Week six of the WSL, all matches are on Sunday, most at the main club stadium due to the men’s being on international break, except for the Chelsea game, because there’s the Chelsea legends vs. Liverpool legends charity match the day before. WSL rules state that one match per season must be played at the club’s nominated main stadium.
Aston Villa v Leicester City
Aston Villa hopes to build on their first league win last week, beating West Ham 2-0. After playing three games, two draws, and a loss, they have a game in hand.
Kirsty Hanson and Lynn Wilms scored in a 2-0 victory over West Ham to give Villa their first three points.
Leicester City have struggled in front of goal, scrapping a 1-1 draw against Everton.
No new injuries from either side. Leicester's Missy Goodwin and Celeste Boureille are progressing in getting back to fitness.
Aston Villa is without Jill Baijings, who has been ruled out for months due to a knee injury.
After beating Liverpool despite going down to 10 players, Leicester lost by one goal to Chelsea and Tottenham.
Chelsea v Spurs
Chelsea have won four matches and drawn one in their last match, but they had a midweek away game in the Champions League, where they drew 1-1. preparation from their last match, but Chelsea had a midweek away game in the Champions League, where they drew 1-1.
The Spurs have had some fantastic performances, shocking the league with their performance. They are sitting above Arsenal in the table, and their only loss was 5-1 against Manchester City.
Chelsea manager, Sonia Bompastor, on injuries and returns: 'Lucy (bronze) and Niamh (Charles) are fit again and available for Sunday, Bompastor confirmed, before adding, ' I think a caged tiger is an excellent description of Lucy!', after a journalist used the term.
Lauren James and Naomi Girma still need to return to fitness, which could be seen after the international break.
Bompastor described Lucy Bronze: 'She brings much energy to the team. I've never had someone in my squad with her mentality. She's tough, and I think it's good to have these leaders back in the group, and I'm really happy for them both to be ready to play some minutes again.'
There was more positive news over the fitness of midfielder Sjoeke Nusken, who started against FC Twente in midweek but was withdrawn after 55 minutes, when she suffered a blow to the face in a duel with an opposition player.
After being observed, the German international has been deemed fit to play against Tottenham on Sunday.
The Blues manager knows the challenge the next opponent will pose and is not surprised at how well the team has been doing this season.
Martin Ho, Spurs manager, said: “I think we know the quality they possess. They’re champions in terms of their squad and what they've done in Europe and domestically in the league. They're renowned for winning, so yeah, we know it's going to be a tough game. More importantly, we must focus on ourselves and improve better than we have when we've played against the top clubs. We must go into the game confidently and believe that we belong there. Away from that, we must ensure we show our best version of ourselves.”
Ho’s side's defence has been rocky, and they have not consistently scored the most goals, but like Chelsea last season, they win even if it's not always convincingly or scrappily.
London City Lionesses v West Ham
London City will see this as a perfect game to pick up the three points against a side that has not won in the WSL this season. However, West Ham won the League Cup, 2-1, against Brighton.
London City is building momentum after a late penalty (though controversial) win over Liverpool, who have yet to win a game in the WSL. They have now won two in their last three games. Before the season, this clash was described as a relegation thriller, but London City have proven that the team that goes up does not always have to go back down again the following season.
West Ham have conceded heavily this season; they have so far conceded 16, though London City have not done much better with 14. Both had a hard start to the season, playing big teams in the WSL, the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City between them. This is their worst start to a WSL for the side to date. They are one of two teams to have lost every game in the campaign, the other being Liverpool, but they have played one last game.
West Ham needs results and fast to stay on top flight.
The Lionesses have recalled Sophia Poor from her loan, and the goalkeeper should travel with the squad
Leila Wandeler has proved to be a bright spark in her appearances for the Hammers this season, and the winger is pushing for a start this weekend.
Shekeira Martinez netted a brace in the West Ham League Cup win and should lead the line again.
Rehanne Skinner has spoken about the club being roasted after a League Cup mid-week match, though neither side has any new injuries.
Everton v Manchester United
This will be Everton’s women’s first game at the new men’s stadium Hill Dickinson as the men are on international break.
Should Everton beat Manchester United, the women’s side will have won a game at Hill Dickinson Stadium before they have done so at Goodison Park.
