It’s a brand new season for the women in Blue that starts this Friday at Stamford Bridge, with the defending Women’s Super League champions facing fellow title contenders Manchester City. It’s a big clash for both Sonia Bompastor and new City manager Andrée Jeglertz, with three points on offer that could prove twice as valuable once we get to the end of the road in May.
Date / Time: Friday, September
5, 2025, 19.30 GMT; 3:30pm EDT Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6 Forecast: Sunny with light winds
On TV: Sky Sports (UK); none (USA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky GO (UK); none (USA)
Chelsea team news: The Blues went unbeaten across all domestic matches in Bompastor’s debut season. Thus the heartbreak against Barcelona with a 8-2 aggregate loss in the Champions League’s semifinal wasn’t a good enough reason for a squad rebuild nor landmark signings.
We still went into the market to snag former Lyon defender Ellie Carpenter. But the move felt more like a direct exchange for Ashley Lawrence who went the opposite way in the previous day. Lawrence wasn’t the only first-team player moving out of Cobham, with Sophie Ingle, Zećira Mušović, Aniek Nouwen, Mia Fishel and Maelys Mpomé all leaving the Blues this summer.
One can very well argue Sam Kerr’s return after 20 months of absence from the pitch can very well feel like a big signing coming through. We’ll certainly need her to find her groove back as soon as possible given Mayra Ramírez’s absence at least until January due to a hamstring injury and ensuing surgery.
Manchester City team news: After years of knocking on Chelsea’s door and almost upheaving the Blues from the Women’s Super League title a couple of times, the Citizens had enough of Gareth Taylor. Interim head coach Nick Cushing didn’t do anything to write home about, and he was swiftly replaced by former Danish women’s national team manager Andrée Jeglertz just as the season started.
Much like Chelsea, City didn’t go under massive squad changes. They did sign veteran Bayern Munich midfielder Sydney Lohmann as well as turning Laura Wienroither’s loan from Arsenal into a permanent move this summer. But it remains to be seen if they will compensate the impact of Laia Aleixandri, Jill Roord and Chloe Kelly all choosing to leave the club behind.
In his first pre-match interview as Manchester City manager, Jeglertz was cryptic about which of his player are fit or not. He did say that most of them are ready, so we can expect him to be able to land a full starting eleven plus substitutes to the bench at the very least this Friday.
Previously: After losing the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first leg 2-0 away, Chelsea turn it all around with a 3-0 win over City at the Bridge.
