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Here is a reminder as how Chelsea have fared in the Champions League so far this season.
Sophie Downey’s verdict at Stamford Bridge after four different goalscorers made their mark against Paris FC.
And Suzanne Wrack on their less than ideal start back at the start of October.
Team news
St Pölten (4-4-1): Schlüter; Krizaj, Nagy, Ebert, Klein, Ollivier; Elmore, Peneau, Laino, Gutmann; Brunold.
Subs: Hermsmeier, Vracevic, Aistleitner, Rukavina, Seiro, Woelki, Matavkova.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Peng; Carpenter, Bronze, Girma, Baltimore; Kaptein, Walsh, Macario; Rytting Kaneryd, Thompson, Kerr.
Subs: Spencer, Bright, Buurman, Nüsken, Cuthbert, James, Björn, Charles, Hamano, Jean-François, Potter.
An expected weakened side for the visitors. It will be interesting to see how the midfield three of Wieke Kaptein, Keira Walsh and Catarina Macario operate.
Sam Kerr gets her first start for Chelsea since her injury in 2023 while Naomi Girma will get her first minutes of the season. Lauren James is also back in the squad after returning to training this week and makes the bench.
Referee: Franziska Wildfeuer (Germany)
Preamble
Chelsea are back in Women’s Champions League action and will be hoping to continue their strong run of form against St Pölten, the Austrian side yet to pick up a point in the competition.
Sonia Bompastor’s side started the league phase with a disappointing draw against Twente but made up for it with a 4-0 hammering of Paris FC a month ago.
The WSL champions will hope this is the year they finally end their wait for European glory and they will surely be aiming for one of the four automatic qualification spots for the quarter-final to make that goal easier. As it stands, Chelsea are in a knockout phase playoff position with two points separating them from the top four.
Kick-off is scheduled for 8pm GMT at the NV Arena. Join me for all the updates, and as always, feel free to get in touch with your thoughts, questions and predictions via email.
