Matildas Abroad Preview: Current & Wave play in NWSL semi-final

The NWSL semi-finals kick-off for two teams featuring Aussies aiming to book their spot in the final; while three games remain in the OBOS Damallsvenskan. 

See where all our Matildas Abroad will be in action in our preview! 

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England

Alanna Kennedy, Hayley Raso and Mary Fowler's Manchester City will be looking to record their second win of the season and clinch back-to-back WSL victories when they take on Kyah Simon's Tottenham Hotspur.

City claimed their first victory of the WSL season in their most recent outing, beating Leicester City 4-0. Gareth Taylor revealed that Kennedy is still recovering from a shoulder injury, and this game against her former team will not see the return of the Aussie defender. 


The sides sit in 7th and 8th at the moment, with only three points separating Spurs from City. The last meeting between the two sides in the 2021/22 season saw Manchester leave London 1-0 winners thanks to a Caroline Weir goal. 

This game will kick off on Saturday night at 9:30 pm AEDT.

Emily Gielnik's Aston Villa will be aiming to get back to winning ways when they host Clare Wheeler's Everton. Both sides faced defeat in their last WSL outings, with Villa narrowly beaten 2-1 by West Ham and the Toffees going down 3-1 to Chelsea. 

A calf injury to Gielnik during the international window will see the striker out until at least Christmas for the Villans, while Wheeler returned from injury last weekend to make her first appearance for her new side. 

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

Moving over to Liverpool, Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley's Arsenal will be in search of their fourth consecutive win of the season when they face newly promoted Liverpool. 

Foord and Beth Mead notched a double throughout the week as Arsenal beat Lyon 5-1 in their first game of the UWCL. Their opposition has only recorded one win for the season, beating the Blues in their opening game.


Arsenal is yet to concede a goal so far this season and will be put to the test with two of their key defenders in Leah Williamson and Rafaelle Souza missing due to injury. 

This game will kick off on Sunday night at 10:00 pm AEDT.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie Arnold's West Ham United will look to make it back-to-back WSL wins when they host a Reading side that is yet to record a win so far this season. 

Arnold, fresh off a Player of the Match award in the Hammers' win against Aston Villa, spoke to whufc.com ahead of their game against Reading. 


"Reading is another team that we want to beat because they were in and around us last season – we always have really tough matches against them, similar to Aston Villa." 

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

Lastly, Sam Kerr's Chelsea will travel to take on Brighton & Hove Albion in the final match of the round. After a slow start to the season, Chelsea is back in the top three and looking to keep in touch with Arsenal and Manchester United at the top of the table. 

Chelsea has a quick turnaround after their midweek UWCL clash in Paris and will be facing a Brighton side that has only recorded one win so far this WSL season. 

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 4:45 am AEDT.

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USA

Moving over to the USA, Emily van Egmond's Wave FC are creating history by becoming the first expansion side to book their spot in the NWSL postseason in their inaugural season.

San Diego will take on Portland Thorns for a spot in the final after coming from behind to defeat the Chicago Red Stars in their quarter-final game. Van Egmond scored her first goal for Wave to rally a comeback for her side with Alex Morgan netting the matchwinner in extra time.  


The two sides met four times in all competitions in 2022, with Portland winning twice, San Diego winning once and one draw in the four previous meetings.

This game will kick off on Monday morning at 8:00 am AEDT.

Still, on the West Coast, Chloe Logarzo's Kansas City Current will be looking to book their spot in the final when they face the 2022 NWSL Shield-winning OL Reign on Monday morning. 

Reign will be looking to win their first playoff game since a 3-0 victory in the 2015 semifinals against the Spirit, with the side having not played a game since the first weekend of October.


Logarzo is yet to feature for the Current this season, and at the end of the season is set to join Western United for their inaugural Liberty A-League Women's season on loan. This game will kick off on Monday morning at 10:30 am AEDT

Sweden

Moving over to Sweden, Elise Kellond-Knight, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Courtney Nevin's fifth-place Hammarby will be aiming to make it back-to-back wins when they host IF Brommapojkarna.

Cooney-Cross picked up the assist in Hammarby's 1-0 win over AIK last weekend, with all three Aussies featuring in the game. Bromm, who was promoted this season, has only recorded two wins so far in the season. 

This game will kick off on Saturday morning at 4:00 am AEDT.

Next up, Clare Polkinghorne, Katrina Gorry and Charli Grant's Vittsjö GIK will host Remy Siemsen's AIK on Sunday morning. 

Vittsjö is one of the teams chasing fifth place at the moment, just two points behind Hammarby and could be set to upset AIK's chances of remaining in the Damallsvenskan with a victory. 


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

Meanwhile, Aivi Luik's BK Häcken will face Piteå IF as they look to hang on to third place, and thus qualify for the UWCL next season. Häcken and Kristianstads DFF are separated by just one point at the moment with only three games remaining in the season. 

Häcken's undefeated streak in the league spans six games, with their last defeat a 2-0 loss to FC Rosengård.  This game will kick off on Sunday night at 10:00 pm AEDT.

Lastly, Teagan Micah's  FC Rosengård travel east for the Skåne derby against top-four Kristianstad. Rosengård's last victory over Kristianstad came back in July 2020 with their only meeting this season ending in a 1-1 draw. 


Should Rosengård get a long-awaited victory against Kristianstad, and Linköping does not win, the title will be claimed by the Malmö club.

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