Key events
Fine save by Yamashita
18 min Carpenter scoots down the right and crosses low towards Baltimore at the far post. She drags the ball away from Casparij to make room for a shot that deflects off the outstretched arm of Prior – that could have been a penalty – and is pawed round the post by the diving Yamashita.
15 min Yamashita is fine to continue for now.
13 min Yamashita is down and has a problem with her right knee. Khiara Keating is sent out to warm up.
12 min Murphy, City’s young left-winger, runs at Carpenter with purpose, makes a yard but then crosses too close to Hampton.
11 min This is a good spell for Chelsea, with Carpenter looking lively in the role of attacking right-back. It’s been a bright start to the game.
10 min Another Chelsea corner is headed away to the edge of the area. Walsh flips a half-volleyed shot that hits a City defender and goes over the bar.
8 min Carpenter’s dangerous cross from the right is turned down by Casparij to give Chelsea the first corner of the match. Cuthbert takes and it’s headed away at the near post.
6 min Miedema slips Hamano just outside the Chelsea area, forcing Bright to step out and clear. City have been excellent so far.
3 min City have started well. Bunny Shaw collects the ball on the left side of the area, shifts the ball to the side and blasts a shot that is pushed away the diving Hampton. Good save.
2 min City captain Alex Greenwood has started at left-back, with Gracie Prior and Jade Rose as the centre-backs. Prior moves forward and gets her head to Hasegawa’s free-kick without being able to direct it on target.
1 min Peep peep! The 2025-26 WSL season is under way.
Chelsea’s record signing Alyssa Thompson has just been presented to the home fans. Some signing, that, and the depth in Chelsea’s squad is beyond frightening for the rest of the league.
The European Championship trophy is about to be brought onto the field, with the Lionesses on both sides waiting by the touchline. They have a bond that will last forever; they are also in opposition tonight.
Lucy Bronze and Lauren James, both unavailable tonight, have joined the group for a photo. And now it’s back to business.
Man City season preview
Chelsea season preview
Team news
Australian right-back Ellie Carpenter, signed from Lyon, makes her debut for Chelsea. The bench includes Sam Kerr, out for 20 months with an ACL injury; the club’s new signing Alyssa Thompson isn’t involved tonight.
City start their new signings Sydney Lohmann and Jade Rose, with Laura Wienrother and Iman Beney on the bench. Gracie Prior and Lily Murphy, two homegrown players with a combined age of 39, are in the City XI, but the new signing Grace Clinton didn’t travel with the squad.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Hampton; Carpenter, Bjorn, Bright, Charles; Walsh, Kaptein; Hamano, Cuthbert, Baltimore; Beever-Jones.
Subs: Peng, Buurman, Nusken, Macario, Reiten, Rytting Kaneryd, Kerr, Jean-Francois, Potter.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1) Yamashita; Casparij, Rose, Prior, Greenwood; Hasegawa, Lohmann; Hemp, Miedema, Murphy; Shaw.
Subs: Keating, Layzell, Coombs, Wienroither, Ouahabi, Blindkilde Brown, Beney, Thomas, Lewis.
Tom Garry’s WSL preview
As the former Denmark national team coach held his first pre-match press conference at Manchester City on Wednesday afternoon, [Andrée] Jeglertz was asked if Chelsea could be stopped and whether his new team could be the team to stop them, and he replied: “I wouldn’t sit in this chair if I thought something else.
“That’s definitely something the club really wants us to do and the belief in us is big. But we will also need to grow into the season, so we also said to the players: ‘Not everything will be perfect on Friday.’ We will definitely be ready for the game but we also need to have a little bit of patience.”
Preamble
The WSL is back, folks! And with English football bathing in a post-Euros glow for the second time in three years, the level of excitement and anticipation are probably unprecedented. There are new managers, returning superstars, record signings – and a team of serial winners who want to reign on the parade.
Chelsea are aiming for a seventh straight WSL title, having rampaged to a domestic treble last season. Arsenal’s Champions League triumph will have hurt them for several reasons but in England they remain nigh-on invincible.
The first team tasked with stopping them are Manchester City, who are starting afresh under Andrée Jeglertz after a forgettable 2024-25 campaign. But they have probably been Chelsea’s biggest domestic rivals in recent times and, even in transition, have the ability to beat anybody.
The fixture computer done good: with the exception of Arsenal v Chelsea (see above), this is the best possible way to start the new season.
Kick off 7.30pm.
