The Blues are currently occupying top spot in Group A, having collected 10 points from four games and need to avoid defeat at Loro Borici Stadium to seal a place in the quarter-finals.
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Chelsea Women will attempt to secure a place in the knockout round of UEFA Women’s Champions League when they travel to Albania to take on Vllaznia Women on Friday. The Blues are currently occupying top spot in Group A, having collected 10 points from four games and need to avoid defeat at Loro Borici Stadium to seal a place in the quarter-finals. The hosts, meanwhile, have already been eliminated, having lost all of their four group-matches thus far. Vllaznia are heading into the match on the back of a dominant 3-0 win over KF Tirana in an Albanian Women’s National Championship fixture on Sunday, while Chelsea defeated Reading 3-2 in a Women’s Super League game on the same day.
Attention switches back to the #UWCL. 👊 pic.twitter.com/vCZMtV09xq
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) December 14, 2022
Vllaznia have found it tough to compete against the elite group in Europe, having conceded 19 goals in four outings, while scoring none. The Albanian outfit will be hoping to avoid exiting the competition without scoring a goal or picking up a point. Meanwhile, Chelsea have won three of their four group-matches. The Blues started off their group stage campaign with three successive wins against PSG (1-0), Vllaznia (8-0) and Real Madrid (2-0), before sharing the spoils against the Los Blancos in the reverse fixture last week. In their most recent outing, the English outfit got the better of Reading Women in a domestic league fixture, courtesy of Fran Kirby’s strike and a Jelena Cankovic brace.
Vllaznia forward Maria Baska came off the bench to impress against PSG last week, therefore the 22-year-old might earn a place in the starting eleven on Friday. Matilda Gjergi and Sara Maliqi could partner in the central defence. As for Chelsea, Melanie Leupolz is currently unavailable due to maternity leave. Head coach Emma Hayes is likely to rotate the squad in order to give some game time to the youngsters.
Vllaznia Women probable starting lineup: Williams-Mosier, Popovic, Gjergji, Maliqi, Gjini, Ramadani, Berisha, franja, Baska, Doci, Shala
Chelsea Women probable starting lineup: Berger, Carter, Buchanan, Bright, Charles, Cuthbert, Ingle, Fleming, James, Reiten, Kerr
Vllaznia Women
| Opponents | Score |
| KF Tirana | 0-3 (W) |
| PSG W | 0-4 (L) |
| Apolonia | 5-0 (W) |
| Kinostudio | 0-7 (W) |
| PSG W | 5-0 (L) |
Chelsea Women
| Opponents | Score |
| Reading W | 3-2 (W) |
| Real Madrid W | 1-1 (D) |
| Leicester W | 0-8 (W) |
| Real Madrid W | 2-0 (W) |
| Tottenham W | 3-0 (W) |
| Last match | Score |
| Chelsea women beat Vllaznia Women | 8-0 |
The UEFA Women’s Champions League match between Vllaznia Women and Chelsea Women will take place at Lord Borici Stadium on Friday at 11:15 pm IST.
| Vllaznia Women vs Chelsea Women | Key Details |
| Date | December 16 |
| Venue | Lord Borici Stadium |
| Kickoff time in UK | 5:45 pm |
| Kickoff time in Albania | 6:45 pm |
Live telecast of the match will be available on DAZN network.
