PREVIEW: Chelsea v Bristol City

Chelsea will be aiming to keep up the pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City in the race for the FA Women’s Super League title when they take on struggling Bristol City at Kingsmeadow on Sunday.

The Blues started 2020 with a 3-1 home victory over Reading last weekend while Bristol City manager Tanya Oxtoby saw the pressure reduce on both her and her side as they stunned Manchester United at the Leigh Sports Village.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes could opt to keep faith with the starting XI which helped the club defeat Reading, however, with a busy schedule of domestic action ahead, she could implement squad rotation for a fixture which The Blues really should win. Former Hibernian midfielder Jamie-Lee Napier could come in for a full debut following her late introduction against The Royals last weekend. Striker Fran Kirby remains sidelined by a virus which is expected to keep her out of action for a few weeks.

Bristol City travel to Kingsmeadow with renewed confidence following that surprise 1-0 success at Manchester United last weekend. The Robins were clinical with the one golden chance which came their way while they defended resolutely throughout. With Bristol City having a smaller squad than many of their league rivals, manager Oxtoby is likely to field the same starting XI which performed so heroically last weekend.

The match is scheduled to kick-off at 2pm with admission available on the day for both sets of supporters.

Daniel Pentland

I am the editor and owner of FAWSL Full-Time magazine. I have been reporting on men’s and women’s football at various levels since summer 2015. Some of the events which I have reported from include the 2017 UEFA Women’s European Championship, 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, SSE Women’s FA Cup final, Emirates FA Cup final, UEFA Europa League, English Football League and various international matches.

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