🏏 Sun, 28 Sep 2025 14:30 BST
West Ham Women
vs
Chelsea Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- West Ham hand the No.9 shirt to Riko Ueki, and the 26-year-old Japan international starts through the middle. A graduate of Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza, she scored four goals at the U-17 World Cup, five more at the U-20 World Cup on the way to the title, and finished as Japan's leading scorer at the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup. Waiting for her is a formidable pairing: Millie Bright, the 178cm WSL all-time appearance record holder, and Sweden's aerially dominant Nathalie Björn.
- There is a Japanese subplot running through both squads. West Ham's Yu Endo, a 27-year-old right-back, spent 15 years and 171 matches at Urawa Reds, collecting back-to-back WE League and AFC Women's Champions League titles. Chelsea counter with Maika Hamano, the 21-year-old right winger who swept both the Golden Ball and the Silver Boot at the U-20 World Cup after coming through Cerezo Osaka Sakai and INAC Kobe Leonessa.
- The deepest midfield duel pits two very different technicians against each other. Chelsea's Keira Walsh, 28, is an England defensive midfielder who arrived via Manchester City and Barcelona, prized for her control of tempo and the accuracy of her long passing. Opposite her is 33-year-old Katrina Gorry, West Ham's captain, an Australia international with more than 100 caps and the 2014 AFC Women's Player of the Year, whose 155cm frame belies her relentless ball-winning.
- Chelsea will try to suffocate the hosts with sheer legs. Erin Cuthbert, the 27-year-old Scotland midfielder who joined the club at 18 from Glasgow City, and 20-year-old Netherlands international Wieke Kaptein, signed from FC Twente, both thrive on pressing intensity. The player tasked with playing through it is Oona Siren, a Finland international who won two national championships and a domestic cup at KuPS before moving to London.
- West Ham's attack blends veteran know-how with raw pace. On the left, 31-year-old Viviane Asseyi has more than 60 France caps and a career that took in Montpellier, Marseille and Bayern Munich before she was voted Hammer of the Year for 2024-25. Algeria's Ines Belloumou works the opposite flank, while Ffion Morgan, a senior Wales debutante at 17 and now past 50 caps, operates centrally. Getting in behind a young Chelsea back line that includes 19-year-old Dutch centre-back Veerle Buurman, signed from PSV, is the obvious route.
- Chelsea's creative fulcrum is Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, a former Swedish Women's Player of the Year. The 28-year-old is a left-footed right winger who loves to cut inside and shoot, and she is joined up front by academy graduate Aggie Beever-Jones, Chelsea's leading WSL scorer in 2024-25. West Ham answer with Shelina Zadorsky, the Canada international who won bronze at Rio 2016 and gold at Tokyo 2020, alongside Eva Nyström, a centre-back with more than 100 appearances for Hammarby.
- The goalkeeping contest is worth watching in its own right. Chelsea's Hannah Hampton, 24, is England's first choice after spells at Birmingham City and Aston Villa, and is known for sharp reflexes, one-on-one saves and command of her box at set-pieces. West Ham's Kinga Szemik, a 28-year-old Poland No.1, kept the clean sheet in the Euro 2025 qualifying play-off that carried her country to a first-ever major tournament, and has a reputation for stopping penalties.
- There is a Matildas reunion on offer too. Gorry captains West Ham, while Chelsea's bench holds Australia's own national team captain, 32-year-old striker Sam Kerr, and Ellie Carpenter, the 25-year-old right-back who won the Champions League at Lyon before joining Chelsea in the summer of 2025. Teammates for their country, they line up on opposite sides here.
- The benches offer contrasting late-game weapons. Beyond Kerr, Chelsea can introduce Catarina Macário, the Brazilian-born United States attacking midfielder who lifted the Champions League with Lyon, and France winger Sandy Baltimore, a PSG academy product who debuted at 16. West Ham reply with 19-year-old Swiss forward Leila Wandeler, schooled at Lyon, Seraina Piubel, a four-time Swiss champion with FC Zürich, and Germany's Shekiera Martinez, who was top scorer at the 2018 U-17 European Championship with nine goals.