Chelsea Women were named to face Manchester United in the Women’s Super League on Friday at Stamford Bridge, SW6, with kick-off set for 13.00 BST — 8am EDT — in their last match of the season. Millie Bright was not listed in Chelsea’s starting lineup, while Sonia Bompastor’s team went with Hampton, Carpenter, Buchanan, Buurman, Charles, Walsh, Cuthbert, Nüsken, Thompson, Kerr and James.
Manchester United responded with Tillis-Joyce, Sandberg, George, Le Tissier, Toone, Malard, Rolfo, Riviere, Zigiotti, Wangerheim and Hinata, and the match was to be handled by referee Mel Burgin. Chelsea’s bench featured Peng, Spencer, Baltimore, Sarwie, Kaptein, Potter, Kaneryd, Ramirez and Beever-Jones, while United’s substitutes were Rendell, Jansen, Lundkvist, Turner, Awujo, Park, Naalsund, Schuller and Terland. The meeting mattered because it marked the close of a season in which Chelsea’s extremely high standards were not met, even though they had already secured the Women’s League Cup trophy.
That backdrop gives the fixture a sharper edge than a routine final-day appointment. Chelsea still went into it as Manchester United’s bogeywoman, a status that has defined much of the rivalry, and the line-up suggested a side intent on ending the campaign with authority rather than drift through the finish line. For supporters at Stamford Bridge and those following the season through Chelsea Game Today: Chelsea Women host Manchester United in season finale, the question was less about the occasion than whether Chelsea could produce one last reminder of the level they expect from themselves.
