Manchester City Women travel to Brighton for a crucial WSL clash that can see the blues move level on points once again with Chelsea at the top of the table. Emma Hayes’s side went three points clear of the blues with victory over Arsenal last night and City will need the three points to keep the title race open.
The blues suffered a shock defeat to Brighton when the two teams met in November, the first time they have lost to the Seagulls and will no doubt be looking for a modicum of revenge when they meet on Sunday.
Form
City go into the match on the back of two straight cup defeats. They lost the League Cup clash with Chelsea at the Joie Stadium, while in the FA Cup, the blues were seconds from victory until Khiara Keating’s error allowed Beth England to tap home an equaliser.
In the league, City have won their last nine matches, ironically, all their WSL games since that 1-0 defeat in November.
Brighton face the blues on the back of a 4-0 home thrashing by Manchester United in the FA Cup, but their last league outing ended in a 7-3 victory at Bristol City. That was their first WSL win since January, when they beat the same opposition at home. In between, they lost at home to Chelsea and Liverpool, in addition to being beaten 2-0 at United.
Team News
Brighton defender Poppy Pattinson serves the last of her three-match ban against the blues and striker Taylor Smith has been recalled to her parent club, Gotham FC.
City have confirmed Bunny Shaw will be available and Chloe Kelly may make a return to the side after dropping to the subs bench last weekend.
Prediction
The result against Brighton in November was a shock but I don’t think City will repeat that on Sunday. With the league at stake, I would expect a professional performance and a City win.
Brighton 0-4 City