After bouncing around so many competitions, Chelsea Women will finally get a back-to-back match in the Women’s Super League. Not that we want to avoid being part of other championships but it’s good to have a prolonged focus every once in a while.
The only issue is having to face the league leaders right after losing to Arsenal, who are now only a point away from us. Under normal circumstances this would be one of those “six-point matches” that can decide the WSL title going one way or the other.
At this stage, taking (more) points off City is a glimpse of hope.
Date / Time: Sunday, February 1st, 2026, 14.30 GMT; 9:30am EST
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Forecast: Some rain, some wind
On TV: BBC One (UK); none (USA); elsewhere
Streaming: BBC iPlayer (US); ESPN+, fuboTV (USA)
Manchester City team news: Outside of the customary Chelsea Women encounter Manchester City have been doing very well domestically. Their 2-1 win over London City last weekend sent them nine points ahead of us with nine matches left in the Women’s Super League. A cushion they can’t afford to deflate.
The bad news for us is forward Aoba Fujino and defender Leila Ouahabi are both set to return from injury in this upcoming encounter. And they’ll be looking for revenge, just as much as City boss Andrée Jeglertz.
Chelsea team news: Losing at home is always a hard pill to swallow. Doing so in the manner we did against Arsenal makes things much worse. Moving on from the loss and the performance itself is key, but you wonder whether this team will be able to do it so quickly given how inconsistent they have been this season.
Keira Walsh and Aggie Beever-Jones are close to full fitness, and we might see the former start against her former team. Catarina Macario and Niamh Charles are still some ways away from recovery.
Previously: Erin Cuthbert gives us the crucial three points in the last minutes of our trip to the Etihad last year.
