WSL - Women's Super League Game week 13 match previews
Game week 13 of the WSL delivers six thrilling clashes as teams fight for league positions and second-half season momentum...
The first fixture of the WSL weekend kicks off at this Friday at Everton’s Goodison Park at 19:00, as the Toffees host Brighton & Hove Albion. Both sides will be targeting their first points of the calendar year, having returned from the winter break a fortnight ago with defeats.
Everton’s loss was their eighth of the season, leaving them hovering just above the relegation zone. Brighton, meanwhile, won the reverse fixture at Broadfield Stadium back in September and will be looking to complete the double over the Merseyside club.
On Saturday, reigning WSL champions Chelsea face London rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in a high-stakes clash between second and third in the table. Chelsea sit six points behind leaders Manchester City, having drawn three of their 12 league matches and suffered a surprise defeat to Everton in early December. Since that loss, however, the Blues have been in devastating form winning six consecutive games, scoring 30 goals and conceding just twice.
European champions Arsenal, who were held to a 0–0 draw by Manchester United in their last outing, could move to within one point of Chelsea with victory. The reverse fixture in November ended 1–1, with goals from Chelsea’s Alyssa Thompson and Arsenal’s Alessia Russo.
Four matches take place on Sunday lunchtime, with kick-off at 11:55. At Villa Park, Aston Villa host Manchester United. Although the sides are separated by just one place in the table, Villa trail United by six points. Villa come into the match on the back of a 2–1 win over Brighton, a result that lifted them above the Seagulls and into mid-table contention. United, meanwhile, have not won a league match since their 7th December victory over West Ham, having dropped four points since the winter break. Villa claimed a narrow 1–0 win when the sides met in early November.
Elsewhere, London City Lionesses face Manchester City at Hayes Lane in Bromley. The hosts are winless since 23rd November and face a daunting challenge against league leaders Manchester City, who are currently on an 11-game winning run. The Lionesses sit seventh and could climb to sixth with a victory, depending on other results. City ran out 4–1 winners in the reverse fixture, with goals from Vivianne Miedema, Laura Brown and Khadija Shaw.
Winless Liverpool host Champions League-chasing Tottenham at Brisbane Road, as they continue their search for a first league victory of the season. However, Liverpool will take confidence from their last outing, where they earned a point against London City Lionesses.
Tottenham arrive in strong form, unbeaten in their last four matches and having won seven of their 12 league games so far this season, a stark contrast to last year’s relegation battle. Sitting fourth in the table and separated from third-placed Arsenal only by goal difference, Spurs know that victory could lift them above their north London rivals and move them closer to a top-three, Champions League-qualifying finish.
The King Power Stadium plays host to Leicester City and West Ham United, with both sides in urgent need of three points as they look to pull clear of the encroaching relegation battle. With the two teams having conceded a combined 50 goals this season while scoring just 23 between them, this fixture could be more open than the league positions suggest.
When the sides met on 9 November at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, Leicester snatched a dramatic point thanks to a 97th-minute equaliser from Shannon O’Brien, cancelling out Shekiera Martinez’s 51st-minute opener for the Hammers.
With clubs at both ends of the table battling for European places and fighting to avoid being dragged into the relegation scrap, this weekend’s WSL fixtures promise plenty of intrigue.
