Sunday sees a flourishing Manchester City side host newly-promoted Liverpool at the Academy Stadium in the sixth round of WSL fixtures.
City come into the game after a 6-0 demolition of Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday evening. Gareth Taylor demonstrated his squad’s depth with a nine-player rotation from the starting XI against Tottenham last weekend, with only Esme Morgan and Kerstin Casparij keeping their places in the side.
Having won three consecutive games in all competitions without conceding, Taylor hopes his side can continue to build momentum after a slow start saw them lose their first two league games of the campaign, conceding six goals in the process.
City striker Lauren Hemp knows this weekend’s clash will be no easy task. “We’re coming into a good run after the international break so it’s important we carry that on and obviously this week is going to be a hard game now that Liverpool have just come up but they’re beatable – every team is beatable,” she said.
“If we work hard and do what we know we’re good at. We’ve had a good week of training so far and off the back of the great win [against Blackburn], hopefully, it will be a good game.”
Liverpool made eight changes from their clash with Arsenal (losing 2-0) to bring home a 4-0 win away at a struggling Leicester City in the Continental Cup just four days before travelling to the Academy Stadium. They’ve only managed to take three points from one of their league games, losing three on the bounce after their 2-0 win over Chelsea on the opening weekend.
Struggling with injuries to the likes of Leanne Kiernan and Shanice Van de Sanden, Liverpool have lost 10 of their last 11 away games in the WSL. The Reds have failed to score in eight of those games.
City are unbeaten at home to Liverpool in the league, winning five and drawing one of their previous meetings. The biggest City win was a 4-0 triumph in 2018, with Nikita Parris, Izzy Christiansen and Abbie McManus finding the net, all of whom no longer play in sky blue.
Liverpool have been victorious over City once having claimed a 1-0 win back in May 2018, with Bethany England netting a goal within the opening minutes.
City boss Taylor said of the upcoming clash: “Matt Beard’s got a wealth of experience, he’s really knowledgeable and has had success previously. He did well getting them back up to the WSL, where they rightly belong as a team. They’re hardworking and brave in what they do.
“We’re expecting a tough test, we played them in pre-season and we’ve seen what they can do earlier on against Chelsea. It’s a tough opponent for us but I always put it back to what we do.”
Coverage of Sunday’s game can be found on CITY+ or on the FA Player app with a 2pm kick-off.