In the only WSL tie on Saturday, Manchester City play host to Everton for the third time in all competitions this season. The previous one of these in the league was in doubt until the start of play as to whether the game would be able to go on, but despite the weather conditions, Steph Houghton netted a low driven free-kick to provide the game's only goal.
City were victorious on the road in their last Women's Super League game, thrashing Tottenham Hotspur 4-1, with all goals coming in the first 45 minutes of play. Everton, however, had their game at West Ham United cancelled due to a flu outbreak in the Irons' squad.
Team news
Esme Morgan will be unavailable for the game, as she is on loan with the Merseyside club from City. Georgia Brougham and Elise Hughes both departed the toffees on loan deals this week.
The game could be Izzy Christiansen's first at the Academy Stadium since she departed for Lyon in 2018. The forward struggled to properly find her footing for the French giants, largely through to injury. Now back with her first club in the Toffees, she makes a return to the Manchester City side which she appeared 61 times for in her four years at the club.
Predicted lineups
Manchester City: Roebuck; Beckie, Houghton, Bonner, Campbell; Walsh, Weir, Scott; Hemp, Bremer, White
Everton: Korpela; George, Van Es, Finnigan; Turner, Clemaron, Graham, Pike; Kelly, Christiansen, Kaagman
Ones to watch
Back fully from an injury sustained in 2017 against Everton that saw her out for over a year, Nick Cushing was rewarded for starting Bremer against Spurs last weekend. Within 30 minutes, she had scored twice, and proved why she is one of the top talents in the women's game.
She could flourish against a weaker Everton defence on Saturday evening and has the opportunity to really make the difference for the blues.
Izzy Christiansen
In what is probably the most significant signing of the January window so far (if you don't count Sam Kerr to Chelsea), Christiansen is now back on English soil with her very first club.
An impressive forward, she had fallen off the radar for many since she departed the WSL a couple of years ago, but will want to hit the ground running in whatever way possible - and where better to do it than against her previous club City in her debut?
Partnering with the likes of Chloe Kelly up top, she could provide strong firepower for Everton on Saturday.
What both sides have said
Manchester City manager Nick Cushing announced on Thursday that he is set to depart the blues in February to take up a position as assistant manager at New York City FC, another member of the City Football Group. He told mancity.com:
“Making the decision to leave MCWFC has been incredibly difficult given the fantastic players and staff that we have here and the incredible success that we have achieved together - it isn’t one that I have taken lightly.
“We’ve had an amazing six-and-a-half seasons and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with everybody – I will be extremely emotional to leave, but I’m very excited for my next role within the City Football Group.
Currently on a loan deal in Merseyside, young City defender Esme Morgan caught up with mancity.com this week about her time with the Toffees so far:
“It’s really good – I’m really enjoying having the opportunity to play regular minutes and I love the environment. It’s a youthful squad and I get along well with all the girls and the coaching staff. It’s been a really enjoyable few months.
“It was really easy to settle in with the majority of the squad being of a similar age. I knew a few of the players from England camps too. There’s a good balance with the older players, who have a lot of domestic and international experience.
“Willie Kirk is a top coach and I’ve learned a lot from him and his assistant Chris Roberts. They dedicate so much time to improving individuals, watching clips and teaching with one-to-ones.
Everton boss Willie Kirk praised his side in his column that he penned for evertonfc.com on Thursday:
It was very frustrating that our game at West Ham United was called off last weekend, so we’re all raring to go and looking forward to Saturday’s game at Manchester City.
The match can’t come soon enough. I think we are in a good place. It’s on BT Sport and it’s a Saturday evening kick-off, which is something a little bit different.
We know we’re capable of matching teams like City on any given day.
Kirk also spoke about how he expects his side's form to improve against the better opposition in the division.
We’re fifth in the league and we feel we’re there on merit. We want people to start talking about a top five, rather than a top three or a top four.
Sooner or later, though, we need to start taking points off others in that bracket.
At the moment, all of our points have come against teams below us, so we think it’s overdue that we start taking points from other members of the top five.