Liverpool vs Manchester United
Two sides who have not picked up any points in the first two rounds of the FA WSL take each other on in-game week three’s opener at Prenton Park.
In the men’s game, the match between the two cities has always carried a fierce rivalry, but the two have never faced each other in the WSL before. The reformed Manchester United side, however, defeated Liverpool in the Continental Tyres Cup Group Stage by a single goal from Lizzie Arnot, before they went on to reach the semi-final of the competition.
Liverpool come into the match off the back of a last-minute loss in the Continental Cup at home to second division side Sheffield United, where two goals in the last five minutes from the Blades untied the Reds’ work and Liverpool dropped three points in the group stage of the competition, where they now sit fifth in Group A.
Despite failing to get anything from their opening two games, Casey Stoney’s United have looked strong in their first season in the top flight as a reformed side, and suffered narrow defeats to strong opposition in Arsenal and Manchester City. They have not yet scored a goal in all competitions, but that may come in this match on Saturday.
United manager Casey Stoney, who finished her playing career at Liverpool in 2018, scored three goals against the Reds during her Women’s Super League career – more goals than versus any other side.
Everton vs Manchester City
Everton are high-flyers in the FA WSL at the moment, sitting at the top of the table after wins in their first two league games against Birmingham City and Bristol City. Scoring three, they have not yet conceded a goal, and Chloe Kelly has netted two of those, both were brilliant goals in their 2-0 win against the Vixens. However, they found their first loss of the season in the Continental Cup on Sunday against the same Birmingham side that they had beaten just two weeks earlier by the same scoreline.
Nick Cushing’s Manchester City will currently be facing the pressures faced on them by a packed fixture schedule. They have already defeated Leicester City and FFC Lugano in the past week, totalling nine goals over the two fixtures. The blues are currently without Lauren Hemp, Ellen White, and Georgia Stanway, so will have to hope that German forward Pauline Bremer can once again step up to the task. She was rested for the match against Lugano and did not start, but netted one when she came on.
The fast-flowing, passing football demanded by City has sometimes come undone, and on occasions players could not keep up with the quick tempo of play, notably captain Steph Houghton’s passing accuracy under pressure often stood out - although the past couple of games were not played under the same level of intensity as others.
Willie Kirk has lost each of his six previous Women’s Super League matches against Manchester City across spells with Bristol City and current club Everton, conceding at least three times in each match (25 total).
Arsenal vs Brighton and Hove Albion
The gunners come into the match unbeaten and on six points, whilst they also defeated Fiorentina 6-0 on aggregate on Thursday night to put them into Monday's round of 16 draw for the UEFA Women's Champions League. They also steamed past second division London City Lionesses in the Continental Cup, putting five past them away from home.
Arsenal beat Brighton in both top-flight encounters last season, winning 4-1 in this exact fixture last season, before a 4-0 win away from home. After losing their first five matches against London sides in the Super League, Brighton have avoided defeat in their last two such games – winning 4-0 at West Ham back in May and drawing 1-1 at home versus Chelsea last time out. Brighton’s Léa Le Garrec has had the most shots in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League this season without scoring (eight shots, no goals) - if she could have converted against Chelsea then it could have been a very different story.
Arsenal’s victory at Manchester United last time out was their tenth successive Super League win – only once before have the Gunners enjoyed a longer such run in the competition (12 between May and November 2018).
Arsenal’s Danielle van de Donk, who netted the winner against Man Utd in their last match, had a direct hand in four of the Gunners’ eight league goals against Brighton last season, scoring twice and assisting twice. Fellow Dutch national, Vivianne Miedema is also back from injury and will be a big threat for the North London side on Sunday.
Birmingham City vs Reading
Birmingham City take on Reading this Sunday at Damson Park in the FAWSL. The Blues come into this come on the back of their 1-0-win last weekend against Everton in the Continental Cup. However, they were beaten in their last WSL game when West Ham United picked up a narrow 1-0 win over the Blues two weeks ago.
Reading picked up an impressive 4-0-win last weekend against Tottenham in the Continental Cup, but lost 2-0 in their last WSL game to Manchester City. The Midlands club have nearly a full side to choose from, other than back up goalkeeper Alex Brooks, who is absent due to concussion.
The Royals have no injury concerns ahead of the game. Statistics ahead of this game make good reading for Birmingham fans. The Blues have never lost to Reading in the WSL , and Blues manager Marta Tejedor knows the magnitude of the task ahead of her team if they want to keep this unbeaten record going against the Royals. "For me, Reading is the toughest opponent we have to face so far."
West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur
The meeting between the Hammers and Spurs will be contested at the London Stadium, with a bumper crowd expected for the London derby. Spurs were promoted from the FA Women's Championship last season, and last visited West Ham in May 2017 in a match that they won 7-0, back when both sides were in the third division and before the inception of a professional top flight.
Despite losing five of their last six home matches in the top-flight, West Ham are looking to win back-to-back such games for the very first time following their 1-0 win over Birmingham last time out. Spurs, who have won one and lost one of their two Barclays FA Women’s Super League games this season, secured their first-ever victory in the competition in the last gameweek against Liverpool – a Rachel Furness penalty making the difference.
Both sides suffered defeat last weekend when they encountered Continental Cup action - losing to Reading and Chelsea retrospectively.
Bristol City take on Chelsea this Sunday at the Stoke Gifford Stadium in the WSL.
Bristol City come into this game on the back of their 3-0 win over London Bees in the Continental Cup. However, the Vixens lost their last WSL game 2-0 against Everton. Chelsea come into this game on the back of their 2-0 win against West Ham in the WSL.
The West-London club drew their last WSL game 1-1 to Brighton. Both managers have close to a complete side to choose from, which is a huge boost for both sides. The Vixens are winless in their last nine WSL games against Chelsea, losing eight of those games and drawing one. So, they will be looking for a win to end that horrible run against the Blues.
One of the factors for Chelsea winning so many games against Bristol City is because of the number of clean sheets they have kept when facing this Bristol side. The Blues have kept seven clean sheets in their last eight previous league visits to Bristol City in the top-flight, only losing once in May 2013, 0-2.
Contributors:
Birmingham vs Reading & Bristol vs Chelsea - Danyal Khan