Preview: Manchester United Women vs. Chelsea Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Women's Super League leaders Manchester United Women will attempt to maintain their 100% start to the season when they play host to reigning champions Chelsea Women on Sunday.

The visitors are also in impressive form, and they have the chance to record an eighth consecutive victory in all competitions.

Match preview

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Manchester United are yet to drop points this season after winning all five of their WSL games, suggesting that they could be viable title challengers.

In their most recent outing, Man United cruised to a comfortable 3-0 away victory over Everton thanks to goals from Nikita Parris, Leah Galton and Hayley Ladd.

The result leaves the Red Devils at the top of the table, level on points with Arsenal and Chelsea, although the Blues have played one game more.

Marc Skinner's side have been in impressive form at both ends of the pitch, scoring 14 goals in five league games, while they are the only team yet to concede in the WSL this season.

Man United will be confident of claiming a positive result against the champions after winning their last nine home league matches.

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Since losing to Liverpool on the opening day of the season, Chelsea have embarked on a seven-game winning run in all competitions.

Last weekend, a Lauren James brace as well as a goal for Sam Kerr helped the Blues record a comfortable 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.

As a result of the victory, the Blues will head into Sunday's contest with one defeat in their last 19 league games.

Although Chelsea will come up against a Man United side that have kept five consecutive clean sheets in the league, they can draw inspiration from the fact that they have scored at least two goals in their previous five WSL matches.

The Blues will also take confidence from their head-to-head record after winning the last four meetings with Man United in all competitions, while they are also the last team to beat the Red Devils in the WSL.

Team News

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Manchester United are still without the services of Aoife Mannion, who is currently sidelined with a long-term knee injury.

Alessia Russo could be brought into the starting lineup after returning from injury to feature as a second-half substitute last weekend.

Leah Galton has been in fine form this season, registering two goals and three assists in the WSL, and she will be looking to provide support for Russo on Sunday.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Maren Mjelde due to a hamstring problem, while Melanie Leupolz is currently on maternity leave.

Fran Kirby and Jelena Cankovic will also miss out, and there is doubt over the availability of Katerina Svitkova, who missed training on Friday through illness.

After beating Aston Villa 3-1 last weekend, Chelsea could name an unchanged lineup, which would result in James starting against her former club.

Manchester United Women possible starting lineup:

Earps; Blundell, Le Tissier, Turner, Thorisdottir; Parris, Ladd, Zelem, Toone, Galton; Russo

Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:

Berger; Bright, Buchanan, Eriksson; Perisset, Ingle, Cuthbert, Reiten; James, Harder, Kerr

We say: Manchester United Women 2-2 Chelsea Women

Although Chelsea have won their last four meetings with Man United, we think that the Red Devils will demonstrate that they are title contenders by taking a point off of the current champions.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.