Manchester United vs Chelsea LIVE: WSL latest after early Ramirez goal plus Aston Villa vs Man City updates

Well, they simply couldn’t have had a better start, could they? First real attack, Ramirez absolutely bullied Turner there to fire that header in. Title very much in Chelsea’s hands as it stands…but a long, long way to go yet.

United trying to settle and pass the ball around to get themselves back into matters.

Wow, what a start!! A break down the left, an absolutely perfect cross from Reiten and Ramirez is racing in to rise hightest and bury a header past Earps from six yards out – amazing start for Chelsea!

Underway! Almost an error at the back between Riviere and Earps but they get away with it at the back.

MUN – Earps; Riviere, Turner, Le Tissier, Blundell; Naalsund, Zelem; Garcia, Toone, Malard; Williams

CHE – Musovic; Carter, Brighton, Bjorn, Charles; Ryyting Kaneryd, Cuthbert, Leupolz, Reiten; Ramirez, Macaria

Kick-off in just five minutes. All the updates on the way from Old Trafford, plus the latest goals and major notes from Villa vs Man City.

Man United will be hoping for additional investment in the women’s team now that Ineos have completed their buy-in at Old Trafford, perhaps. They’ve won the FA Cup this term but they are way off the pace in the WSL and will almost certainly finish behind Liverpool back in fifth this term.

We are just over 20 minutes from kick-off and the crowd is beginning to build. Emma Hayes and her Chelsea side have been out on the pitch ahead of the match.

Not just Hayes who is off after today – Fran Kirby will be leaving Chelsea at the end of the current Women’s Super League season.

After almost a decade at the club, since joining from Reading in 2015, Kirby has established herself as the club’s top goalscorer in the modern era, under manager Emma Hayes, who will also be leaving at the end of the campaign for arguably the biggest job in women’s football as United States’ women’s team head coach.

She scored 115 goals in 205 appearances for Chelsea, winning six WSL titles, five FA Cups, two league cups and one community shield, as well as the WSL Spring Series.

“If you don’t improve I’m selling you.”

A young Jess Carter is sat in the middle of a white-walled room at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham, a tactics board behind her, a fleet of analysts and fitness staff, all armed with laptops, positioned on the outside, quietly looking in. Carter is chewing gum and looks bored, frustrated to have been hauled aside to hear the same old message. Facing her is Emma Hayes.

“I want you to show every f***ing day that you give a f*** about yourself,” Hayes says. “It’s up to you to decide your future.”

Four years later, it is clear what future Carter decided to choose.

Now 26, the Chelsea defender is an established England international, having just played a key role in the Lionesses reaching the World Cup final last summer. When Carter first arrived at Chelsea, Hayes found a player who struggled to keep herself fit or follow a regimented diet. Chelsea’s fitness staff were exasperated and Carter’s confidence was on the floor: she did not think she was good enough to play for her country, but Hayes saw and believed in her potential and, crucially, how it could be brought out.

The first Fifa Women’s Club World Cup could be introduced from 2026, and be held every four years.

It has been proposed that the first edition of the tournament would feature 16 teams, in contrast to the new men’s version, which will feature 32 from 2025.

The first tournament has been proposed for January to February 2026, in the middle of the European domestic season, but before the NWSL, which started in March this year.