Manchester City travel to Brighton on Sunday afternoon for more Women’s Super League action against a side desperate to steady their ship after another change of management.
City are in fine form after being unbeaten in their last 12 league fixtures and they head into the game having clawed their way back into title contention after a slow start to the season.
Gareth Taylor's side are currently third in the league table with 32 points from 14 games and last time out Khadija Shaw punished Tottenham to give City a 3-1 win with the league's top scorer netting all three goals herself after Spurs opened the scoring on the half-hour mark.
Manager Gareth Taylor said: “I look at performances over actual results and the performances have been really strong. I think the players are contributing well, our training levels have been really high and there's a real understanding of what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to achieve. The players are taking the forefront on leading, I have to say very little if I'm honest.”
Their hosts Brighton have had a rough season - they sit one from the bottom of the league standings on eight points from a dozen games and are back with their interim manager Amy Merricks following the termination of manager Jens Scheuer.
The Seagulls need to get points on the board to escape the relegation battle, however, they have lost their last two league games and conceded nine goals in that time while netting just three - in a 6-2 loss to Aston Villa and a 3-1 loss to Chelsea midweek.
Taylor said: “When we played [Brighton] earlier in the season and Amy was in charge, we saw a similar identity to what we saw with Hope [Powell] but then the game against Chelsea that they had the other night, I think they were different to what they were doing previously.
“We anticipate what might happen but we know the reality could be different. But I think it comes back to the cohesion we have in the team at the moment, players are quite bright in working out systems pretty soon and adapting to that during games.
“Amy will want to put her own stamp on it for sure, and I think she will do that. We have an idea, but always be ready."
The last time these two teams met was in December, City were 3-1 victors when Veatriki Sarri put the ball in her own net to give City an early lead. That was followed by Julie Blakstad and Laura Coombs but a lack of concentration gave Geum-min Lee a stoppage-time consolation goal.
Brighton and Hove Albion will host Manchester City on Sunday, March 12 kicking off at 2pm, available to watch via the FA Player.
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