Manchester City start their Women's Super League campaign on Saturday away to newly-promoted Aston Villa live on BT Sport at Villa Park.

The blues narrowly missed out on the WSL title on points-per-game last year after the 19/20 season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although they did secure a spot in this year's UEFA Women's Champions League.

City lost to Chelsea in the Community Shield last weekend but will be looking to start the season with a win when they face Aston Villa for Gareth Taylor's first league game in charge.

Transfers

City have been one of the most active clubs in the transfer market this summer, having already secured the services of world-cup winning USWNT midfielders Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis for the season with the option of a further year at the club.

Mewis made her debut in the Community Shield, replacing Caroline Weir in the second half. She has also featured in a pre-season friendly against Everton in which she scored one and assisted a further two. The 27-year-old joins City after three seasons with the North Carolina Courage and has been a regular in her national team for a number of years, helping the USA to win last year's World Cup.

With her NWSL rights transferred to the OL Reign, Rose Lavelle made the move to City in August. The attacking midfielder won the World Cup with the USA last year and is an incredible signing for the blues. Although she is not available for the start of the season as she is quarantining since moving over from the UK, Lavelle is looking forward to starting her City career:

"The club is one of the best in the world and the resources that they put on both sides definitely drew me there

"There's a lot of resources, a lot of support. It's a great environment and something which I felt like I really needed and it's something that I feel is going to really help me grow."

One of the WSL's most impressive young players last year, Manchester City secured the services of Chloe Kelly on a two-year deal after her contract with Everton expired. Still only 22, she scored nine goals in her twelve league games last season and was called up to the England squad for the SheBelieves Cup. In the Community Shield defeat, Kelly was impressive up top and looked a likely goal threat.

As well as transfers, there has been some action in terms of loan moves for City. South Korean midfielder Lee Geum-min has departed to join Brighton for the season to gain game-time which she was not able to do last year. After a successful period with Everton, young defender Esme Morgan has will now return to the blues for this year's campaign.

Although it has not been confirmed yet, The Telegraph has reported that Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood are set to join the blues. If the two do opt to make the move to Manchester, then it would help with the lack of depth in defence that City often struggled with last year, especially with Bronze coming in as right-back.

New manager

After long-term manager Nick Cushing departed in February of last year, a new era will be getting underway at the City Football Academy with Gareth Taylor in the dugout.

Taylor, who spent three years playing for the club between 1998 and 2001, has worked in the youth setup at Manchester City since 2012, leading the under 18s to the semi-finals of last year's FA Youth Cup and the final the year before.

Speaking when he was announced as manager, Taylor said that his ambitions were to be successful both domestically and in Europe:

“Improving means the domestic title – we’ve been successful once so far – first and foremost. Then, we’ll look at the competitions where we've been successful previously in the cups, and the Champions League is obviously something the club wants to progress in.

“We’ve come close previously and it’s not going to be easy. In cup competitions, anything can happen on the day.

“That will be one of our aims: to look to progress in the Champions League and try and show some success in that competition.”

Players to watch

#21 - Rose Lavelle

If Lavelle can keep fit for the entire season, then she will play a crucial part in Manchester City's aims for domestic and European success.

The 25-year-old is currently in quarantine after moving to England from the USA and will not be available for the season's opener against Aston Villa.

Embed from Getty Images

Lavelle scored in the final of the 2019 World Cup and has cemented herself a spot as one of the greatest in the world and a crucial part of the USWNT side. 

However, the Citizens currently have a large number of players who are available to play in midfield and Lavelle will not immediately earn a place over the already solid Keira Walsh, Caroline Weir and Jill Scott in midfield, having to first prove her worth to the head coach.

#9 - Chloe Kelly

After departing Everton to join the blues this summer, Chloe Kelly could help to provide goals this year.

The London-born striker was impressive for the Toffees last year and had an impressive goalscoring rate of 0.75 per game last year.

With Lauren Hemp's hamstring injury in the Community Shield, Kelly's ability to also feature out wide could be crucial in acting as Hemp's replacement.

Ones for the future

#14 - Esme Morgan

With no other fit right-backs currently at the club and Lucy Bronze not yet confirmed as a Manchester City player, Esme Morgan will get her chance to shine for the City first team.

Embed from Getty Images

The 19-year-old spent last season on loan at fellow WSL side Everton, the tall right-back impressing in the games which she played.

After Aoife Mannion tore her anterior cruciate ligament in October of last year, City struggled without a proper right-sided defender in the squad with forwards Janine Beckie and Georgia Stanway acting as stand-in right-backs for a large part of the season.

Although Bronze may be rumoured to be signing, the Lionesses youth international now has the opportunity to have a starting spot with the blues and looked reliable in the Community Shield against Chelsea

#16 - Jess Park

The 18-year-old forward signed her first professional contract with Manchester City this summer and if she features, may be able to make her mark.

Park has twelve goals in her thirteen appearances that she has made for England's U19 side and scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup against Ipswich Town last season.

With the addition of Chloe Kelly to Georgia Stanway and Ellen White, however, it is difficult to see how Park will get the opportunity to get first-team minutes this season without injuries to the main lineup.

Predicted finish - Title battle

Predicting who will finish top in this year's Women's Super League is an incredibly tricky task and one which is has been made even more difficult by Chelsea's recent addition of Pernille Harder.

There is no denying just how good Emma Hayes' Chelsea are but Manchester City have the players to be able to compete with any team in this division.

Even though much of the spotlight has been on City and Chelsea due to their recent transfer activity, it is worth noting that Joe Montemurro has taken a different approach with his Arsenal side. The Gunners' transfers were mostly confirmed early into the window, with the likes of Steph Catley sensible transfers that will aid his side in areas which they struggled last year. The spotlight might not have been on Meadow Park this summer but there is no counting out the Gunners from a battle at the top of the table.

With a new manager at the helm, the tactical changes may be enough to help City to overcome the issues which were holding them back both in Europe and against the top sides in the WSL, but it is yet to be seen how the side will fare with Gareth Taylor as manager.

VAVEL Logo
About the author