Liverpool Ladies are still looking for their first back-to-back wins of the season, but they have a realistic chance of achieving exactly this on Sunday, even if it it will not be two consecutive league victories.
The Reds beat local rivals Everton 2-0 in the FA WSL Continental Cup on Thursday evening, and will expect to follow this up with another win this weekend as they travel to the Midlands to face second-from-bottom Birmingham City.
With defeats coming after every victory this season for Liverpool, a win away to the Blues could prove to be a result that kickstarts some consistency as they bid to stay in the title race, one which is seeing their WSL 1 title quickly slip out of their hands with them now eight points off of leaders Chelsea.
Yet, Birmingham will be spurred on by the fact that their only competitive victory of 2015 came against the Reds in March as they knocked them out of the FA Cup in the fifth round; Jade Moore, Jo Potter and Remi Allen the scorers as the Blues made it to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 scoreline reading in their favour.
Key personnel have affected both, positively and negatively
However, since this win, Birmingham have failed to register another this year, still without one in the league as they sit in seventh with three points from eight games. Injuries have played their part in this, with key members of the team, such as captain and talisman Karen Carney, as well as Lionesses Moore and Potter, absent for significant periods of the season.
Now, they have all their players back in the team though and certainly showed promising signs at the weekend, despite losing 1-0 to Arsenal at home. There have been more positives to take from performances since these players have returned, but still not enough points.
Liverpool will be the team struggling with injuries this weekend, however, with manager Matt Beard confirming that World Cup stars Fara Williams and Asisat Oshoala will be out "for a couple of months," whilst defender Satara Murray will be sidelined for six weeks.
Still, in the absence of these players, others have already stepped up. Natasha Dowie, without a league goal this year still, netted a significant brace in the midweek Merseyside derby, her goals deciding the game, whilst her tally could have risen to four had it not been for the offside flag denying her this feat.
New signing Rosie White also looks ready to help out going forward while Oshoala is injured, the New Zealand international already off the mark for her new club having scored their only goal in the 2-1 defeat to Notts County last week.
Whilst Birmingham have suffered on the attack due to injuries, and will be hindered again on Sunday with striker Freda Ayisi suspended following her dismissal against Arsenal, Liverpool appear to have the squad depth to deal with this issue and have two confident strikers to deploy after their recent success in front of goal.
The Blues may have scored their first goal in six games in a midweek defeat to Notts County in the Continental Cup, but it remained a loss and they are still without a goal in the league in six games - their last coming against Liverpool in April, Aoife Mannion netting late on to give her side a consolation in a 2-1 defeat to the Reds in Widnes.
Key players
It is imperative that Carney, Moore and Potter step up and make a difference this weekend for Birmingham, as they are in serious trouble of seeing their star-studded squad drop to the second tier.
Bristol Academy, the side keeping them off the foot of the table, albeit by just a point, registered an impressive 4-0 win over Aston Villa in the cup in midweek, and they are sure to have been inspired by this result, keen to translate the form into their league performances. Thus, the Blues are going to have to step things up.
Ayisi's suspension could prove a blessing in disguise in truth, the former Gunner having not been as effective going forward as the manager David Parker perhaps expected when he signed her, and this game will give him a chance to deploy another striker instead as the team search for some well-needed composure in front of goal.
Kirsty Linnett has recovered from injury and made a brief appearance off the bench against Arsenal, and she may be granted a full 90 minutes this weekend, or at least a start, if her body is ready for such a job, and her full return will be welcomed massively by the team and their fans.
Liverpool also need players to raise their game now with three extremely key players missing for a number of weeks though. They certainly did this in midweek, but this was against a WSL 2 side and was just one game - the high performance levels will need to be sustained for much longer than this to keep the side in the hunt for their third successive league title.
Dowie's goals in the match with Everton will have done her confidence a whole lot of good and Beard will hope that she carries this into the game on Sunday to help fill the Oshoala-shaped hole up front - whilst White will also need to lend a hand.
Lucy Staniforth will also be an important player, the attacking midfielder slowly returning from an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered earlier in 2014, sure to make a positive impact as she finds her feet again after a year out. She played the full 90 minutes on Thursday evening, a massively positive sign, whilst her role played in a lively attacking performance was impressive too. With Williams missing, Beard will hope that the 22-year-old can really get her Liverpool career going now, just as the team need her to.
Mayumi Pacheco, just 16-years-old, has began to see a lot of playing time in defence too, and the left-back is both effective at the back and going forward, with her driving runs down the wing likely to play a crucial role again this weekend if she is selected by the manager.
Prediction
Whilst Birmingham have improved lately, Liverpool will relish this game and see it as the perfect opportunity to finally get those back-to-back wins.
The Blues are extremely low in confidence right now, whereas the Reds can boast players feeling the exact opposite after good personal performances lately, especially those whose impact on the pitch is prominently in the attacking third.
The hosts are likely to put up another good fight, as they did against Arsenal and Notts County in the last seven days, but Liverpool should record victory carrying the momentum of a Merseyside derby win into the game.