Man City Women vs Chelsea Ladies Preview: Previous Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More

Manchester City Women and Chelsea Ladies face off on Saturday in one of the season's biggest matches.

The teams share the two top spots in the Women's Super League 1 table, with Chelsea just one point ahead of their rivals heading into the weekend, and the title looks set to head either to Manchester or London.

Here's everything you need to know about the match as both sides look to take control of the title race.

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Previous Encounter

Chelsea are one of two teams to have stopped City winning in the league so far this season, the other being Birmingham City, with their match earlier in February ending in a 0-0 stalemate.

The Blues, themselves unbeaten in all 10 league games this campaign, had the game's best chance but Fran Kirby could only fire over when well placed, curling an effort wide shortly after.

City had to endure long spells of pressure but ended the match the happier of the two sides, escaping with a point.

In previous years, City beat Chelsea 1-0 in May 2017 thanks to Toni Duggan's strike, while Nick Cushing's side did the double over the Blues during the 2016 season, picking up two 2-0 wins.

Key Battles

Isobel Christiansen vs Gilly Flaherty

Christiansen is City's top scorer so far this season, with 11 goals in 17 appearances, but standing in her way on Saturday will be Chelsea defender Gilly Flaherty.

The Blues skipper, who has won the FA Women's Cup six times, will have her work cut out for her when facing Christiansen, who has scored five goals in 21 matches for England.

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Steph Houghton vs Fran Kirby

Houghton is one of the most revered names in English football, thanks to a successful stay at Arsenal before achieving more success with City, also reaching 100 caps for England and leading the Lionesses to the semi-finals of the 2015 Women's World Cup.

The 29-year-old could be up against Kirby, a player she knows well from their time together with England and who has scored 15 goals this season, coming off the bench to net against Yeovil in midweek.

Team News

Chelsea are expected to be at full strength again, although Kirby could come into the starting XI after her performance against Yeovil.Flaherty recently returned from injury and could start again here.

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Jill Scott, fresh from making her 100th appearance for City, will be looking for a goal after hitting the woodwork in the 2-0 defeat to Birmingham on Thursday.

Prediction

With City coming off the back of a 2-0 defeat, Chelsea will sense an opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table to a healthy four points.

However, City will not roll over easily, having won eight of their 10 league games so far, scoring 31 goals in the process.

Both teams have a wealth of attacking options, including the likes of Kirby, Christiansen, Eniola Aluko, Jonna Anderson and Nikita Parris, but expect this to be a closely fought encounter.

Prediction: Manchester City Women 1-1 Chelsea Ladies