Manchester United welcome Everton to Leigh Sports Village tomorrow in the Women’s Super League. For United, it could very well be a chance to regain fifth place in the table.
Kick-off is tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. (Swedish summer time). The match is not shown on TV in Sweden but is available for free on FA Player in large parts of the world.
Manchester United
Last week United lost against Manchester City. That loss saw the team plummet to fifth place in the table. It is only the second time that United have been so low in the league after the new year. The first time was in February 2020, when however we had a better score than fifth place Reading. Our current level is therefore to be considered historically record low.
Victory tomorrow could very well mean that United regain fourth place. Before today, current fifth place Liverpool will play against Manchester City and it can be considered likely that Liverpool will drop points there.
However, fighting for fourth place in the league is insufficient for United’s women’s team. With five rounds left to play, we have no realistic chance of Champions League play next season. It is in all respects a failure.
Head coach Marc Skinner, on the other hand, remains stubbornly positive. “Even if you look at the derby against City, there aren’t many teams that have gone there and played evenly against them. Yes, we lost the game but we played evenly against them in that performance. In another game, another day, we win that game.”
It is a very red-faced interpretation of the course of events in that match. United was the better team in the first quarter. Then City took over and United were outplayed at times, until we got a reduction to the table. With it behind us, we finished decently, but City’s victory was never really threatened.
Skinner could offer both positives and negatives on the injury front. Leah Galton is available again, after almost a month’s injury absence. Hinata Miyazawa is also back. She broke her ankle at the beginning of December. “Of course they are not ready for 90 [minuter],” Skinner emphasized.
A double fitness boost for Sunday’s game! ââï¸#MUWomen
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) March 29, 2024
In contrast, Jayde Riviere is unavailable. She came off injured against City and misses at least tomorrow’s game. Beyond that, Skinner was unable or unwilling to give any prognosis.
In addition to that, all players, the long-term injured exception, must be available.
With Riviere unavailable, a gap opens up at right back. It was filled against City by Aoife Mannion and Mannion spontaneously feels like the best we have. The alternative is to move Hannah Blundell to the right and play Gemma Evans or Galton at left back. But Evans is too bad and it would probably be inappropriate to throw in Galton from the start.
In front of the backline, it is hard to see anything other than the six who played against City gaining continued confidence. I would like to see Hayley Ladd or Irene Guerrero in the middle and Melvine Malard in the attack but we know Skinner does not like to change.
Nikita Parris is likely to start, as she has scored five goals and an assist against Everton this season.
I also think it might be in order to play Phallon Tullis-Joyce in goal. Mary Earps may not have been bad, but she was nowhere near her usual level. Tullis-Joyce did consistently well when she played in the League Cup and I think she deserves at least one league game this season. But if I know Skinner correctly, he hasn’t even considered it.
Earps
Mannion, Le Tissier, Turner, Blundell
Naalsund, Zelem, Toone
Geyse, Parris, GarcÃa
Everton
Everton stand out as a constant disappointment in the Women’s Super League. This season they have only taken 15 points in 17 games. Reasonably, they should have the ambition to fight for a place in the upper half of the table, but they are nowhere near that. At least they don’t have to worry about relegation, as they are nine points behind Bristol City in the sole relegation spot.
Everton have three losses and zero wins in four games in March. They can at least count moral wins, as they only lost with the odd goal against the top teams Manchester City and Chelsea. In addition, last weekend they drew 0-0 in the derby against Liverpool.
So there is no question of just putting out the shoes to get three points tomorrow. But anything other than three points would be a gross miscalculation.
Everton rotates the team quite well. No player has started every league game (by comparison, United have five players who have started every single league game).
Center back Megan Finnigan gets the most playing time in the team. She is also tied for first in the internal shooting league, with three full hits. Australia’s Clare Wheeler and Sweden’s Hanna Bennison usually occupy the midfield. In addition to Finnigan, there is the Italian winger Aurora Galli, who is noted for three full hits. Galli has also contributed with a couple of assists, which is the best in the team.
From this we can conclude that Everton are not goal-oriented. Their 14 goals scored is clearly the worst in the league. Then their 29 conceded is a more acceptable number (better than five teams, worse than five teams, equal to Tottenham).
Previous meetings
United have historically had it very easy against Everton. In 15 games, we have 12 wins and only one loss. In the league, we have seven wins and zero losses in nine meetings, with a goal difference of 22-5.
This season, the teams have met twice. In October we won 5-0 away in the league, after Nikita Parris and Rachel Williams contributed with two goals each.
Two and a half weeks later, United had a home game in the League Cup. Then was our superiority större. Parris scored a hat trick and also contributed an assist in a 7-0 victory.
Manchester United – Everton
Tournament: Women’s Super League
Datum: 31 mars
Kick off: 12.00
He had: no broadcast in Sweden (available on FA Player in large parts of the world)
