Key events
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has said in the build-up: “Every game is a must-win game for us. That is our mentality. We were disappointed with our performance last week. We worked on that, trained really well, played well at the weekend. This place will be rocking tomorrow night. This is going to be a difficult place to play. We are playing an opponent who are very confident in what they’re doing. They’ve had an amazing year, especially in the Champions League, and we have to deal with all of those challenges. But we have to be ready to perform.”
The earlier kick-offs have finished and there is a huge result for Ajax as they have seen out their 1-0 scoreline to take all three points. In Italy Roma lost 3-1 to PSG, the match included a goal from Katoto who has returned from her ACL injury she sustained at the Euros.
Have you been listening to our weekly women’s football podcast? It has great insight into the game with superb analysis. This week’s delves into Tottenham’s north London derby win over Arsenal, listen here:
As Christmas is coming up I thought a pun-off would be a good idea. Send me your best Christmas come football puns via email or X and I’ll pop them on the blog. I’ll decide my favourite after full-time.
If you want a recap of all the action that took place when Chelsea and Häcken met last week, have a read of the report:
Ajax v Bayern Munich currently stands at 1-0 to the hosts, while PSG are beating Roma 2-0. I will let you know the full-time scores when those games concluded in around 20 minutes.
There are three other Women’s Champions League fixtures happening today. Ajax v Bayern Munich and Roma v PSG kicked off at 5.45pm GMT and I will be bringing you all the updates from those games shortly. The other match, Real Madrid v Paris FC, starts at 8pm GMT and it’s a crucial game for the Spanish side – if they lose they will risk their progress to the knock-out phase as they are currently bottom of their group
The team news is in. Häcken have made two changes to the team who played Chelsea a week ago with Jusu Bah and Curmark coming in.
Häcken: Falk, Kosola, Rybrink, Luik, Junttila-Nelhage, Curmark, Sorensen, Anvegard, Kafaji, Jusu Bah, Larisey
Chelsea, meanwhile, have also made two changes from last week with Lawrence and James starting.
Chelsea: Musovic, Lawrence, Buchanan, Carter, Charles, Cuthbert, Ingle, Kaneryd, James, Reiten, Kerr.
Preamble
Good evening and welcome back to the Women’s Champions League. Tonight Häcken welcome Chelsea in the reverse fixture of their European encounter last week.
At Stamford Bridge, Häcken frustrated Chelsea as the Blues had 23 shots but the match ended 0-0. The result meant the Swedish side remained top of the group and unbeaten in the competition but Emma Hayes’ team will be hoping to end 2023 on a high.
Chelsea changed their fortunes last weekend with a 3-0 win over Bristol City in the Women’s Super League after the draw against Häcken and a 4-1 loss to Arsenal in the league. They will be looking to come away with all three points but their opponents are difficult to break down.
Häcken also have extra motivation to win this game, if they come away with all three points they will be through to the knock-outs.
Before we delve more into the build-up to the fixture, which kicks off at 8pm GMT, let’s take a look at the team news.
