Key events
11 min: Quick feet in the box from James, but the ball doesn’t break properly for her to get a shot away and it’s out for a corner.
10 min: James cuts in from the right and looks like she’s gonna have a shot… but it’s a nice ball for Kerr, who heads wide. Offside anyway, though.
7 min: Arnold plays it along the carpet from the back as West Ham build through the middle, the ball then switching to the right-wing before a cross comes in for Emma Harries, but she can’t get it away while in the box. Top play that, though, from the visitors with some lovely, quick passes.
6 min: Leupolz finds room outside the box to get a shot away, but West Ham keeper Arnold has no trouble, diving low to her right to clean up.
5 min: Carter goes long down the Chelsea left wing, but the ball’s eventually snuffed out.
3 min: West Ham counter well after a Chelsea corner, but Fran Kirby tracks back brilliantly to stop the attack with a crunching tackle. Top effort from the forward.
1 min: Free kick near the halfway line for West Ham, but it goes too long and out for a goalkick to Chelsea.
Here we go! Ueki kicks off for West Ham.
First, a moment of silence for the innocent victims in Israel and Palestine.
Alright, we’re nearly ready. Teams are out there, skippers are chatting to the refs. Get the kettle on, quick.
And now Rehanne Skinner’s turn to chat about her time so far in charge at West Ham:
“We’re getting a bit more confidence on the ball… we’ve been quite clinical in front of goal at times as well which has been really good. One of the things we wanted to try and adjust was the way we were in terms of defending set-plays… and we haven’t conceded from that so far, so that’s a real positive.”
Emma Hayes speaks to Sky about the inclusions of Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby, both starting in the WSL for the first time this season.
“They’re two top football players and we get the opportunity to put them together today, and as I’ve said all along, we don’t always get the chance to play the same players every week but that’s what a squad’s about. And for us this week, at home at Kingsmeadow, is the right moment to put them together.”
And here’s a great Q&A with Jen Beattie.
Before we get stuck in, here’s some reading on last weekend in the WSL.
The teams
Chelsea: Musovic, Bright (c), Ingle, Carter, Leupolz, James, Lawrence, Kirby, Mjelde, Kerr, Charles
Subs: Berger, Nusken, Perisset, Fleming, Kaneryd, Cuthbert, Buchanan, Cankovic, Beever-Jones
West Ham: Arnold (c), Smith, Shimizu, Evans, Ueki, Harries, Denton, Hayashi, Asseyi, Cooke, Cissoko
Subs: Walsh, Stringer, Tysiak, Atkinson, Filis, Ademiluyi, Flannery
Preamble
Well, it was a bit of a weird one for the champions last weekend. Manchester City were reduced to nine players after Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp were sent off, but it was Chelsea who were trailing 1-0 for most of the match, with Guro Reiten’s 96th-minute equaliser saving them. The good news, then, is that Emma Hayes’ side are still unbeaten, having beaten Spurs in their season opener.
West Ham had a nicer time, beating Brighton 2-0, with summer signing Riko Ueki getting on the scoresheet. Charlton were then beaten in the League Cup in the week… but here comes the bad news: Chelsea are 11-0 up against West Ham this year. A seven-goal League Cup demolition in February was followed by a four-nil in the WSL three months later. Eek.
Anywho, the two sides meet at Kingsmeadow today, with kick-off at 5.30pm BST. I’ll be here with you all the way – feel free to drop me a line.