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Manchester City (a non-negotiable 4-3-3): Roebuck; Casparij, Houghton, Greenwood, Ouahabi; Aleixandri, Castellanos, Coombs; Kelly, Shaw, Hemp. Subs: MacIver, Keating, Stokes, Fowler, Angeldahl, Raso, Losada, Hutchings, Blakstad
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“We had a good team on paper,” Brian Clough once noted in a post-match interview. “Unfortunately, the game was played on grass”. A line that sprung to mind after last weekend’s football, when Chelsea lost to promoted Liverpool from a goal up with 25 to go and City were beaten by Villa, having led 3-2 with 15 to go.
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As it happens, City’s defeat was not entirely surprising – Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh have left for Barca while Ellen White, Karen Bardsley and Jill Scott have retired – but no one saw Chelsea succumbing as they did. And given Arsenal lost only once in the league last season and still came second, the significance of the reverse should not be underestimated.
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Emma Hayes, though, won’t panic. She knows it’ll take a little time for her new signings to integrate – of the five, only Kadeisha Buchanan started last week – and that, in Lauren James and Sam Kerr, she has strikers of ludicrous potency, never mind Pernille Harder who was an unused sub last time out. At some point very soon, things will click, and there’s every chance that it’s today.
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Over at City, Gareth Taylor has a similar situation – though is building from a position of comparative weakness. He too only started one of his new acquisitions in his side’s opening game, Laia Aleixandri, and like Hayes, must now decide whether to just toss in the others and let them find their way.
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Before the season started, Taylor was adamant that his side are aiming for the title. But not many think that likely, and while for Chelsea it’s the minimum, Hayes would not be the first brilliant manager to stuff the big domestic pot while pursuing Champions League success.
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All of which is to say there’s an absolute expletive-load going on for us this afternoon – and all we have to do is wade right in.
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Kick-off: 4pm BST
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Key events
I feel like an idiot wondering about an Emma Hayes decision, but I much prefer Fran Kirby in the middle than off the left. I can see why she’s playing with 3-4-1-2 – it gives her team defensive solidity and a silly amount of attacking flexibility – but I bet City, and pretty much everyone else, will be targeting the areas behind the wide midfielders.
By the way, Sky giving this a full hour’s build-up: about time. Let’s hope this becomes a regular occurrence, not just when there’s a big game over men’s international weekend.
As for City, they change both full-backs, bringing in Caasparaji and summer-signing Ouahabi, while in midfield, Castellanos, another new arrival, also makes her first start, replacing Angeldal.
Hayes makes three changes: in net, Berger replaces Musuvic, while in midfield, it’s Mjelde and Fleming not Charles and Ingle. My guess is that Cuthbert moves from center to right, with the two coming in taking the central berths. Oh, and Harder isn’t in the squad so he must still be injured.
We’ll look at those in detail presently, but in the meantime, Rachel Daly’s penalty has given Villa the lead at Leicester, while Lee Geum-Min has put Brighton in front at home to Reading.
team!
Chelsea (an expert’s 3-4-1-2): Berger; Bright, Buchanan, Eriksson; Cuthbert, Mjelde, Fleming, Kirby; laugh; Kerr, James. Subs: Musovic, Ingle, Carter, England, Svitkova, Perisset, Kaneryd, Cankovic.
Manchester City (a non-negotiable 4-3-3): Roebuck; Casparij, Houghton, Greenwood, Ouahabi; Aleixandri, Castellanos, Coombs; Kelly, Shaw, Hemp. Subs: MacIver, Keating, Stokes, Fowler, Angeldahl, Raso, Losada, Hutchings, Blakstad
Preamble
“We had a good team on paper,” Brian Clough once noted in a post-match interview. “Unfortunately, the game was played on grass.” A line that sprung to mind after last weekend’s football, when Chelsea lost to promoted Liverpool from a goal up with 25 to go and City were beaten by Villa, having led 3-2 with 15 to go.
As it happens, City’s defeat was not entirely surprising – Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh have left for Barca while Ellen White, Karen Bardsley and Jill Scott have retired – but no one saw Chelsea succumbing as they did. And given Arsenal lost only once in the league last season and still came second, the significance of the reverse should not be underestimated.
Emma Hayes, though, won’t panic. She knows it’ll take a little time for her new signings to integrate – of the five, only Kadeisha Buchanan started last week – and that, in Lauren James and Sam Kerr, she has strikers of ludicrous potency, never mind Pernille Harder who was an unused sub last time out. At some point very soon, things will click, and there’s every chance that it’s today.
Over at City, Gareth Taylor has a similar situation – though is building from a position of comparative weakness. He too only started one of his new acquisitions in his side’s opening game, Laia Aleixandri, and like Hayes, he must now decide whether to just toss in the others and let them find their way.
Before the season started, Taylor was adamant that his side are aiming for the title. But not many think that likely, and while for Chelsea it’s the minimum, Hayes would not be the first brilliant manager to stuff the big domestic pot while pursuing Champions League success.
All of which is to say there’s an absolute expletive-load going on for us this afternoon – and all we have to do is wade right in.
Kick-off: 4pm BST
www.theguardian.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism