Chelsea

Against Brighton on Wednesday, Sonia Bompastor fielded Chelsea's youngest starting line-up of the Women's Super League season with an average age of 24 years and 145 days.

And today, the Blues go in with an even younger starting XI with an average age of 23 years and 198 days.

Lexi Potter, who struck the winner against the Seagulls, and Veerle Buurman - both 19 - keep their places in the side while there is also a start for 17-year-old Chloe Sarwie.

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Sonia Bompastor believes each of the five games Chelsea are left to play in the Women's Super League will be a challenge for her side.

"We know every game until the end will be a challenge for us," said Bompastor, whose defending champions are currently seven points off leaders Manchester City as the Blues take on London City Lionesses.

"London City are a team who only just came into the WSL this season, but they are already performing at a really good level," said the Blues boss. "They have enough quality to hurt us, but we also have a lot of quality.

"They changed the manager, and I think probably are still a team looking for a playing style right now."

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London City Lionesses will host Chelsea today at The Den - the home of Millwall FC - after their usual home ground was unavailable because of a fixture clash with Bromley.

Speaking before the game, London City head coach Eder Maestre said: "It’s awesome playing matches in this kind of stadium and it’s something that we need to recognise and be pleased about."

But it's not a universally popular move as London City were created after splitting from Millwall Lionesses in 2019.

Last month, Millwall apologised to their supporters club, fan advisory board and Millwall Lionesses after agreeing to hold the WSL game at the venue.

The Millwall supporters club had accused London City of "stealing" Millwall Lionesses' position in the women's game and rejecting the deal, adding: "Some things are more important and worth more than money!"

Millwall then acknowledged "more thorough consultation should have taken place" and said they "sincerely apologise for the upset this caused".

Millwall added that they have "no plans for further collaboration" with London City and pledge that all the revenue generated by the club from this fixture will be reinvested back into Millwall Lionesses.

So, would the WSL teams meet Fifa's new rules or does action need to be taken in the English game?

BBC research suggests just three teams would currently comply with Fifa's rules.

Only a third of WSL managers are female, while two clubs do not appear to have any female head coach or assistant coaches.

"To give equal opportunity, sometimes you need to inject," said Arsenal manager Renee Slegers. "I'm very proud to be part of Arsenal where there are so many women working at a really high level."

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There have been some big changes announced this week for women's football.

On Thursday, world football's governing body introduced regulations that means every team in Fifa's women's tournaments must include one female head coach or assistant coach.

The requirements will come into effect during the under-17s and under-20s Women's World Cup and Women's Champions Cup competitions this year.

Under the new ruling, at least two staff members on the bench of every team at matches must be female, with one in an assistant coach or head coach role.

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West Ham and Liverpool have pulled away from the relegation play-off spot, courtesy of a few positive results in recent weeks. So it is Leicester City who find themselves at the foot of the ladder with a three-point gap to the Hammers above them. The Foxes will hope to reduce that deficit when they take on Aston Villa tomorrow.

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Manchester City enjoy a seven-point lead at the top of the Women's Super League standings with defending champions Chelsea their closest challengers.

Manchester United dropped to third after dropping points at West Ham on Wednesday while Arsenal remain fourth - four points behind Chelsea - but with two games in hand.

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Joie Stadium

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The sun is shining in Manchester as City hope to take another step towards the WSL title.

They dropped points against Villa last weekend and need to avoid a similar scenario here today otherwise it could get nervy.

Tottenham are also on the hunt for a response after a disappointing performance against Everton.

Both teams have had strong campaings but who is going to overturn those blips?

Head coach Marc Skinner has opted for two changes to the Manchester United side that were held to a goalless draw by West Ham in midweek.

Defender Dominique Janssen misses out with a hamstring injury, with Friolina Rolfo moving to full-back and Simi Awujo starting in midfield.

Melvine Malard has been chosen to lead the forward line as Lea Schuller drops to the bench.

Manchester United XI: Tullis-Joyce; Le Tissier (c), Lundkvist, Turner, Rolfo; Awujo, Naalsund, Zigiotti Olme; Park, Malard,Terland.

Subs: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, George, Anderson, Drury, Schuller

Everton interim boss Scott Phelan has been forced into one change to the side that beat Tottenham, with full-back Hannah Blundell ineligible to face her parent club. Issy Hobson comes in to the side in her place.

Kelly Gago remains an option off the bench in spite of her match winning goal in north London last week.

