Manchester United have a full squad available for selection, bar Jayde Riviere, to attack Chelsea on Sunday afternoon in an all-out brawl to secure the Women's Super League top spot.
United currently sit one point ahead of Chelsea at the top of the table as manager Marc Skinner believes there has been "immense growth" since the sides last met, with a possible nod towards his January signing of Lisa Naalsund.
The Norwegian star is yet to make her United debut however she could make her mark at the weekend to help bolster the Reds' chances to stay ahead of title defenders Chelsea at Kingsmeadow.
The midfielder is likely to slot into the central triangle among Katie Zelem, Hayley Ladd and Ella Toone however that would force a formation rotation from the usual 4-2-3-1 and why fix something that isn’t broken?
The January newcomer is everything Skinner hoped she would be in passing comments: “Her mentality, box-to-box driving runs and desire to win will continue to add a variance of skill and quality to the team.”
The problem is, the Blues squad depth is unparalleled and have profound flexibility regarding their starting line-up, often switching from a back three to a back four. And while they opted for a 3-4-3 last time out against United, they reshaped into a 4-1-4-1 against Brighton mid-week to bring home a 3-1 win.
United value consistency and it works. It’s abundantly clear that Skinner has played the same backline week-in-week-out and thus, have conceded the least goals in the league to date. He said: “We build our attack from a strong defence." So surely a willingness to mix it up higher up the field is a possibility,
Captain Zelem, Ladd and Toone have all performed valiantly for Skinner and bring their own qualities. All three are international quality and have featured in all 14 league games of this campaign, albeit Ladd has started two games fewer.
However, Ladd offers the box-to-box quality that Skinner praises Naalsund for. The Wales international always makes herself available for the ball and while often playing in a number four role, allowing Zelem and Toone to progress into the attack.
Zelem and Toone do also get back and defend, and even Alessia Russo drops deep to help her fellow teammates, but with only one goal last season for SK Brann, is the 27-year-old ready to make her debut on English soil occupying a more attacking role?
Then again, she scored 13 for the same club from 2019 to 2022 and 33 goals in 139 appearances for Arna-Bjornar in the Toppserien, so she is capable.
Would you bench your captain, who is a top set-piece deliverer on top of quality small, quick-touch play to get out of trouble in the middle of the park, spraying the ball out wide for a counter-attack.
Or is it Toone who gets time out? With three goals and seven assists to her name this season, the 23-year-old works tirelessly all over the field to create opportunities. She is a player who delivers in big games and is so comfortable on the ball that would really put Chelsea under pressure in the final third.
So, who’s it going to be?
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