WSL preview: Manchester derby at the Etihad

While the World Cup goes into its final stages there’s still plenty of football to be played in the WSL.

Sunday’s fixture list looks like it could be another potentially thrilling weekend in the league, headlined by the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium...

Manchester City v Manchester United

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Both sides were able to rest some key players which should set up a thrilling encounter between the two Manchester clubs. The two have met nine teams before with United winning just once – a cup win in 2021. Can an improved United this season break that WSL duck against City?

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United

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Like Spurs, the Hammers also lost on the road last weekend – a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool – so both sides will be looking to return to winning ways.

Liverpool v Leicester City

After a 2-0 win against West Ham United, Liverpool suffered a midweek defeat to Manchester City in the Conti Cup. Still, you would expect the Reds to get back on track against Leicester City. After moving up to ninth in the table they should expect to potentially move up another position or two depending on results elsewhere.

Leicester are yet to play their midweek Conti Cup game against Sunderland, but it could prove a welcome relief for the Foxes to face Championship opposition instead. If anything, it’s something they will soon be getting used to with Leicester having lost all nine of their opening games, conceding 25 goals including eight against Chelsea in the league last week.

Brighton & Hove Albion v Everton

There were no surprises as Brighton fell to a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City in last week’s league game with Lee Geum-min scoring a late consolation for the Seagulls. Brighton are the team to watch for the neutrals at least, there have been 40 games in Brighton’s seven league games so far this season. That’s an average of over goals a game that Brighton are involved in – more than you’ll find anywhere else!

Everton could do with the three points against Brighton. The Toffees have won just one of their last six games in all competitions, although they did play Arsenal and Manchester United in their last two games.

The head-to-head record between these two suggests it will be a close contest, with both sides winning two times each and four other games ending in a draw.

Aston Villa v Arsenal

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It’s been 1-0 to the Arsenal lately. The Gunners defeated Everton in the WSL and Juventus in the Champions League by that scoreline in their last two games with Vivianne Miedema scoring both of Arsenal’s goals.

Chelsea v Reading

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Meanwhile the Royals edged Chelsea’s fierce rivals Spurs with a 1-0 win thanks to Amy Turner’s own goal. The result was just Reading’s second win of the season and they’ll go into this one as huge underdogs, although they did record their only win ever against the Blues last season: a 1-0 win at home last year. That game was also played on December 11th, can it happen again one year on?