Everton XI: Brosnan (c), Hobson, Fernandez, Mace, Pacheco, Van Gool, Galli, Kramzar, Payne, Vignola, Momiki.

Subs: Ramsey, Gabarro, Gago, Lawley, Harbert, Stenevik, Jones.

There are four changes to the Arsenal side who beat London City Lionesses last Sunday.

Frida Maanum and Leah Williamson miss out on the squad through illness and injury respectively, and are replaced by Stina Blackstenius and Laia Codina.

The two other changes come at full-back with Smilla Holmberg coming in for Emily Fox and Taylor Hinds starting instead of Katie McCabe.

Arsenal XI: Borbe, Holmberg, Wubben-Moy, Codina, Hinds, Little, Mariona, Smith, Russo, Kelly, Blackstenius.

Subs: Votikova, van Domselaar, Fox, Mead, McCabe, Pelova, Harwood.

West Ham boss Rita Guarino makes two alterations to the side who drew with Manchester United on Wednesday.

Teenager Leila Wandeler and Yu Endo replace Viviane Asseyi and Ffion Morgan in attack.

West Ham XI: Szemik, Hansen, Nystrom, Cascarino, Tennebo, Zelem, Siren, Belloumou, Morgan, Martinez, Wandeler.

Subs: Walsh, Bose, Zadorsky, Brasero, Morgan, Hanshaw, Houssein, Cemal, Piubel.

Eder Maestre makes three changes to the London City Lionesses team that lost at home to Arsenal last weekend.

Nikita Parris, Kosovare Asllani and Elena Linari are restored to the starting XI, replacing Teyah Goldie, Lucia Corrales and Sanni Franssi.

London City XI: Lete, Pattinson, Sangare, Linani, Fernandez, Geyoro, Marcetto, Parris, Van de Donk, Godfrey, Asllani

Subs: Orman, Goldie, Perez, Corrales, Partido, Franssi, Roddar, Cascarino, Goodwin

Sonia Bompastor makes four alterations to the Chelsea side that started their victory over Brighton in midweek.

Kadeisha Buchanan, Erin Cuthbert, Johanna Kaneryd and Chloe Sarwie come in, with Lauren James, Lucy Bronze, Kiara Walsh and Sandy Baltimore all named on the bench.

Sarwie, 17, makes her first start in Chelsea colours.

Chelsea XI: Hampton, Cuthbert, Buurman, Buchanan, Nusken, Kaptein, Sarwie, Potter, Thompson, Rytting Kaneryd, Beever-Jones

Subs: Peng, Spencer, James, Girma, Baltimore, Bronze, Walsh, Storey, Shooter

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Joie Stadium

Andree Jeglertz has named the same Manchester City team who were held to a goalless draw at Aston Villa.

Key players Lauren Hemp, Khadija Shaw and Vivianne Miedema all start, while Alex Greenwood captains the side.

Their Japanese trio of Aoba Fujino, Yui Hasegawa and Ayaka Yamashita are all absent having been crowned Asian Cup champions this morning.

Manchester City XI: Keating, Rose, Knaak, Greenwood, Casparij, Blindkilde Brown, Coffey, Hemp, Kerolin, Miedema, Shaw.

Subs: Cumings, Coombs, Ouahabi, Lohmann, Beney, Prior, Oyama, Murphy, Adedini.

There are three changes for Tottenham from last weekend's defeat by Everton.

Josefine Rybrink, Lenna Gunning-Williams and Evelina Summanen have all dropped to the bench.

Amanda Nilden returns from suspension, while Drew Spence and Bethany England also come into the starting XI.

Tottenham XI: Kop, Bartrip, Nilden, Gaupset, England, Holdt, Vinberg, Tandberg, Wijk, Spence, Blakstad.

Subs: Heeps, Jackson, Grant, Rybrink, Ahtinen, Summanen, Dennis, Nilden, Gunning-Williams.

Let's start off by getting some team news...

Four games today all kicking off at midday...

• Man City v Tottenham
• Man Utd v Everton
• London City v Chelsea
• Arsenal v West Ham

The sun is shining and Spring is well and truly here. That can only mean one thing - we're into the business end of the season.

We've got an action-packed weekend in the Women's Super League coming up and there's still plenty to play for.

Can Manchester City afford another slip up? Is European football out of reach for Arsenal and Spurs? And can Leicester give themselves a fighting chance to avoid the relegation play-off spot?

We'll find out very soon. Let's get into it...

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