Matildas Abroad Preview: NWSL title race heats up; Aussies go head-to-head in England and Sweden

The Barclays Women's Super League continues with some history-making crowds set to watch our Matildas Abroad in England, while the title races heat up in the NWSL with two games left.

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England

Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley's Arsenal will be aiming to make it two wins to start the season when they host Kyah Simon's Tottenham Hotspur, with 50,000 tickets sold for the North London Derby at Emirates Stadium. 

The Gunners kick-started their season with a dominant 4-0 display of Brighton, while the Spurs also started their season with a 2-1 win over Leicester City. 


When the two sides met late last season, an enthralling 3-0 win for Arsenal saw Foord find the back of the net twice at the same stadium that will host this weekend's fixture. 

This game will kick off on Saturday night at 10:30 pm AEST.   

Meanwhile, Emily Gielnik's Aston Villa will come into their second game of the season filled with confidence after beating Manchester City for the very first time to open their season last weekend. 

The Villans will travel to Leicester to take on The Foxes, with Leciester just managing to hold on to their place in the WSL last season, finishing the season just two points shy of relegation back to the Championship. 

Gielnik came off the bench for Carla Ward's side last weekend, with a narrow 4-3 win over Manchester City kickstarting their season. 

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 12:00 am AEST.   

Meanwhile, Mackenzie Arnold's West Ham United will be aiming to make it two wins to open the season when they host Manchester United. 


The Hammers started their season with a 1-0 win over Everton, with Lisa Evans finding the matchwinner. A familiar face will be lining up for the opposition, with Canadian international Adriana Leon making the move from West Ham to Manchester United in the off-season. 

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 12:00 am AEST.   

Moving back to London, Sam Kerr's Chelsea will host Alanna Kennedy, Hayley Raso and Mary Fowler's Manchester City with both teams aiming to bounce back from opening round defeats when they face off at Kingsmeadow.

Chelsea started their title defence in less than ideal circumstances, going down 2-1 to newly promoted Liverpool. While City tussled with Aston Villa in a 4-3 loss. 


Both sides faced off in last season's Women's FA Cup Final and the Conti Cup Final, with each side claiming a piece of silverware, and if these games were anything to go by this game will be an interesting one for the neutral Australian fans. 

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 1:00 am AEST.   

Lastly, Clare Wheeler could be set to make her debut for Everton in the Merseyside derby, when the Toffees take on their rivals Liverpool. 

Wheeler was not named in the matchday squad for her new side last weekend, with Everton facing a narrow 1-0 loss to West Ham in their opening fixture. 

Meanwhile, their opposition will come into the game filled with confidence after beating the reigning WSL Champions 2-1 in their opening game against Chelsea. 


A blow for Liverpool throughout the week saw their top scorer Leanne Kiernan announce that she will require surgery and is set to miss several games, with the Republic of Ireland international leaving the game injured in their clash with the Blues. 

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 3:45 am AEST.   

USA

Moving over to the USA, Chloe Logarzo could look to make her return for Kansas City when they host the Aussie's former team and reigning NWSL Champions, the Washington Spirit.

Kansas only has two games remaining in the season and will be eager to book their spot for the playoffs for the very first time in their franchise history this weekend. 


With the top of the table being so closely contested towards the end of the regular season, Kansas will clinch a playoff spot if Angel City losses against Racing and the North Carolina Courage loss or tie with Gotham. 

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 7:00 am AEST.   

Meanwhile, Emily Van Egmond will also be facing her former side when San Diego Wave travel to the East Coast to take on the Orlando Pride.

The Wave is aiming to book their spot in the playoffs in their inaugural season, with the race to see which team will claim the NWSL shield still up to six teams. 


Van Egmond played the full game in Wave's history-making 1-0 win over Angel City last weekend, with San Diego moving to second on the ladder after the round, just one point behind the Portland Thorns. 

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 9:00 am AEST.   

Lastly, Alex Chidiac's Racing Louisville is looking to close out their final two games of the season on a high when they take on Angel City.

Racing is currently on a four-game winless run, beaten in a midweek clash against the Thorns 3-0 where Chidiac started the game. 

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 10:00 am AEST.   

France

Next up, Lydia Williams' Paris Saint-Germain will be aiming to make it three wins in a row when they host FC Fleury 91.


Williams made her D1 debut last weekend for PSG, keeping a clean sheet in their 4-0 win over Rodez AF. 

Fleury currently sits in fourth, with one win and one draw so far in the season. This game will kick off on Sunday night at 8:45 pm AEST.   

Sweden

Moving over to Sweden, Aivi Luik's BK Häcken look to bounce back from their narrow UWCL loss through the week when they host IF Brommapojkarna.

Bromm were held to a 1-1 last weekend, while Luik helped her side to a 2-1 win over Eskilstuna United DFF.

This game will kick off on Saturday night at 11:00 pm AEST.   

Meanwhile, Teagan Micah's FC Rosengård will host Clare Polkinghorne, Katrina Gorry and Charli Grant's Vittsjö GIK.

Vittsjö will be aiming to bounce back from their narrow loss to second-place Linköpings FC last weekend, while FC Rosengård recorded a dominant 6-2 win against IFK Kalmar.

This game will kick off on Sunday morning at 12:00 am AEST.   

Lastly, Elise Kellond-Knight, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Courtney Nevin's fifth-place Hammarby take on second-place Linköpings FC in a midweek fixture. 

Hammarby has had quite a busy schedule as of late, beating IFK Norrköping in the third round of the Swedish Cup 1-0 with all three Aussies appearing in the game. 

 

However, in the league, Hammarby comes into this game against Linköpings off the back of a 3-1 loss. 

This game will kick off on Tuesday morning at 3:00 am AEST.