Key events
15 min Bright brings it out and Hasegawa recovers well; can City attack the space she’s left? No, Chelsea close it down well with Bronze moving across to cover.
14 min This is what Chelsea want, James on the ball in centrefield with runners ahead, but she can’t slides her pass in behind, Aleixandri intercepting; City then clear and begin passing once more.
13 min Lawrence concedes an unnecessary free-kick out on the left and Hasegawa pumps to the back post, but there’s too much on the ball for Prior, who can’t redirect back across the face.
11 min As we expected, it’s City dominating possession here; Chelsea are, I think, relying on moments to get a result here.
9 min Lovely from City! Kerolin tucks back to Casparaij, who feeds her a delicious return into space and she’s away! Bursting into the box, Hampton moves off her line, and when a slightly heavy touch takes the ball a little close, Kerolin doesn’t alter her finish – it now needs a dink – instead hitting low and hard into the sprawling keeper’s legs. Good save, but she oughtn’t have got near it.
8 min A nice touch from James allows Hamano to send Jean-Francois into space down the right, but Layzell does well to challenge and even better to earn a goalkick rather than cede a corner.
7 min It’s been a fairly sedate start, but so far City look the likelier – they’re passing more positively through the lines.
5 min Miedema drops but gives it away and Chelsea spring, Kaneryd crossing from the right and Keating doing well to collect under pressure.
3 min First City attack, Kerolin and Casparij moving the ball nicely down the right, but they can’t find a gap to pick out Miedema.
2 min “Arsenal fans are no less prone to what if-ery than the next lot of vaguely unfulfilled partisan supporters,” admits Charles Antaki, so the question always hangs in the air as to what would have happened if the club had been willing to stump up the money to keep Miedema while also getting in Mariona Caldentey. It’s not clear whether that would have been enough to break Chelsea’s hegemony, but it would certainly have helped. Also it would have denied Man City a top player, which is just good in its own terms.”
It was one of those things you could see coming for quite some time before it did; I was a little surprised the club allowed it when it looked like they’d soon have to sack Eidevall, after which things were likely to change. But what a goal Caldentey scored yesterday.
1 min The players take the knee and off we go!
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh, in a moment of classic ADHD, of course I forgot to embed the interview.
Our teams are tunnelled … and here they come!
As per the below, I’m biased, and this probably won’t resonate with everyone like it resonated with me, but I can’t pretend my eyeballs aren’t sweating after watching it.
He’ll be delighted to know I agree with him on Miedema. Sometimes, it really is as simple as getting your best player in the middle of the pitch and as close to the goal as possible – like when Guardiola moved Messi from right-wing to centre-forward.
Cushing tells BBC beating Chelsea starts with belief, and you have to be dangerous with and without the ball.
Everyone’s aware Cityy have some key injuries and they’ve also got a bit of tiredness but he thinks his team today can get a result. He believes Miedema is best as a 9 and he’s set the team up to get the most from her.
Gosh, Lucy Bronze is talking to Alex Scott about her autism and ADHD diagnoses, explaining a brain that constantly races, rushing through processes before others so she came seem a know-all, and saying she’s not passionate about football, she’s obsessed. It’s a really lovely interview and though only I’m the latter with maybe a bit of the former, I can’t even begin to tell you how much of it rings true.
Where is the game? I think Miedema will fancy herself to be too agile for Bright, while Kerolin, excellent in midweek, will look to dart between the lines and play her in. I also fancy City’s midfield three to be too mobile and clever for Chelsea’s, and expect them to dominate the ball trying to pull their opposite numbers out of position.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will hope that James, Hamano and Kaneryd can find pockets behind the City midfield – expect them to spring quickly when they recover possession and flood the box.
Bompastor tells BBC that she’s not really had to lift the players as they were frustrated but it’s her job to make sure it’s only for one day. She still trusts her players and knows they’ve the quality to bounce back,
She wants to see intensity and desire from the off, but they want to win the game, and it’s important to bring in fresh legs. She’s lucky enough to have a big squad with the opportunity to rotate, which you have to do with games every three days.
Millie Bright says Chelsea didn’t turn up in that and they were really disappointed by their performance. But they’ll be ready to express themselves today.
Here’s Suzanne Wrack on the second game in the quadrilogy.
This match reminds me a little of the triple-header between Manchester United and Leeds in 91-92. The league game was a draw, United won the two Cup encounters … but it was Leeds who ended the season champions.
I wondered if City would rest Miedema today, just to be certain she’d be fit for Thursday night. But I’m selfishly glad they haven’t, and it makes sense to get another 60-90 into her legs, hoping her decisive form continues.
As for Chelsea, Bjorn and Baltimore are replaced in defence by Lawrence and Charles, which I think means Bronze moves inside to centre-back; at the base of midfield, it’s Jean-Francois and Kaptein, not Walsh and Cuthbert; at in attack, Hamana and Kaneryd come in for Macario and Ramirez. Or, in other words, Bompastor is prioritising midweek.
City are without Yamashita today, so Hampton replaces her in net; otherwise, Ouhabi, Fowler and Murphy drop to the bench, with Layzell, Park and Miedema coming in; Blindkilde-Brown is out of the squad entirely, likewise Bunny Shaw, who’s still absent.
I’ll write these down, then will think about how things might go.
Manchester City (4-3-3): Keating; Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri, Layzell; Hasegawa, Roord, Coombs; Kerolin, Miedema. Park. Subs: Annets, Startup, Ouahabi, Fowler, Wienroither, Oyama, Murphy, Davies.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Hampton; Lawrence, Bright, Bronze, Charles; Jean-Francois, Kaptein; James, Hamano, Kaneryd; Beever-Jones. Subs: Spencer, Bjorn, Baltimore, Walsh, Cuthbert, Macario, Nushken, Fishel, Ramirez.
Elsewhere, West Ham, eighth in the table, lead Spurs, ninth, 1-0 thanks to Josefine Rybrink’s own goal.
Preamble
In a sense, this is the one that doesn’t matter. Last Saturday, Chelsea beat Manchester City 2-1 to win the League Cup; last Wednesday, Manchester City beat Chelsea 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final; and on Thursday, the clubs reconvene to decide the tie.
Today, though, is a mere league game, and Chelsea lead the table by five points with a game in hand – from Arsenal, with City trailing by 12. Every game, though, contains within it the seeds of the next, and another positive result for Nick Cushing’s side will make them strong favourites to progress when the sides reconvene.
More than that, though, there’s just a chance that when we look back in years to come, this set of four games will mark something more significant than the games themselves. Emma Hayes left Chelsea in such a strong position that, so far, her absence has barely registered. But rarely in football history has an epochal icon departed to no change and, good though Sonia Bompastor is, we might now be witnessing the end of an aura.
On top of which and talking of epochal icons, City – who changed managers more recently – have Vivianne Miedema. Goodness knows how Arsenal feel about letting Jonas Eidevall force her out only to resign himself a few month later. Fit, happy and at her peak, Miedema has the ability and personality to elevate any team; if she has another good day, this one will matter very deeply.
Kick-off: 2.30pm
