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10 min: Huge chance for Chelsea! A great ball is threaded to Rytting Kaneryd, who bursts down the right before a cutback for Kerr. The forward can’t quite connect with it properly and her shot is blocked. The scramble in the box continues as St Pölten try to get as many bodies behind the ball and they eventually clear.
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7 min: St Pölten finally have some possession and Peneau opts to go long to relieve some pressure, aiming for Emore, but Girma is there to prevent a threatening counterattack.
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6 min: Thompson picks up the ball after it is given away cheaply and Micario then has her shot blocked.
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4 min: Carpenter’s low cross heads towards goal but Schlüter covers the tight angle and a few cheers from the supporters ring out.
Micario then attempts a similar ball and Klein flicks the ball away. It goes up and over her but hits the crossbar.
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3 min: Ollivier tries to get past Bronze, who is at centre-back, but instead commits a foul.
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1 min: An early tame shot from Kaptein that Schlüter easily collects. St Pölten immediately set up in two banks of five out of possession.
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Kick-off: St Pölten 0-0 Chelsea
Here we go! Chelsea get us underway in the cream shirts and green shorts while the hosts don their all-blue kit.
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The Champions League anthem has been played out and the players are doing their final warmups. We are moments away from the start here in Austria.
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The pre-match postbag is here. Peter gets in touch:
The population of Sankt Pölten – 60,000 – is less than one-third of Hammersmith and Fulham’s. The London giants are the overwhelming favourites but the Wölfinnen (She-Wolves) aren’t gonna go down without a howling fight.
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St Pölten’s head coach, Laurent Fassotte, was appointed on 23 October, replacing Lisa Alzner, and this match against Chelsea will only be his third in charge. St Pölten have won the Austrian title 10 times in the last decade but are on a dip of form, having lost a match in the Austrian Cup on Saturday – their first defeat in the competition since March 2012. Here is what he said in his pre-match press conference.
On Chelsea:
We know that Chelsea are a very experienced team with speed, pace and individual quality. It will be a difficult task, but we will fight for 90 minutes.
We have to stay focused and concentrate fully on our task throughout the entire match. Our players need to enjoy these moments when they compete against teams of this calibre.
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Here is what Sonia Bompastor said in her pre-match press conference.
On the possibility of starting a weaker side:
We’re a team that create a lot of opportunities. We can move the ball high up the pitch so then it’s down to finishing them. The players should be confident; they just need to avoid overthinking.
On Peng starting after Hampton picked up an injury against Arsenal:
She hasn’t had a lot of minutes, but she played well in the first game against Twente and she is performing well in every training session.
It is a positive for her to play in the game and we are confident in her. She has a lot of quality and she will be playing. That is what we’re focused on.
And on St Pölten:
They are a well-organised defensive unit, very compact. They don’t allow you much space on the pitch and they are aggressive out of possession, so it’s always difficult to break their lines, to break their block. An early goal would be great; if not, we must stay patient.
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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.
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Team news
St Pölten (5-4-1): 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)
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Updated at 14.59 EST
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.
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