WSL on TV: is Chelsea vs Manchester United still on BBC? Will it have commentary and pundits?

Chelsea will welcome Manchester United in a blockbuster Women’s Super League clash.

The match could go a long way in determining who wins the title come the end of the season. Kingsmeadow will host the fixture which will kick-off at 12.30pm on Sunday (12 March).

It is due to be televised by the BBC as part of its weekly coverage of the 2022/23 WSL season. However the broadcaster’s sport schedule has been thrown into chaos following the decision to remove Gary Lineker from Match of the Day this weekend.

It sparked a wave of boycotts by presenters, pundits and commentators. Football Focus and Final Score were both cancelled and replaced by repeats of Bargain Hunt and The Repair Show respectively.

BBC ploughed ahead with airing MOTD on Saturday (11 March) evening but it was severly curtailed. The episode featured only clips from the matches with no commentary or analysis, soundtracked by crowd noise.

You can read our review of last night’s MOTD here. But will Sunday’s sport schedule be disrupted? Here is all you need to know:

Is Chelsea vs Manchester United in WSL still on BBC?

The high profile Women’s Super League clash is still expected to be shown by the BBC. It has not been pulled from the schedule in the way Final Score and Football Focus were on Saturday.

Coverage was due to begin at 12.15pm on BBC Two - but instead the pre-game section was replaced with a rerun of The A to Z of Cooking. It will also be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Will there be commentary and pundits?

Match of the Day aired with no commentary or analysis on Saturday due to boycotts. Disruption is also expected to impact Sunday’s sport schedule on BBC.

The planned coverage of the Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and Manchester United will air without a pre-match presentation. Sunday’s Match Of The Day 2 is also expected run with a reduced format.

What has been said before Chelsea vs Manchester United?

Man Utd boss Marc Skinner knows the size of the task they have in front of them but wants his side to be fearless in Sunday afternoon’s fixture.

He told MUTV: “What we must do is play with no fear. I’ll be very clear when I speak to the girls and they know this.

“When we go into this game, we will be ready, we will be high energy and will be looking to impose ourselves on the game as much as we possibly can.”

Chelsea are the only side to inflict defeat on Manchester United in the WSL season so far. Running out as 3-1 winners in November and victory could see them jump above United, who currently sit top of the table.

Emma Hayes will be missing due to illness, in her abscene the team’s general manager Paul Green said: “We are hoping Emma is going to be back tomorrow, it is just a viral illness so hopefully she can shrug it off. She wasn’t feeling the best during the second half of the Brighton game and still felt a little bit under the weather yesterday. So hopefully she’ll have recovered today and be back in for training tomorrow.

“We’ll have to wait and see, hopefully she’ll be good to go. If she isn’t, Denise (Reddy, his fellow assistant) and I will take the team as we did earlier in the season. Emma has still got access to the training footage and there’ll be regular communication if she wasn’t to make it on Sunday, as we had earlier in the season. She’ll have a direct earpiece to Denise on the sideline but we’re hoping she’ll be back if not tomorrow then certainly on Sunday.”