Gareth Taylor insists unfamiliar surroundings will not daunt his Manchester City side ahead of Sunday’s crunch Barclays Women’s Super League clash against Manchester United, as they play at the Etihad for the first time in over three years.
More than 31,000 fans turned out in September 2019 to watch City beat United 1-0 in the first-ever women’s Manchester derby, but the team have not returned to the ground since.
City sit three points adrift of United ahead of Sunday’s clash, with defeat a likely fatal blow to the 2016 champions’ title ambitions. But boss Taylor is refusing to get overawed by what is at stake and has encouraged his players to enjoy the occasion without letting it get in the way of an all-important three points.
“Our job is just to keep things simple, do what we do,” said Taylor. “We’ve been playing really well recently; everyone is really contributing and we’re really looking forward to the game on Sunday.
“For us, it’s about making sure we concentrate on what we can affect and try to play the game rather than the occasion. It's a great occasion, we need to enjoy the experience regardless of the way the game goes.”
City come into the game in fine fettle, with nine wins on the bounce in the league putting them just three points adrift of United and Arsenal after a sticky start to the season. It means a win on Sunday would draw them level on points with Marc Skinner’s side, but midfielder Laura Coombs insists her squad need no extra incentive ahead derby day.
“There’s no extra motivation needed against United, but it would be great if we could end the year on level points with them, and then three points off the top after a tough start for us,” said Coombs. “The atmosphere, home or away against United is always a feisty one.
“We’re going into this in a great place, it’s as good a time as ever to play them. Every week that has gone by we’ve gelled a little bit more and every week we get more confidence in the way that we play.
Elsewhere in the title race, Arsenal will look to build on victory over Juventus in midweek with three points against Aston Villa at Villa Park. Vivianne Miedema continued her impressive form on her return from injury, netting her second goal in a week to earn a 1-0 win over the Bianconere at the Emirates to follow up her winner against Everton last weekend.
The Gunners will face a Villa side reeling from their 5-0 demolition at the hands of Manchester United last weekend, which brought an abrupt halt to their strong start to the season powered by the goals of Rachel Daly.
Jonas Eidevall’s side will know they must take all three points in order to keep up with leaders Chelsea, who ripped a winless Leicester City apart last weekend, with Fran Kirby and Jessie Fleming both at the double in an 8-0 victory.
However, boss Emma Hayes was less than impressed with her side’s 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in midweek and a better showing will be expected against visitors Reading on Sunday.
"It was really disappointing from us in the first half, the first time in a while we have conceded such a poor goal,” said Hayes. "It was a poor team performance, in and out of possession we were asleep. I made two half-time changes; I could have taken anyone off.”
They face a buoyant Royals side who halted their poor run of form with a hard-earned 1-0 win over Tottenham thanks to Amy Turner’s early own goal last time out. It means Kelly Chambers’ side have four of their seven points from their last four games and pulled further away from basement side Leicester.
The Foxes are still without a single point this term and travel to a Liverpool team fresh from an impressive 2-0 win over West Ham. First-half strikes from Ceri Holland and top scorer Katie Stengel snapped a six-game winless streak in the league for the Reds, who know a win this weekend will go a long way to survival in their first season back in the WSL.
Meanwhile the Hammers face Spurs with both sides looking to bounce back from their respective defeats last weekend. Just three points separate the two mid-table, with either hoping to keep pace with Villa and capitalise on any slip up from Manchester City.
And Brighton welcome Everton to Sussex in a crunch clash at the bottom, with both teams targeting a vital three points.
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