Preview:St Polten Women vs Chelsea Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Chelsea Women will resume their Women’s Champions League campaign with a trip to Austria for Tuesday’s meeting with St Polten Women.

The Blues have taken four points from their first two League Phase matches, while St. Polten are yet to pick up a point in the competition.

Match preview

St. Polten are competing in the Women’s Champions League main draw for the third consecutive season after successfully negotiating their way through qualifying.

The Austrian champions saw off Neftchi Baku and Vllaznia in single-leg ties, before they eased to an 8-0 aggregate victory over ZNK Mura to advance to the inaugural League Phase.

Laurent Fassotte’s side have found life much tougher in the main draw, having fallen to heavy defeats in their opening two games.

They slumped to a 6-0 home loss against Atletico Madrid, before they were comfortably beaten 3-0 in their away meeting with record European champions Lyon.

As a result, St. Polten are the only team in the League Phase that have lost their first two matches without troubling the scorers.

Their task will not get any easier in Wednesday’s clash against Chelsea, especially as they will be in a downbeat mood following their 2-1 defeat to Austria Wien in the last 16 of the OFB Frauen Cup.

Chelsea secured direct qualification to the League Phase courtesy of their sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title.

The Blues are hoping this is the season where they end their wait for European glory, although their current focus will be on one of the four automatic qualification spots for the quarter-final.

As it stands, Chelsea are in a knockout phase playoff position after taking four points from their first two matches, with two points separating them from the top four in the League Phase.

Sonia Bompastor's side were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw in their opening game against Twente, before they picked up their first win of the main draw with a 4-0 thrashing of Paris FC at Stamford Bridge.

After going on to beat London City Lionesses in the league, Chelsea had to settle for a point in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, where Alyssa Thompson saw her opener cancelled out by Alessia Russo's late equaliser, in a game where the Gunners had two goals controversially ruled out.

The draw ensured that Chelsea equalled their own WSL record of 33 consecutive matches without defeat, but it also saw them drop to second place after Manchester City squeezed past Everton on Sunday.

Chelsea will put their WSL title defence on hold to focus on their efforts to extend their 20-game undefeated streak in the UWCL League Phase/group stage.

St Polten Women Women's Champions League form:

L L

St Polten Women form (all competitions):

W L W L W W

Chelsea Women Women's Champions League form:

D W

Chelsea Women form (all competitions):

D D W W W D

Team News

Carina Schluter will line up between the posts for the home side, with the goalkeeper expected to experience a busy night against Chelsea.

The shot-stopper could be shielded by a back five of Sarah Gutman, Fanni Nagy, Lisa Ebert, Jennifer Klein and Izabela Krizaj.

At the opposite end of the pitch, striker Ludmila Matavkova is set to be given the lonely responsibility of leading the line on Wednesday.

As for Chelsea, the injured trio of Kadiesha Buchanan and Mayra Ramirez have been left out of the squad for the League Phase.

Lauren James is back in full training and is in contention to feature in a matchday squad for the first time this season.

Bompastor may opt to freshen up her side, with Ellie Carpenter, Sandy Baltimore and Sjoeke Nusken among those who could come into the lineup.

St Polten Women possible starting lineup:

Schluter; Gutmann, Nagy, Ebert, Klein, Krizaj; Elmore, Peneau, Laino, Brunold; Matavkova

Chelsea Women possible starting lineup:

Hampton; Carpenter, Bright, Bjorn, Baltimore; Nusken, Walsh, Cuthbert; Rytting Kaneryd, Thompson, Macario

We say: St Polten Women 0-5 Chelsea Women

St Polten have found life tough in their first two League Phase games, and we think that they will experience another difficult outing against a Chelsea side who may view this fixture as the perfect opportunity to boost their goal difference in the battle to secure a top-four spot.

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