West Ham United FCW vs. Chelsea FCW, Conti Cup: Preview, team news, how to watch

Maybe? Possibly? Could it be? May we see Chelsea FCW on the pitch for the first time in over a month?

After three consecutive postponements of league matches, we are scheduled to face West Ham in the Continental Cup (League Cup) quarterfinal.

Nobody move, nobody do anything that might unsettle the universe. Don’t even breathe! We’ll all know if you did, so don’t!

Date / Time: Saturday, December 11, 2021, 19.30 GMT; 2:30pm EST; 1:00am IST (next day)
Venue: Chigwell Construction Stadium, Dagenham, UK
Forecast: Cloudy; 42°F/6°C
How to watch: 5th Stand App or the official Chelsea website

Chelsea team news: We haven’t had much clarity on Chelsea’s COVID and injury situation, and that’s mostly because we haven’t been close enough to the playing of a match to warrant an injury update. But now we are, so it’s warranted, and it’s significant.

The standout is midfielder Melanie Leupolz struggling with long COVID. We hope she is able to recover to full health, and soon.

In addition, the start of the Asian Cup means forward Sam Kerr and midfielder Ji So-yun are away with their respective national teams, while Magdalena Eriksson, Lauren James, and Maren Mjelde are injured or unfit.

West Ham United: The Hammers’ 2022 return to the pitch was delayed by multiple positive cases as well, but they were able to play Spurs in the WSL over the weekend and score a stoppage time equalizer. Manager Ollie Harder wasn’t feeling rosy about escaping with a point against the third place team in the league, calling his team’s performance “awful”.

Previously: Chelsea’s first postponed league match was what was meant to be the final domestic tie of 2021, so we have to go back to last season for a previous matchup. The Blues won a tough match against the Hammers via a first half goal from Sam Kerr and a second half strike from Bethany England (assisted by Kerr).