Chelsea vs Manchester City LIVE: Women’s League Cup final latest team news and line-ups

Manchester City sprung a huge surprise on Monday by sacking Gareth Taylor five days before the League Cup final.

Taylor had been in charge of City for five years, winning the League Cup in 2022, but managing director Charlotte O’Neill said results had not been good enough this season with the team only in fourth in the WSL.

“Unfortunately, results this season have so far not reached this high standard. With six games of the WSL campaign remaining, we believe that a change of management will breathe fresh life into our bid to ensure qualification for the 2025/26 Women’s Champions League,” a statement said.

Chelsea and Manchester City should be sick of the sight of each other by the end of the month: today’s League Cup final is the first of four meetings between the teams in just 12 days .

Chelsea have a fairly healthy lead in the WSL, while Man City are scrapping to make the top three, but the Champions League quarter-finals loom large.

The Blues are of course desperate to progress and win that competition: will be interesting to see how both managers rotate their squads throughout the fortnight.

The four matches in 12 days

15/03: Chelsea vs Manchester City | Women’s League Cup final

19/03: Manchester City vs Chelsea | Champions League QF first leg

23/03: Manchester City vs Chelsea | Women’s Super League

27/03: Chelsea vs Manchester City | Champions League QF second leg

Chelsea XI: Hampton; Bronze, Bjorn, Bright, Baltimore; Cuthbert, Kaptein, Nusken; Rytting-Kaneryd, Ramirez, James

Manchester City XI: Yamashita; Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri, Ouahabi; Hasegawa, Roord, Miedema; Park, Shaw, Fowler

Manchester CIty are still without long-term absentees Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp. Aoba Fujino has been passed fit but Rebecca Knaak is out.

Chelsea have several key absences with January signings Keira Walsh and Naomi Girman unavailable – while forward Guro Reiten has also been ruled out.

Mia Fischel is nearing a return after returning to the bench in the win over Crystal Palace but Sam Kerr and Kadeisha Buchanan are long-term absentees.

It will be shown live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with coverage starting from 11:45pm on Saturday 15 March. Kick-off at Pride Park is at 12:15pm.

Chelsea face Manchester City in the Women’s League Cup final as the first silverware of the season is decided at Derby’s Pride Park.

Chelsea have been runners-up in the last three League Cup finals in a row but have the chance to win their first trophy under Sonia Bompastor.

The Women’s League Cup final also kicks off a run of four meetings in 12 days between Chelsea and City. .

The teams are also facing each other in the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals and with a WSL clash scheduled in between.