With Liverpool's hopes of reclaiming their WSL 1 title fading very quickly, the Reds turn their attention back to the FA WSL Continental Cup on Thursday evening as they bid to secure some silverware this season.
However, they are in for a tough task this week as they face the leaders of WSL 2, Doncaster Belles, a side who look odds-on to secure promotion to the top tier, and are certainly favourites for the league title too.
Current form
Liverpool had the perfect chance to record their first back-to-back wins of the season at the weekend, but head into their game with Doncaster having failed to do exactly this, with another defeat following their victory against Everton in midweek.
The Reds instead face their opponents on Thursday off the back of a defeat to Birmingham City, who were winless prior to their three points taken from the Merseysiders.
Still, Liverpool will be confident as they travel to the Keepmoat as they have responded to every defeat this season with a victory, and they will be keen to keep this up.
They will also be encouraged by the gulf in class between WSL 1 and WSL 2 sides shown so far in the FA WSL Continental Cup, with a second tier side yet to defeat a superior opponent in the competition this year.
Doncaster themselves fell victim to this trend last week at home to Manchester City; Isobel Christiansen, Nikita Parris and Toni Duggan all on the scoresheet as the Sky Blues convincingly defeated the Belles 3-0.
This brought to an end the Belles run of four wins in a row, a run in which they have scored 15 goals and conceded just two, but they will be keen to capitalise on Liverpool's poor season thus far and get back to winning ways, especially with them set to become a first tier side, unless something drastic occurs between now and the end of the WSL 2 season.
Key players
If the Belles are to do exactly this, they need their most influential players to really turn up tomorrow evening. Sue Smith is obviously one of these, and her experience at the highest level will be key if they are to overcome the reigning WSL 1 champions, but it is Courtney Sweetman-Kirk who has proven to be their talisman this season.
Sweetman-Kirk currently tops the scoring chart in WSL 2 with 12 goals in 11 games, responsible for over a third of the total scored by the team, and is having a season to savour, propelling her side into pole position for promotion and helping keep them there too. Able to score a variety of goals - long distance stunners, wonderful solo efforts and simple, but effective, tap-ins from good centre-forward play - she is absolutely deadly in front of goal right now and oozing confidence as a result.
With Smith behind her pulling all the strings, and netting an impressive six herself already this season, whilst Bethany England adds to their attacking threat and has scored six goals for the team as well, there is no doubt that Doncaster will ask questions of Liverpool tomorrow - many of which they may struggle to provide adequate answers to.
The Reds, on the other hand, are missing many of their key players, something which was evident in their lacklustre 1-0 defeat to Birmingham at the weekend. Fara Williams, Asisat Oshoala and Satara Murray are all going to be out for over a month, which has hindered the team in all areas of the park, weakening their fierce attack, bite in midfield and stern defence.
Still, Natasha Dowie netted her first goals of the season when she scored a brace in that 2-0 win over Everton last week, whilst the return of Lucy Staniforth to the team on a more regular basis in the absence of Williams is a huge plus, and she is only getting better as each game comes.
It will be up to the latter to create chances tomorrow for the former, as well as new signing Rosie White, to finish, and they will have to be clinical when they get them as the Belles do not allow their opposition many opportunities in front of goal, conceding just nine goals in the league this season.
Libby Stout will be a huge player for Liverpool too in this game as she is sure to be tested in between the sticks. The American 'keeper can be unconvincing at times when it comes to commanding her area and challenging for the ball against determined forwards, but there is no doubting her shot-stopping abilities and these will certainly be on show tomorrow evening.
Both fully focused on the cup?
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Matt Beard conceded earlier this month that his team were losing their grip on the WSL 1 title, saying, prior to Chelsea's defeat to Sunderland, that if the Blues were to win that came then it would be "a little too far" for his team.
Though the then-league leaders lost that game, the gap is now nine points between Liverpool and leaders Sunderland, with only six games left. However, Beard said that the team cannot be "downbeat" as they still have "the Continental Cup to play for."
It would not be unrealistic to suggest that the Reds will have turned their focus to the cup now, with them unlikely to accomplish much in the league, though they must continue to push hard in that competition too with them only third-from-bottom.
Doncaster can also concentrate less on the league at the moment, with a rather straight-forward run of fixtures to come. They play Everton on August 16 and Reading on September 5, but the remainder of their league games in 2015 should not trouble them, meaning they can afford to rotate the squad more in the competition and commit themselves to trying to do well in the cup.
With three WSL 2 sides in their group, newly-promoted Sunderland, who they dealt their only defeat of their title-winning campaign in 2014, and two underwhelming sides this year in Liverpool and Manchester City, both expected to be far more involved in their own league's title challenge this year than they are and have been, Doncaster will be confident of progressing to the next round of the competition and proving that they can compete with the top teams in England.
Prediction
Liverpool are in desperate need of a pick-me-up right now, with their league campaign suffering some huge setbacks in the last two weeks due to successive defeats.
This Doncaster match presents them with the perfect chance to lift their spirits again, with victory over the Belles to be a huge result if they can pull it off and sure to raise their confidence given the quality of their opponents based on their performances this season.
The game is sure to be close given that the two teams are pretty close right now in terms of recent displays, but one cannot see Liverpool falling to their third defeat in four games as they will really be up for this one.
Doncaster will put up a great fight and make a fantastic match out of it, but the general experience of their superior opponents will shine through and give the Reds a well needed, albeit narrow, victory.