Three games, three draws, and still no Champions League win: Manchester City Women head to Italy on Tuesday needing to turn their WSL form into European points, against an Inter side who have not lost at home all season.
Andrée Jeglertz’s Manchester City side go into this one in rude health domestically. Saturday’s 5-0 win over West Ham made it nine WSL games unbeaten and sent the champions back to the top of the table, two points clear of Chelsea, with a trip to Stamford Bridge to come this weekend.
Europe is a different story. City have taken three points from three league phase games, and they sit inside the top 12 only on goal difference. Inter, playing in the main draw for the first time, have four. Only one point separates the sides, and a win for either could lift them into the top six.
Inter vs Man City Women: kick-off time, venue and TV
Date: Tuesday 10 November 2026
Kick-off: 20:00 UK time (21:00 in Italy)
Venue: U-Power Stadium (the Brianteo), Monza
Competition: Women’s Champions League, league phase, matchday four
TV: Disney+ Premium in the UK
It will be the first competitive meeting between the two clubs, just as the earlier league phase games against Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain were. Jeglertz faces the media in Milan on Monday evening once the squad has arrived.
Why are City still without a European win?
Not for lack of fight. City came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away at Bayern Munich, then were held 1-1 by Real Madrid at home. The PSG game hurt most: Bunny Shaw scored a penalty in the 85th minute, and Tara Elimbi equalised three minutes later.
Three draws against three of the bigger names in the competition is not a disaster, but it leaves no room for slips against the clubs City are expected to beat. Away from home, at least, they have been solid, with three wins and two draws in five competitive away games this season.
How dangerous are Inter at home?
Very. Inter have won all seven of their competitive home games this season and kept clean sheets in the last four of them.
Their route into the league phase says plenty about their spirit. They lost the first leg of their qualifier 2-0 in Germany against two-time European champions Wolfsburg, won the return 3-1 after extra time and then held their nerve in the shootout. A 1-0 home win over Häcken and a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw away at Austria Vienna followed.
Then came the reality check, a 6-0 defeat to Lyon. David Sassarini’s side have responded well, though, with two 3-0 wins in Serie A, the second of them away at AC Milan on Saturday. Haley Bugeja scored two penalties in that derby and Benedetta Glionna got the other. Inter are unbeaten after six league games, have not conceded a goal in Serie A, and sit two points behind leaders Roma.
Inter vs Man City Women team news
Inter
Lina Magull and Clarisse Le Bihan are expected to miss out again, having not played since the start of October. Ivana Andres and Karolina Vilhjalmsdottir could come into contention if Sassarini decides to freshen things up, while Bugeja comes in flying, with six goals in six Serie A appearances.
Man City
The big blows landed last week. Captain Alex Greenwood hurt her ankle in training and goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse has a foot injury, and Jeglertz expects both to be out until after the international break.
“Both of them is not great,” Jeglertz said. “She got a knock a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, she’ll be out until the international break.”
Vivianne Miedema is closing in on a return from her knee injury, but this game is expected to come too soon for her. Niamh Charles and Beth Mead are doubts after missing the last two and five matches respectively.
Can Jeglertz keep rotating and keep winning?
Jeglertz has made 25 changes to his starting line-up in nine WSL games, and he has made no secret of why. After Saturday’s win he spoke about having five games in two weeks, and said: “Our depth is going to be crucial. We can put players on that can bring us to the next level.”
Much of that rotation has come at the back, and Greenwood’s absence forced another reshuffle against West Ham. Kerstin Casparij, Jade Rose, Rebecca Knaak and Carlotta Wamser started together as a back four for the first time, and kept only City’s second clean sheet of the season. That is a strong case for leaving them together in Monza.
Further forward, the question is how hard to push with Chelsea away on Saturday. Our view is that City cannot afford to treat this as a warm-up. A fourth draw would leave them chasing the top six for the rest of the league phase, while Inter’s form at home means a weakened side could easily come unstuck.
Who decides this one?
Bunny Shaw
The obvious answer. Her hat-trick against West Ham took her to 12 WSL goals in nine games this season, twice as many as her nearest Golden Boot rivals, and she also has the late penalty against PSG in Europe. Shaw and Lauren Hemp just keep finding each other, and her perfect hat-trick against West Ham left her two goals short of the all-time WSL record.
Aoba Fujino
Fujino was player of the match on Saturday. She hit the woodwork twice before finally scoring her first goal of the season, a solo run from inside her own half, and then set up Iman Beney for the fourth. She is the player most likely to unlock a defence that has not conceded at home for four games.
Haley Bugeja
Inter’s main threat, with two goals in each of her last two games. She will be the one City’s new-look back four have to keep quiet.
Inter vs Man City Women predicted lineups
For City, we expect Jeglertz to keep the back four that shut out West Ham, and Yamashita stays in goal with Moorhouse out. Coffey, who came off the bench on Saturday, comes into midfield beside Hasegawa, and Grace Clinton, who set up Shaw’s third, returns to the starting line-up behind the striker.
Inter predicted lineup (4-4-2): Runarsdottir; Garcia, Milinkovic, Ivana, Robustellini; Glionna, Vilhjalmsdottir, Tomasevic, Bugeja; Raphino, Cambiaghi
Man City Women predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Yamashita; Casparij, Rose, Knaak, Wamser; Coffey, Hasegawa; Fujino, Clinton, Hemp; Shaw
Verdict: City win, but it will not be comfortable
Inter’s home record deserves respect, and they will have watched City drop points late against PSG. But City are the better side, Shaw is in the form of her life, and the away record has held up all season. We are going for a 2-1 City win, the first of this league phase, and a timely boost before the trip to Chelsea on Saturday.
