Not even a month since the last teams met on 10 October, they face each other once again, albeit this time in the Continental Cup. Birmingham currently top group C of the competition, with a 100% record that does not reflect on their lack of success in the WSL. Edging past Everton in the first round, Marta Tejedor's Blues smashed Leicester 5-1 in their second.
City's fortunes have not been as strong, and a downturn of form has seen them fail to win since the previous tie and bow out of the Champions League to Atletico Madrid. They were on the wrong end of a 2-0 defeat at Leigh Sports Village in the second Manchester Derby of the season, with Keira Walsh receiving a three-match ban which is still in effect.
Team news
Ellen White made her first start in midweek for Manchester City, easing their injury woes and hopefully bringing a lifeline to a side which has often struggled in front of goal. However, fellow signing from Birmingham in the summer, Aoife Mannion, suffered an ACL injury in the first leg of the UWCL and is to be out of action 'long term'. Laura Coombs is still unavailable after having undergone knee surgery in late September.
Birmingham's side have not been plagued with the same level of injuries as City, and have started to solidify their performances. Kerys Harrop will be one to watch, whilst Lucy Staniforth and Rachel Williams are both showing excellent goalscoring form, especially after netting braces versus Leicester.
Predicted lineups
Roebuck; Bonner, Campbell, Houghton, Stokes; Weir, Scott, Stanway; Hemp, White, Beckie
Hampton; Jordan, Harrop, Holloway, Mayling; Arthur; Grant, Whipp, Staniforth, Visalli; Williams
Key clash: Ellen White vs Hannah Hampton
Two players who were important in helping Birmingham reach a fourth-place finish last season will face each other on Sunday at the Academy Stadium.
The young Hannah Hampton was one of the standout players from the last tie between the clubs, her goalkeeping prowess keeping a front three of Janine Beckie, Tessa Wullaert and Lauren Hemp out on a number of occasions, and softening the deficit for the game to only finish 3-0 to City.
Ellen White is yet to get back to full fitness for her new club after injuring her knee early on in her tenure and requiring surgery which set her aside for a couple of months. Against a strong Atletico side midweek, she troubled the Spanish defence and looked capable of scoring, even if she was not clinical enough throughout the game. Against a weaker opposition on Sunday, it will be important for Hampton to try and shut her out to keep Birmingham in with a chance of picking up points and progressing to the next round of the Continental Cup.
What both sides have said
Ireland International and City defender Megan Campbell said that her sights are set on a domestic treble this year:
“The main aim now is to win all three trophies domestically – and we’re not going to stop until we do.
“I think we need a game soon after to get our heads past the Champions League one,” she declared. “We can focus on the next one. We know we can go into the game against Birmingham, able to carry what we did from the Atletico game into it.
“We have the Conti Cup; then the international break and then we come back for the league again. We’re not stopping – we’re looking forward to getting back on the training pitch so we can put things right. We’re ready to regroup and go again.”
Birmingham Captain Kerys Harrop became the most capped player in the WSL last weekend - just edging out Jill Scott with 131 games. She spoke to bcfc.com about Sunday's tie:
“Those who have seen our games probably realised we didn’t deserve to be in that position. Now we need to keep going and try to maintain the momentum.
“We want to go for the Cup,” she added.“You want to win every game you play and as much silverware as possible and we have to go for it in the Cup competitions. We are top of the group and will go into this one with some momentum.
“It was not a good performance from us when we played them a few weeks ago so we need to right a few wrongs this time.”