Key events
13 min: It’s been a very quiet match for Yamashita in the Manchester City goal so far. The keeper has barely had a touch of the ball.
10 min: Chance for City – the first chance of the game! Ouahabi sends a cross deep into the box and finds Fujino at the far post. The winger goes for goal and her effort takes a slight deflection off Hinds before hitting the inside of the post!
9 min: Manchester City have been fairly happy to just keep possession in these opening stages. We’re yet to see an attempt on goal.
6 min: Höbinger attempts to apply pressure on Miedema in midfield but gives away a foul. City take it quickly and look to counter, but the attacking threat eventually fizzles out.
4 min: We’re four minutes into this match and Liverpool are yet to have a proper grasp of the ball. Manchester City have been quite happy just playing it among themselves.
3 min: The ball is sent over to Fujino on the right, who drills a cross into the box but Liverpool can make the clearance.
2 min: City look to break early as Shaw wins the ball in the middle before attempting to play it to Fujino, but her pass is intercepted.
Kick-off
We’re under way at the Joie Stadium! Manchester City kick off proceedings.
The teams are out! Kick-off is just a few moments away!
Discussing today’s game during his pre-match press conference, Liverpool manager Matt Beard said: “We don’t fear anyone. We will do as much as we can to get the three points because we want to continue the run we are on. We are five points off fifth place. I think that top four have broken away so right now our ambition is getting fifth or sixth spot, but if we go on a run like we did last year then we give ourselves a good chance of doing that.”
We might be at the Joie Stadium today but across the city, Manchester United fans have urged co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to put more effort into the women’s team…
Arsenal stunned local rivals Tottenham 5-0 in the WSL earlier today thanks to goals from Alessia Russo, Mariona Caldentey, Frida Maanum and Emily Fox. Chloe Kelly also received a huge ovation when she stepped onto the Emirates Stadium pitch for her second Arsenal debut.
You can recap the action with Suzanne Wrack’s match report here:
Elsewhere in the WSL today
Quick Guide
Roundup: James’ late winner caps Chelsea comeback
Show
Lauren James grabbed a stoppage-time winner as Chelsea battled from a goal down to beat Everton 2-1 at Kingsmeadow and maintain their seven-point lead at the top of the Women’s Super League.
The visitors threatened to cause an upset when Kelly Gago burst down the left wing in the 51st minute and unleashed a fine effort into the top corner against the run of play. Sonia Bompastor’s side rallied with Mayra Ramírez equalising just after the hour mark in what was the leaders’ first real chance of note.
The visitors looked good value for a point until the third minute of added time when James [pictured] unleashed a long-range effort with her left foot that clipped the post and found the back of the net to break Everton hearts.
West Ham moved clear of the relegation battle with an impressive 3-1 home win over fifth-placed Brighton. Shekiera Martínez opened the scoring for the hosts from close range in the 11th minute, but Nikita Parris quickly hit back for Brighton, sweeping home Rachel McLauchlan’s low cross.
Rehanne Skinner’s side emerged stronger after the restart and Riko Ueki restored their lead after 64 minutes, with Viviane Asseyi scoring a penalty four minutes later after being brought down by McLauchlan as West Ham climbed to eighth.
Leicester eased to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa to leapfrog their opponents, who slip back down to 11th in the table. The Leicester captain, Janice Cayman, opened the scoring after 29 minutes and smashed in a superb volley just after half-time, with Julie Thibaud bundling home on 50 minutes to seal victory. PA Media
Discussing Shaw’s involvement, City manager Gareth Taylor said: “The conversations we’ve had with her, you never want anyone to go through that scenario she’s been through. Our job was to help and support her as much as we could, that’s the team as being teammates, staff and club, it’s really important. Hopefully she’s felt that and feels back in a really good place where we’re the ones who are really important for her and will help her in this period. She’s feeling a lot better for having this free week to get ready, because everything happened so quickly with us travelling down to London to play Arsenal, it was a critical time and not much time for us to make those opportunities to have those in-depth conversations and understand how she feels.”
Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw makes her first start since early December this evening. The 28-year-old spent over a month on the sidelines due to injury before returning to action last month. She then withdrew from City’s League Cup match against Arsenal on February 6 after receiving horrific racist and misogynistic abuse just days prior. She scored her first goal in two months against Leicester in the FA Cup last weekend after coming off the bench, but now she is back in the starting line-up.
Team news
Manchester City starting XI: Ayaka Yamashita; Leila Ouahabi, Laia Aleixandri, Rebecca Knaak, Gracie Prior; Jill Roord, Yui Hasegawa; Vivianne Miedema, Aoba Fujino, Mary Fowler, Khadija Shaw. Substitutes: Khiara Keating, Naomi Layzell, Laura Wienroither, Kerolin, Jess Park, Laura Blindkilde Brown, Aemu Oyama, Lily Murphy, Mayzee Davies.
Liverpool starting XI: Teagan Micah; Jenna Clark, Grace Fisk, Gemma Evans; Lucy Parry, Taylor Hinds; Sam Kerr, Ceri Holland, Marie Höbinger; Leanne Kiernan, Sophie Román Haug. Substitutes: Rachael Laws, Cornelia Kapocs, Fūka Nagano, Mia Enderby,
Yana Daniëls, Gemma Bonner, Alejandra Bernabé, Zara Shaw.
Preamble
Hello, good evening and welcome to coverage of Manchester City vs Liverpool in the Women’s Super League. These two teams last went head-to-head in October, when Gareth Taylor’s side took all three points courtesy of a late Khadija Shaw winner. Back then, City were widely considered title challengers. However, fast-forward four months and they are now battling for a place in the top three.
Liverpool, on the other hand, have struggled this season. Last term they beat Manchester United to fourth in the table, making them ‘best of the rest’ in the WSL. But this campaign things just haven’t been going their way. Both teams will be desperate for three points this evening, especially now we are approaching the back-end of the season.
Kick-off is at 6:45pm GMT – join me!
