Key events
Manchester City are absolutely flying right now. Since losing to Chelsea in the WSL’s opening game, they have won seven in a row and sit above the defending champions at the top of the table.
Andrée Jeglertz, who is looking to deliver City’s first league title since 2016, today gets his first taste of the Manchester derby.
“This is the biggest game so far, I would say,” Jeglertz said this week. “I’m really looking forward to it, to play in that stadium in front of our home fans and also with the precision we have as a team right now.
“United are a great team. I think they have done very well, both in Champions League but also in the league. They are definitely going to be in top of the league to compete with the other teams that have the right to win the league. They will definitely be a contender to that.”
“One of the hardest decisions.” That was how Jess Park summed up swapping City for United this summer after making 122 appearances for the club, her first coming at the age of 16. The attacking midfielder went in search of more game time under Marc Skinner and her ambitions have been rewarded.
In eight appearances, including six starts, in the WSL, she has scored four and set up another two. She earned an England recall in October but had to pull out because of concussion. Ella Toone has particularly enjoyed playing alongside Park.
“She awoken players around her,” Skinner said this month. “She adds another skill set that brings out the best in others … Look at the way Toone started the season. Her and Jess have a special relationship – they come to life together.”
Jess Park starts for United against her former club. Grace Clinton, the other half of the summer swap deal, is named on the bench for City.
Elsewhere for United, Safia Middleton-Patel continues to deputise in goal for the injured Phallon Tullis-Joyce. Melvin Malard and Fridolina Rolfö have to make do with a place on the bench after their goals against PSG in midweek.
As for City, Lauren Hemp makes her first start since September after recovering fully from an ankle injury, coming in for Iman Beney in the only change from the team that beat Everton last weekend.
Confirmed lineups
Both coaches have named their starting XIs:
Man City (3-4-2-1): Yamashita; Rose, Knaak, Ouahabi; Casparij, Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa, Hemp; Fujino, Miedema; Shaw
Subs: Keating, Clinton, Coombs, Wienroither, Lohmann, Beney, Prior, Thomas, Oldroyd
Man Utd (4-1-4-1): Middleton-Patel; Riviere, Le Tissier, Janssen, Sandberg; Miyazawa; Park, Zigiotti, Toone, Galton; Terland
Subs: Rendell, Blundell, George, Awujo, Naalsund, Rolfo, Griffiths, Malard, Williams
Preamble
It’s derby day in Manchester as two of the form teams in the WSL this season go head to head at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City are top of the league and on a seven-game winning streak since losing their season opener at Chelsea. Manchester United are only four points behind them and have won their last six matches in all competitions, including the Champions League victory against Mary Earps’s PSG on Wednesday.
This fixture produced 10 goals across two league games last season – Ella Toone’s hat-trick in a 4-2 away win for United still fresh in the memory from January. The last derby in May, at Old Trafford, ended in a 2-2 draw as United held on for a point after being reduced to 10 players.
Let’s hope for more drama today in this 1.30pm (GMT) kick-off. Get in touch with your thoughts – on the game or the WSL title race, perhaps – or with your favourite Manchester derby moments.
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