Liverpool Women vs. Chelsea FC Women, FA WSL: Preview, team news, how to watch

At first glance this match looks like a tsunami versus a puddle. Unlike their high-flying men’s team, Liverpool are at the very bottom of the Women’s Super League table with no wins, two draws and seven losses, and have only two goals scored. It’s mid-December. Meanwhile, unlike our stuttering men’s team, only an assumed three points from the postponed match versus Everton are keeping the Blues from officially topping the table. We’ve allowed just four goals, and scored twenty. Again, it’s mid-December.

But a closer inspection suggests this match might be a bit more frustrating. Liverpool have, shockingly, been quite stout defensively. They have only allowed eleven goals, the same amount as sixth-place Spurs. To put this in greater perspective, the team above them, Bristol City, have allowed THIRTY. They’ve also lost just 1-0 each to the two other best teams in the league, Arsenal and Manchester City.

So Chelsea must be heavy favorites, but that shouldn’t necessarily suggest a romp. Three points is all that matters, and if we must trade gifting another moral victory for a 1-0 scoreline, then so be it.

Now that I’ve successfully laid my reverse psychology trap, we wait...

Date / Time: Sunday, December 15, 2019; 2:00pm GMT; 9:00am EST; 7:30pm IST
Venue: Prenton Park, Birkenhead, Merseyside
Forecast: Partly Cloudy, 43°F/6°C

How to watch: The FA Player is the only thing you need to watch every WSL match for free — yes, FREE — barring any applicable local broadcast rights. Did I mention is free? Sign up on the FA Player website, bookmark the site, save Chelsea Women FC’s fixture schedule, and keep checking WAGNH.

Chelsea team news: This is the final match of the year for Chelsea Women, who get a bit of a break until a January 5 matchup with Reading. This also means that this should be the last match we see without our new signing Sam Kerr.

This week the Blues also signed Scotland star, 19-year-old Jamie-Lee Napier, who earned the honor of 2019 Scottish Women’s Player of the Year after netting 22 goals in 33 matches.

As good as this team has been this season, we are about to get a whole lot better.

Liverpool team news: Liverpool haven’t cared as much about their women’s team as they should. There’s a solid defense here — led by former Chelsea and Arsenal defender Niamh Fahey — and a decent midfield — including former Chelsea and Arsenal prospect Jade Bailey — but their attack is plain woeful. That they’ve scored two league goals all season is a bit flattering even, as one was a penalty.

They’re relying on young attackers to grow into something special, and so far that gamble has been exposed as nothing more than a crossing of the fingers — which really shouldn’t fly at any top-flight club, let alone this one. If there was any hope to hang onto, it happened in their previous match, a 3-1 FA WSL Cup win over Durham that featured a brace from 21-year-old Rinsola Babajide, and a goal from 20-year-old Niamh Charles. Durham, however, are a second division club.

Previously: In March of this year we met Liverpool at their place and walked out with a 4-0 win. Fran Kirby got a hat-trick and Adelina Engman added another goal in stoppage time.

Sauce Moment of the Week: When we played Liverpool in 2018, defender Magdalena Ericsson pulled out this filthy bit of sauce. A right foot touch to a left-footed overhead volley.