Manchester United are yet to lose a WSL match this season, but many fans are still unhappy with manager Marc Skinner. Despite being unbeaten the reigning FA Cup champions currently sit fifth in the table having dropped points on three occasions so far this campaign. A goalless draw at home to Aston Villa earlier this month left supporters furious - and Skinner’s post-match comments certainly didn’t help the matter. The manager’s suggestion that United are still a “new team” baffled fans and pundits alike, especially considering he is in his fourth season with the club. The discontent with Skinner peaked last season before Manchester United won the FA Cup. If they continue dropping points, the pressure could be on. A win today could be crucial.

This is the only WSL match taking place this weekend. Manchester City and Arsenal both have the weekend off while the remaining top-flight clubs compete in the Continental Cup group stage…

• Durham vs Sheffield United

• Brighton vs Leicester

• Crystal Palace vs Charlton

• London City Lionesses vs West Ham

• Newcastle vs Liverpool

• Portsmouth vs Southampton

• Sunderland vs Blackburn

• Bristol City vs Birmingham

Tottenham faced Aston Villa in Group E yesterday. Eveliina Summanen scored the decisive goal as Spurs clinched a 1-0 win.

I want to hear from you! Feel free to email me with any predictions, thoughts, feelings, plans for the day and all that jazz. Are you braving Storm Bert to head to a match this afternoon? Or will you be watching/reading from the sofa? Let me know!

Manchester United are looking to avenge the 6-0 defeat they suffered to Chelsea at Old Trafford last season. Marc Skinner expects his team to use May’s chastening loss as extra motivation this afternoon. In his pre-match press conference, he said: “The reality is, when we walked off that field, nobody felt good. You can have a choice, can’t you? You can [have] fear from it, or you can do something about it. I think these players have now learnt from that. It’s not about blame, it’s about growth. We have to learn and grow from that game.

“We’ve got to be concentrated, be physically present, mentally present for every one of these minutes. And if we can do that to the best of our ability then we can win the game.”

Elisabeth Terland is also unavailable this afternoon due to a muscular issue. The striker experienced groin tightness against Leicester City last week, Marc Skinner confirmed on Friday. She missed Wednesday’s League Cup match against Everton and is now expected to return after the international break.

Ella Toone is absent from the Manchester United squad today due to a calf injury. The midfielder missed last week’s clash with Leicester and could now remain unavailable until 2025. Marc Skinner said: “We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There’s always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, ‘right, if we can get her back, we get her back’. But we’re just not going to rush her in this moment because it’s a calf injury, it’s your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer. So ideally we’d like her back for those games afterwards. The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that and then we’ll see from there. But because it is such a short block of only three games, we’ll assess whether it’s worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas.”

Team news

Preamble