Four games in 12 days: Where Chelsea-Man City match-ups will be won and lost as WSL rivals prepare for season-defining duels

Neither of these teams are blessed with depth in the heart of defence right now. Injuries to Kadeisha Buchanan, Maelys Mpome and January signing Naomi Girma have left Chelsea with just Nathalie Bjorn and Millie Bright to choose from for now, with Buchanan's season over and Mpome's return date unknown. Girma is at least not expected to be out for long.

Meanwhile, City captain Alex Greenwood had knee surgery just before Christmas and Rebecca Knaak, signed in January to reinforce the position, suffered a hamstring issue during the February international break. It leaves Laia Aleixandri partnering either Gracie Prior, the academy youngster who only made her first senior start at centre-back last week, or Naomi Layzell, whose limited game time recently perhaps points to a lack of fitness after some injuries of her own.

Throw in some uncertainties in the goalkeeper position, with Chelsea having needed to sign Becky Spencer on an emergency loan this month while City continue to flip-flop between Ayaka Yamashita and Khiara Keating, and the elite centre-forwards both can count upon, and neutrals will hope that all four of these meetings could be goal-fests. The managers, of course, will be hoping otherwise, and that their teams can power through with the personnel available.

Both clubs will hope that their squads fill out in defence and beyond as this month unfolds. Chelsea were without Mpome, Girma, Guro Reiten and Keira Walsh for their FA Cup quarter-final win over Crystal Palace last week, none of whom have been described as long-term absentees. With Erin Cuthbert making her first start for a month, Mia Fishel returning to the matchday squad after over a year out and Sam Kerr into the latter stages of her recovery from an ACL injury, there are plenty of faces who could be in line to return just in time to make a real impact as Chelsea's fight across four fronts intensifies.

It's a similar story for City. Greenwood and Lionesses team-mate Lauren Hemp could potentially be back from their respective knee surgeries this month to boost their team at the perfect time, while Knaak, Laura Coombs and Aoba Fujino are among those with less serious issues who could also return soon.

As the games start to come thick and fast, these are players who would bolster numbers as well as confidence, and both teams will hope to see them in the mix over the course of this period.

Both of these teams have put their trust in youngsters this season, for differing reasons. Chelsea have been building up to making the likes of Maika Hamano, Wieke Kaptein and Aggie Beever-Jones more prominent players, with the former two signed as teenagers and blossoming out on loan before returning to be first-team stars, while the latter has risen through the academy to make her mark.

City, meanwhile, have been forced to turn to some of their youngsters perhaps a little earlier than they'd have expected, due to injuries. But those given opportunities have been able to make a difference, with Lily Murphy in particular enjoying a real breakout in the forward line while Prior's emergence has bolstered the options in a thin defence.

All of those mentioned have varying degrees of experience at the top level, be it in England or abroad, but all are about to be thrown into the demands of the business end of the season like never before. Hamano and Beever-Jones were involved in these double gameweeks last term and had their moments, but not in the prominent roles likely to come to them this time around.

It's going to be fascinating to see how these exciting young players take to the demands of this part of the campaign for an elite side for the first time - and whether their fearlessness can be an asset as the stakes get higher.

Most onlookers will probably favour Chelsea in this four-game series, not just because they got the better of City in their one meeting earlier this season, sit some 12 points ahead in the WSL and watched their opponents make a shock managerial switch in the build-up to this match, but also because of their superior squad depth.

The Blues, quite simply, have more players available right now, and many of their injury concerns are not as significant or long-term. As such, they're also more likely to get players back over the course of the next two weeks. It means head coach Sonia Bompastor will have more wiggle room when it comes to rotation in these four games - and the players she can rotate in all have significant experience, too, with the Blues' strength in depth just greater than City's.

How can the Manchester club combat that? It certainly isn't with numbers, that is for sure. Instead, it's likely that particular games and certain competitions in this stretch will take priority over others. It's up to the returning Cushing to figure out how that pecking order might look, though Monday's statement about Taylor's departure may have given a big clue as to which match is likely to top the list...

The idea of two coaches preparing to face-off four times in a row was already intriguing, placing particular emphasis on how they review each game, what changes are made between matches and, perhaps most difficult of all, how they balance the demands of trying to win every three days. But it was made all the more interesting on Monday when City announced that they had parted ways with Taylor, bringing Cushing back to the club on an interim basis.

Both Cushing and Bompastor have varying degrees of experience, and success, when it comes to playing huge games every few days. Bompastor won everything she could as a player and coach at Lyon, but she never lifted the league title, the cup and the Champions League in the same season as a manager. Throw in the League Cup and there's another plate for her to spin here.

The Chelsea boss does still have great pedigree when it comes to the balancing act, something Cushing has not had to deal with for a while. It was back in 2022 when he last had to contend with continental competition and league exploits, as he led New York City FC to the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League. Such a task was not on his plate in his final two seasons in charge.

That said, Cushing has been thrust into this situation with real trust in his ability to be pragmatic and secure results. City would not have made this incredible change if they did not believe he could guide them to wins at short notice. But, on the other side of that, the club's statement placed particular emphasis on him doing so in the WSL, in order to secure Champions League football for next season. Could that league meeting on March 23 be his priority, then, rather than the League Cup final or the Champions League? Perhaps. Add in that Cushing will bring his own tactics to these matches, and represents a new opponent for Bompastor, and it is all the more fascinating.

If you could bank on one factor being decisive in these four games, though, it would have to be a moment of star quality from one of the many world-class talents set to represent the two sides. Be it Vivianne Miedema or Khadija Shaw, or Lauren James or Catarina Macario, these are two teams are blessed with incredible quality. That's the case in attack, as outlined, but also in other areas, with the presence of two of the game's best holding midfielders, in Walsh and Yui Hasegawa, a great example.

Whether it is a defence-splitting pass, an incredible finish or a mind-blowing save, we are sure to get some moments of magic across these four games to decide who wins the League Cup, who makes the Champions League semi-finals and to further impact the WSL's race for European football and the league title.