Preview: City v United Women
Manchester United Women will make the short trip across town this weekend to take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the WSL.
Marc Skinner’s side will now be hoping to record a first-ever league win over the Blues when the sides meet at City’s home ground on Sunday.
Kick-off is at 12:30 GMT, and ahead of the game, here is our round-up of all the other key information that you need to know…
Zelem: We know what derbies are about
United Women captain Katie Zelem is hoping to draw on her experience when the Reds face Man City on Sunday...
Tickets for United’s allocation at the Etihad Stadium have now sold out for the game, which is expected to have a sizeable crowd in attendance, with reports of over 40,000 tickets being sold so far.
There will be live updates on the afternoon in the United App and via @ManUtdWomen on Twitter, while the match will be broadcast live in the UK on BBC One, with coverage starting from 12:15 GMT.
THE OPPOSITION
The Blues said farewell to a handful of key players over the summer with outgoing transfers and retirement but have reinforced, while several members of the squad have also stepped up to fill the void left by the likes of Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh and Ellen White. Arguably none more so than forward Khadija Shaw, who has netted 11 times in 11 games this season and is joint top of the WSL goal chart in 2022/23 so far with eight in eight. After three losses in their opening four games of the season across all competitions, Gareth Taylor’s side have made quite the turnaround and go into Sunday’s match searching for their 10th successive victory. It’s helped their pursuit of another top-three finish in the league – having not missed out on doing this since 2014 – and given them a strong start to their defence of the Continental Tyres League Cup, with three wins from three in the group stage so far.
TEAM NEWS
City expect to have Lauren Hemp and Vicky Losada available for Sunday’s encounter. Hemp returned from injury in the final 20 minutes of their Conti Cup win at Liverpool on Wednesday, while Losada has been out since October but is back in training, according to Taylor.
The only question mark United have is the fitness of Adriana Leon, explained Skinner in his pre-match press conference, who missed our midweek outing with illness. Long-term absentee, and former City defender, Aoife Mannion isn’t expected to return until the new year.
Skinner: Derbies are different
ArticleSee what Marc Skinner said to the media ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manchester City in the Women's Super League.
As mentioned above, Sunday’s hosts go into the game looking to record a 10th victory in a row. City have won their last six league games and their first three Group B matches in the Continental Tyres League Cup. Last time out, they defeated Liverpool 2-0 in midweek, in the latter competition.
The Reds’ defeat to Chelsea last month was the only loss Skinner’s side have suffered in 90 minutes over our last nine matches. Since that meeting with the Londoners, we’ve beaten Arsenal, Aston Villa and Everton, scoring at least three goals in every one of those outings.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
A United win on Sunday would be our first ever in the league against City, with the Blues unbeaten in the five WSL meetings so far (three wins, two draws). In the 10 previous fixtures between the sides, United’s victories have all come in the League Cup (2019 and 2021), while the Reds also took a bonus point in that competition against City after a penalty-shootout triumph followed a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes, in the 2020/21 season. The teams' inaugural clash in September 2019 was played at the Etihad Stadium, with more than 31,000 supporters in attendance to see the home side win 1-0 on the opening day of the 2019/20 WSL campaign.
Highlights: United Women 2 Man City 1
Watch the short match highlights of this FA WSL Cup match...
All six of this weekend’s WSL games are to be played on Sunday, in a bumper day of action across the division. Here is the schedule…
SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER
Manchester City v UNITED (12:30)
Brighton & Hove Albion v Everton (14:00)
Liverpool v Leicester City (14:00)
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (14:00)
Aston Villa v Arsenal (16:15)
Chelsea v Reading (18:45)
All kick-off times listed are GMT.