Chelsea continue their Women’s Champions League campaign on Thursday night as they travel to FC Twente on Matchday 2 of the group stage.
It’s been a bright start to Sonia Bompastor’s tenure in west London, with the Blues continuing their excellent opening to 2024/25 with two huge victories over the past ten days. After downing Real Madrid in an entertaining affair at Stamford Bridge last Tuesday, Chelsea edged a London derby with Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday which ultimately cost Jonas Eidevall his job.
The Blues are hunting a sixth-straight Women’s Super League title and a first WUCL crown this season.
Their upcoming opponents are nine-time Vrouwen Eredivisie champions Twente who are back in the WUCL following their domestic success last season. Twente progressed into the group stage for the first time since 2019/20 having mitigated three qualifying rounds.
The Dutch side opened their account with a 2-0 victory over Celtic last week.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Thursday’s WUCL clash.
FC Twente vs Chelsea H2H Record
This is the first competitive fixture between FC Twente and Chelsea.
Current form (all competitions)
|
FC Twente |
Chelsea |
|---|---|
|
FC Twente 1-1 Excelsior – 21/10/24 |
Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea – 12/10/24 |
|
Celtic 0-2 FC Twente – 08/10/24 |
Chelsea 3-2 Real Madrid – 08/10/24 |
|
FC Twente 0-0 PSV – 05/10/24 |
Crystal Palace 0-7 Chelsea – 27/09/24 |
|
Fortuna Sittard 1-3 FC Twente – 29/09/24 |
Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa – 20/09/24 |
|
FC Twente 4-0 Osijek – 26/09/24 |
Chelsea 9-0 Feyenoord – 07/09/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/livestream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
DAZN UK |
|
United States |
DAZN USA |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada |
Twente boss Joran Pot made a long list of changes to his starting XI at the weekend, with Chelsea likely to face a side similar to the one that lined up against Celtic on Matchday 1.
Nikee van Dijk has been in excellent form since she joined the club in the summer and will be tasked with leading the line on Thursday. However, it was attacking midfielder Kayleigh van Dooren who did the damage last week as she recorded a brace in Scotland.
The hosts are still without forward Liz Rijsbergen due to a long-term knee injury.
FC Twente predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Clark; Vliek, Knol, Carleer, Tuin; Te Brake, Van Ginkel; Andradottir, Van Dooren, Peddemors; Van Dijk.
Chelsea’s productive start to the season has been made all the more impressive given their injury list. Sam Kerr is yet to feature for the Blues and it’s unknown when she’ll make her long-awaited return from a knee injury.
Sophie Ingle, Mia Fishel, Niamh Charles and Aniek Nouwen also remain sidelined for the visitors.
Bompastor could recall Scotland international Erin Cuthbert to her midfield for Wednesday’s game, though. The seasoned Chelsea star returned from a knock at the weekend but was only fit enough for minutes off the bench.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Twente (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Bright, Buchanan, Baltimore; Cuthbert, Nusken, James; Rytting Kaneryd, Reiten, Ramirez.
After downing Real Madrid and Arsenal in their two most recent outings, there’s scope for Chelsea to take Twente lightly on Thursday. However, the Dutch side are seasoned champions who boast experience in this competition. They’ve had to slog their way into the group stage and will want to make the most of their adventure.
Twente could give their superior opponents a few issues in this one, but Chelsea should still prevail as victors to continue their great start to the season even if they endure a setback or two.
Prediction: FC Twente 1-4 Chelsea
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