Chelsea v Liverpool: Women’s Super League – live

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Preamble

Morning everyone. Welcome to what on the face of it looks like a routine home win for Chelsea. Emma Hayes’s side played like the champions they are at Arsenal last week, absorbing pressure and showing their clinical steak in snaffling up a late chance, through Sam Kerr, to grab a draw that kept their rivals at bay. Liverpool, on the other hand, suffered a chastening 6-0 shellacking at Manchester United.

But Liverpool stunned Chelsea 2-1 on the opening weekend of the season – still the Blues’ only defeat of the campaign – and have been busy in the transfer market again this week, signing the midfielder Miri Taylor from Angel FC of the NWSL. The influential forward Katie Stengel could also be back and their manager, Matt Beard, has been trilling about the Reds’ “positive week in training”. A reaction is due, and this should be worth watching, certainly more so than the dreary draw between these clubs’ men’s teams yesterday.

Later today, in-form second-placed Manchester United visit Reading – Suzanne Wrack has written about how Marc Skinner’s side have closed the gap with the established big three here – and Arsenal travel to Brighton this evening. While yesterday, Aston Villa impressed again when they held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw, a further sign that challengers to the elite are closing the gap a tad.

There was a pitch inspection at 9.30am in the light of the brutal overnight frost, but the surface passed muster and it’s game on.

Kick-off at Kingsmeadow: 12.30pm GMT.