Chelsea boss Bompastor not expecting major changes from Manchester City for League Cup final | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor says that she does not expect major changes from Manchester City when the two sides contest the 2024/2025 Subway Women’s League Cup final.

Pride Park in Derby plays host to the showpiece on Saturday afternoon. The game is the first of four consecutive matches to be contested by Chelsea and Manchester City in the coming weeks.

When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Chelsea boss Bompastor highlighted the importance of getting an advantage over Manchester City at the first opportunity.

“The game is an opportunity for the club to grab our first trophy [of the season] and that is the main focus for us,” Bompastor said.

“Playing Manchester City four times in 12 days, the first game is really important. I will take it game-by-game but in terms of results and the mental aspect, it’s important to win on Saturday.”

Manchester City sacked head coach Gareth Taylor this week off the back of a disappointing league campaign and former boss Nick Cushing has returned on an interim basis. Bompastor is not expecting major on-field changes from The Cityzens this weekend.

She said “It’s always sad to see a manager being sacked but the women’s game is growing and getting results is really important. It is difficult for me to comment but they have a new manager in Nick Cushing and he has a lot of experience. He has already won a lot of titles with Manchester City before.

“Preparing for this game, we do not expect them to change a lot of things. They have their principles and we don’t expect them to have been able to change a lot from before. Our focus is on ourselves because we know exactly what we need to do to be successful in the game on Saturday. We prepare for the game the same as we did before.”

Victory for Chelsea in the East Midlands would see Bompastor lift her first trophy as head coach. The Frenchwoman is good friends with Emma Hayes but says that she has not yet received any good luck messages from the former Blues boss.

She said “She hasn’t sent a message yet but I’m expecting one in the next few hours. She is always supporting the team from far away. Chelsea will always be a really special club for her, so if I can make her happy by helping Chelsea to continue winning titles [I will be pleased]. Myself and the players will try as hard as we can to do that.”

The 2024/2025 Subway Women’s League Cup final kicks-off at 12.15pm on Saturday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.