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• Chelsea quartet left at home as Bompastor rotates squad for Celtic clash

  Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has said that they will be without four key players ahead of their Champions League game away to Celtic on Wednesday.

  Bompastor confirmed that Millie Bright, Mayra Ramirez, Sjoeke Nusken and Kadeisha Buchanan have not travelled to Scotland for their encounter at Celtic Park.

  The Blues know a victory will seal their progression to the knockout stages, though have decided to rest a few of their key players during a hectic fixture schedule. 

  Their trip to Scotland will be the second of three matches inside seven days in all competitions for Bompastor's side and, as a result, she has decided to rotate her squad.

  "The squad is in a good place and we have a good dynamic and we are full of confidence," she told a press conference

  "We have been playing a lot of games and this week we play three games so it’s important to manage players as individuals.

  “We have some players who didn’t travel for this game. Kadeisha Buchanan, Millie Bright, Sjoeke Nusken and Mayra Ramirez didn’t travel."

  Chelsea come into the game with a 100% record in all competitions under Bompastor, including two wins from two against Real Madrid and Twente in the Champions League.

  And they will be confident of maintaining their perfect run, having lost just one of their previous 20 group stage matches in the competition (W14 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 14 (W11 D3). 

  “As you know, Chelsea have a good squad with quality and a good team will start the game and be competitive because we want to finish first in this group," she said.

  Their early-season form has them second in the Women's Super League and top of their Champions League group, at least three points ahead of any other team.

  Despite resting players, Bompastor reassured people that it was Chelsea's ambition to fight on all fronts.

  “The Champions League is important and we have ambition and we want to make sure we finish first in the group," she said.

  “We have ambitions and if we want to go for all the competitions then you need to beat every team.

  “It will start again in March and that’s when the really important games start, but right now we are focused on the group stage.”

• Cushing confirms NYCFC stay after links to vacant Arsenal role

  New York City FC boss Nick Cushing rubbished rumours linking him with the vacant head coach position with Arsenal women, confirming he would remain in the MLS next season.

  Cushing previously spent seven years in charge of Manchester City in the Women's Super League between 2013 and 2020 and has been touted for a return to England with the Gunners after Jonas Eidevall's dismissal last month.

  Despite the rumours circulating around his future after leading NYCFC into the postseason, Cushing was quick to deny reports, saying: "I can confirm that I will be back here next year."

  The Pigeons travel to the TQL Stadium to face FC Cincinnati this weekend in an encounter that will decide who will advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals in the MLS playoffs.

  Cushing encouraged his players to play their football and dig deep in their pursuit of a victory, adding his side can harness the momentum generated from their 3-1 win in Game 2.

  "It's about trying to show our players how much our fans enjoy seeing that type of performance from our players," he said. "Not just the good football and the goals, but the guts and the fight and the desire to ensure that we are the team that goes through the next game right.

  "The performance at Citi Field had everything. Not only did we play well and create chances, but the running numbers were excellent, as was the desire to make sure that we didn't give the second goal away.”

  "We've got to make sure that we play the football that our fans deserve and that we know we can play, and in the difficult moments, you have to dig deep. We know who we are now. We've just got to make sure that we go prepared, and we deliver everything that we've got.”

  Pat Noonan, meanwhile, noted that his side were unable to create clear-cut opportunities against NYCFC, which resulted in defeat last time out.

  The Orange and Blue scored 58 goals in the regular season, with only the four sides who finished above them in the East netting more.

  But despite their defeat in Game 2, Noonan is confident that his players will respond in their deciding fixture, not wanting to end their season just yet.

  "We've created enough chances. These are playoff games. You're not going to score three, four, five goals a game. So sometimes one goal is going to have to be enough like we saw last week," Noonan said.

  "I don't expect us to score at ease. That's just not how these games are played. But it was going to take a little bit more, and we just didn't finish some of those moments when it was 2-1 to level it in a better way or in a good enough way.

  "I could see it in the locker room. The guys are going to move on from this pretty quickly. For a team that just lost a game, I think they recognise the good and the bad of the game to know they should feel confident going into Game 3.

  "So at the moment, I don't think I need to say too much. I think they understand, and we'll just have good conversations about this game and what we think needs to improve when we go back home."

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  FC Cincinnati – Luca Orellano

  Orellano scored Cincinnati's only goal in their Game 2 defeat to the Pigeons, notching his 13th goal in all competitions this term.

  He is the seventh different player to score Cincinnati's last seven playoff goals dating back to last season's first round. Four of those seven scorers hail from Argentina.

  NYCFC – Alonso Martinez

  Martinez found the back of the net against Cincinnati in NYCFC's 3-1 win in Game 2, taking his tally to two goals in five appearances against the Orange and Blue.

  Along with Santiago Rodriguez, either Martinez (nine) or his Uruguayan team-mate (five) have scored 14 of NYCFC's 21 goals in the regular season and playoffs since MLS returned from the Leagues Cup break in August.

  MATCH PREDICTION: FC CINCINNATI WIN

  Cincinnati's 3-1 defeat in Game 2 was the fifth time they conceded multiple goals in their last seven matches dating back to the end of the regular season.

  They are winless when allowing multiple goals in that time (D1 L4) while winning both matches in which they held their opponent under two goals.

  NYCFC have won only one of their last 14 away matches in all competitions dating back to late May (D6 L7). Overall, they have won just five out of 40 away matches in all competitions since the start of last season (D15 L20).

  The Pigeons' win over Cincinnati last Saturday was their second win of the season over Noonan's side, both coming at home. Cincinnati have won their last five home matches against NYCFC in all competitions, though, including a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  FC Cincinnati – 50%

  Draw – 25.3%

  NYCFC – 24.7%

• Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Nassr: Mane hands visitors bragging rights

  Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.

  He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.

  Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.

  Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.

  The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.

  Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.

  Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr

  After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points. 

  It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.

  They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.

  This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout.