Manchester United have once of the most talked about FA WSL clubs after signing Tobin Heath and Christen Press. Before their biggest summer signings Casey Stoney's squad were favourites to break into the top three and much more now that they've proven how good a squad they are.
But the Manchester side travel to London to take on Tottenham on the end of their first loss of the season to Liverpool in the FA Continental Tyres League Cup.
Stoney's squad fell to Liverpool 3-1 at Prenton Park and the manager said "there is no alternative" to get a result at the Hive Stadium Saturday afternoon.
"That's probably been the worst defeat since I've been here. In terms of the way we played, the way we went down and the mistakes we made.
"Liverpool are a decent team, we knew it would be a tough test. We weren't quite at our levels, too many players underperformed and we didn't play the way we wanted. But you take all that into consideration, we still had chances to win the game.
"As poor as we were there were big moments and we've got to make sure that we're more diligent in those moments so that we don't concede.
"We have to look at ourselves collectively now, reflect on what we didn’t do well, why that result happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again."
Tottenham just got their first win of the season against London City Lionesses in the Conti Cup on Wednesday finishing 4-0 with goals from Ria Percival, Alanna Kennedy, Rosella Ayane and Angela Addison.
Spurs are coming into Saturday with 1 draw and 2 losses in the league, whereas United have managed 2 wins and 1 draw.
United have won all four of their previous encounters with the London side with each victory coming with at least a three goal margin.
But Tottenham have a three match unbeaten run at home, having just lost one of their last five FA WSL home fixtures.
-
On player availability
Stoney has limited player availablity with eight squad players out including Ona Batlle, Lauren James, Jess Sigsworth and Martha Harris.
The United manager has highlighted that coming back into full match fitness is harder than before with restrictions in place for players. With a combination of lockdown and a long pre-season there have been more injuries than perhaps was anticipated.
"As much as you can go out run in you can do your programs you can't replicate striking a ball over distance repetitively, you can't replicate the reactivity of the sport. We have we've been trying to manage them [the players] as best as we can.
"It's a tough time for the squad. But fortunately, we've got a big squad and a capable squad. I'd love to have everyone available at the moment. Fortunately, most of our attackers are available. [Injured players] are not really where we'd want them to be in terms of building them up."
-
On the development of both clubs
As pointed out by Molly Hudson from The Times, a couple of years ago this fixture would have been a FA Women's Championship match up, both clubs have featured in the FA WSL for just one season.
"I think it shows we've come a long way. I give credit to Karen and Juan for what they've done at Tottenham. They’ve built a really good foundation
"As a women's team, we've progressed really, really quickly, which is great. It means the players are working hard, the staff done incredible jobs and we've got fantastic support behind us.
"But with that comes expectation as well. And it's now making sure that we can match that expectation. If people aren't talking about you, then you're not doing the right thing. Now it's us getting to those levels consistently every week."
-
Bringing fans back into the stands
Stoney called out the poor visibility of women's football after fans couldn't watch Conti Cup fixtures such as Chelsea v Arsenal and Manchester United's fixture against Liverpool was played in the middle of a workday.
There has been limited progress of seeing fans back at FA WSL stadiums, even though most clubs and managers insist that it is safer than a lot of activities that the government is allowing to continue.
Without fans at stadiums, without fans being able to watch games and without promotion for the women's game there can potentially be a negative impact on football as a whole as highlighted by Stoney.
"We're trying to grow the game, we're trying to make sure that the visibility is there. I don't just worry about us, I worry about football. Without the football pyramid football can't exist as it is.
"It's a huge concern. We want our fans in the ground it does make a difference and you don't get any advantage at the moment.
"I genuinely cannot understand why you can't [have fans in the stadium]. It’s the inconsistencies for me, I don't understand it."
-
When and Where
Kick-off for this match is at 12:30 on Saturday, October 10 and will be available to watch on BT Sport 3
Internationally this will be available to watch on the FA Player.
