The WSL season kicks off this Friday as Sonia Bompastor aims to take over the charge from Emma Hayes in style. This is a Chelsea women predicted lineup for their curtain raiser against Aston Villa as they aim for a sixth Women’s Super League championship in a row.
Chelsea Women Predicted Lineup vs Aston Villa for September 20
How Chelsea Women Have Lined Up Recently
Zecira Musovic has been given the nod over Hannah Hampton for much of pre-season with the latter only starting once against Arsenal in America. The defence has featured Lucy Bronze at right back, Millie Bright, Kadeisha Buchanan, Nathalie Bjorn, Ashley Lawrence, and Niamh Charles have filled out the back four in varying combinations.
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With Erin Cuthbert picking up an injury early into pre-season Wieke Kaptein has come in for regular minutes as one of the two deeper midfielders. Sjoeke Nusken has partnered with the Dutch youngster.
Guro Reitrn, Johanna-Rytting Kaneryd, and Lauren James have played out wide with Sandy Baltimore coming in as the central attacking midfielder. Maika Hamano featured in a front two alongside Aggie Beever-Jones while Mayra Ramirez was trusted as the lone striker against Feyenoord.
Chelsea Women Recent Form and Tactics
Bompastor has set up in a 4-4-2 once but prefers to use the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 tactic. The front two was used against Arsenal to aid in a high press whereas the latter formation was used against teams where they expected to dominate the ball.
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An undefeated pre-season was rubber-stamped by an impressive 9-0 destruction of Feyenoord. The hard-fought wins against the Gunners and Gotham FC will also inspire hope for a Blues team that looks defensively solid and sharp in attack.
Chelsea Women Injuries to Consider
The ACL recovery room has sadly claimed another as Sophie Ingle’s injury was announced days ago, she joins Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel, and Aniek Nouwen who are all attempting to recover from the same injury. When asked about availability in her pre-match conference the manager confirmed that Cuthbert is available as is Catarina Macario. Charles will miss out due to a dislocated shoulder.
Chelsea Women Predicted Lineup
Despite being fit we are likely to see Macario eased back into action while Cuthbert could start and be taken off early. The big question for the lineup is who is chosen to replace Charles with Alejandra Bernabe not getting a huge amount of pre-season minutes.
GK – Zecira Musovic
LB – Ashley Lawrence
CB – Nathalie Bjorn
CB – Millie Bright
RB – Lucy Bronze
DM – Erin Cuthbert
DM – Sjoeke Nusken
AM – Sandy Baltimore
W – Lauren James
W – Johanna Rytting Kaneryd
ST – Mayra Ramirez