Manchester United are unbeaten in the WSL but they have had back-to-back draws in the league now. They should build on there mid week games in the champions League where they won 1-0 against Valerenga through a penalty by their captain Maya Le Tissier.
The Red Devils are yet to lose in the WSL this season and ended Chelsea’s 100 per cent record last time around.
Maya Le Tissier has been a star for the Red Devils, with Marc Skinner suggesting his defender could become an ‘England stalwart’ ahead of the upcoming international break. Though she has not been given much of a chance to shine on the international stage with Sarina Wiegman in charge, she was in the England euros squad but struggled for minutes.
Everton are still seeking a second win in the WSL; they won their opener at Anfield against Liverpool but have not won since.
Since then, the only point they have picked up was in a 1-1 draw against Leicester City. That is because they have suffered defeats to Tottenham, London City Lionesses and Brighton.
Having made nine signings over the summer window, head coach Brian Sorensen says his side are still ‘trying to find their feet’ this season.
Everton manager has confirmed Katja Snoeijs will miss the clash after a hamstring issue in training. While Marc Skinner's side is not much better when it comes to injuries with big stars out long term and increased games will likely have to toil but their midweek game was at home.
There is some good news for Everton with Kelly Gago set to return after her recent absence from the squad.
Bizet Donnum and Leah Galton could both return to the matchday squad for Manchester United.
Marc Skinner could look to freshen things up after playing midweek, so the likes of Gabby George and Fridolina Rolfo could feature. This would help reduce the chances of injuries to there key players and ensure they have the best recovery after midweek football this week and next.
Arsenal v Brighton
Arsenal have not won a match since the 12 of September when they won 5-1 to West Ham. They drew to United and Aston Villa through a stoppage time equaliser from Lucy Parker. Last game in the WSL they lost to Manchester City. Then they lost 2-1 to Lyon in the Champions League. Arsenal need to respond positively and proactively to stay in a chance for the titles. They have dropped points for a fourth consecutive game in all competitions.
Alessia Russo said Arsenal are in a blip after their loss to Lyon and Brighton have the quality to pose the Gunners some problems on Sunday.
The Seagulls are just one point behind Arsenal but like the Gunners they have suffered two defeats in the last week.
A 1-0 loss to Tottenham was followed by a 2-1 defeat to West Ham in the Women’s League Cup.
Brighton might not be in the best form but Arsenal can ill-afford to make the same mistakes that they made against Lyon, where they conceded twice from giving the ball away while trying to play out from the back.
The likes of Katie McCabe, Olivia Smith and Caitlin Foord could all step back in for the Gunners.
Brighton will be without Michelle Agyemang who is ineligible to face her parent club Arsenal.
That means Carla Camacho, who scored midweek against West Ham, could play up front.
No new injures however it is looking like Leah Williamson return for Arsenal could not be till Christmas time.
Renee Slegers, Arsenal manager has been vocal on her side needing to ‘bounce back’ mentally after previous results and be mentally sharp.
Liverpool v Manchester City
Due to the international break for the men’s this game will be played at Anfield.
City arrive with full confidence after a late win over Arsenal ending 3-2 in the WSL. Since losing to Chelsea on the opening day they have won their last four games an scored 14 goals along the way.
Liverpool have had the complete opposite start losing all of their WSL games. But also the passing of their late manager has significantly impacted the club.
Gareth Taylor will face his previous side for the first time ever after being sacked in March after a nearly five year spell in charge.
During his latter months at the club, he had disagreements with Chloe Kelly, who was loaned to Arsenal in January before completing a permanent move in the summer. He has also been rumoured to have disagreements with other players while at City and having poor player management.
He has continued to use the tactics of playing from the back and possession style game at Liverpool as he did at City but due to the difference in players, depth of squad and talent it has not worked. He is desperate to get a point especially against his former club
Taylor has however defended his playing style in recent days, saying it is ‘like my religion’ and also telling Sky Sports that he wants Liverpool to become the best pressing team in Europe
Manchester City manager provided a fitness update ahead of facing Liverpool on Sunday. “Lauren (Hemp) is not ready. Kerolin is not ready. Becks (Knaak) is probably not there either. But the other ones should hopefully be available.
Liverpool will do a pre-match check on Leanne Kiernan who has an issue with her foot.
Lucy Parry and Lily Woodham have also been struggling with hamstring issues, and goalkeeper Rachael Laws is still out of action.
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