bartel has returned from the under-20 World Cup with Spain, but will not be available for Friday’s fixture at Selhurst Park.
Lauren James, who came on as a late substitute against Aston Villa last Friday, has trained as normal and is available. However, the French coach didn’t go as far as confirming whether the 22-year-old will start.
Sophie Ingle, Aniek Nouwen, Niamh Charles, Mia Fishel, Oriane Jean-Francois and Sam Kerr make up the longer term absentees at this stage. All apart from Charles and Jean-Francois are out with ACL injuries.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1): Hampton; Bronze, Buchanan, Bright, Lawrence; Nusken, Cuthbert; Kaneryd, Reiten, Baltimore; Ramirez
Despite a quiet night in front of goal against Aston Villa in their opening fixture, many will be expecting a much more clinical performance from Chelsea this time around. Sweden international Johanna Rytting Kaneryd scored the only goal of the game last time out, but Bompastor has plenty of firepower at her disposal.
Palace suffered a heavy and disappointing opening weekend defeat to Tottenham last Sunday. They shipped four goals against Robert Vilhaman’s side, which doesn’t bode well when they have Chelsea up next.
It will most likely take time for Kaminski’s side to settle into the top flight, which means they may suffer some big defeats in the meantime.
