Women’s Super League match previews, team news, stats, live on Sky Sports | Football News

Team news and stats for the latest round of the WSL, with six games on Sunday, including Man City vs Arsenal live on Sky.

Man Utd Women vs Tottenham Women – Sunday, kick-off 12pm

Team news

Manchester United have no new injury worries after Marc Skinner made four changes in midweek for the League Cup win at Arsenal.

Alessia Russo looks likely to keep her place at the head of the home attack after back-to-back goals against the Gunners and Birmingham City.

Tottenham could hand a debut to new signing Eveliina Summanen, the Finland midfielder who joined the club this month.

Kit Graham remains absent with a long-term cruciate ligament injury which has ended her season early.

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• Manchester United have won four of their five Women’s Super League matches with Tottenham, though did drop their first points in this fixture with a 1-1 draw back in November.

• Man Utd are one of three teams Spurs are yet to beat in the WSL since they were promoted to the top-flight (alongside Arsenal and Chelsea), facing the Red Devils (5) more often than any other side without winning.

• Manchester United have lost their last two home matches in the WSL against sides travelling up from London, more than in their first six such clashes on home soil (W4 D1 L1).

• Spurs have won four of their last six away games in the WSL (L2), the same number of victories they had managed across their first 18 matches on the road (W4 D3 L11).

• Manchester United have won their last three WSL games, scoring 12 goals and conceding none. They’ve won their last two games 5-0 against Aston Villa and Birmingham; in WSL history, the only team to win three consecutive by five or more goals are Arsenal between May and September 2018.

How to follow: Follow the latest scores across Sky Sports’ digital platforms with match highlights available from midnight on Sunday.

Brighton Women vs Chelsea Women – Sunday, kick-off 12.30pm

Team news

Brighton may give Julia Zigiotti her full debut after her introduction from the bench against Leicester last weekend.

Chelsea are still without Asia Cup duo Samantha Kerr and Ji So-Yun, on international duty with Australia and South Korea respectively.

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• Brighton have only beaten Chelsea once in their six top-flight clashes (D1 L4), ending the Blues’ record 33- match unbeaten run in February last year.

• In all competitions, Chelsea have won seven of the nine matches with Brighton (D1 L1), whilst they’ve never lost away from home against the Seagulls (W3 D1).

• After failing to win any of their first nine WSL matches on home soil against sides from London (D1 L8), Brighton have won each of their last four such matches, beating both Spurs and West Ham twice.

• Brighton have lost 15 home league matches without scoring since they were promoted to the WSL in 2018- 19, with no side suffering more such defeats. Each of their last two home matches have ended in this manner, versus both Manchester clubs.

• Chelsea lost their last WSL match back in December against Reading, losing 1-0. They haven’t lost consecutive league games since July 2015, losing to Sunderland and Manchester City.

How to follow: Follow the latest scores across Sky Sports’ digital platforms with match highlights available from midnight on Sunday.

Leicester Women vs Aston Villa Women – Sunday, kick-off 2pm

Team news

Leicester head coach Lydia Bedford has no new injury concerns. Connie Schofield, Paige Bailey-Gayle and Kirstie Levell all returned to training this week following their respective injury problems, but Sunday is still likely to come too soon.

Freya Gregory is ineligible to face her parent club, which could mean there is a place in the starting lineup for Natasha Flint.

Sophie Haywood is still unavailable for Aston Villa as she continues her recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Remi Allen missed the Manchester City encounter but is expected to return to the starting line-up.

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• Leicester haven’t won any of their last four league clashes with Aston Villa (D2 L2), three of which were in the Championship in 2018-19 and 2019-20, and an opening day defeat in the WSL earlier this season.

• Since winning their first two matches with Aston Villa in 2008, the Foxes haven’t won any of their 10 matches since in all competitions (D4 L6).

• Aston Villa have won two of their last five away games in the WSL (L3), the same number as in their first 12 matches on the road (W2 D4 L6). However, they’ve lost each of their last two by the same 5-0 scoreline.

• Of the 11 WSL teams to have been involved in the last two top-flight seasons, Aston Villa have conceded the second-most away goals in that time (36), whilst only Birmingham (11) have netted fewer than the Villans over the same period (13).

• After losing their first four home WSL matches by an aggregate score of 10-2, Leicester have won their last two without conceding, winning 2-0 vs Birmingham and 1-0 vs Brighton, both under new manager Lydia Bedford.

How to follow: Follow the latest in our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports’ digital platforms with match highlights available from midnight on Sunday.

Reading Women vs Birmingham Women – Sunday, kick-off 2pm

Team news

Reading will look to build on their 1-0 victory over Leicester this month and Tia Primmer is pushing for a start having come on in that game.

Match-winner Natasha Dowie with continue to lead the line for the Royals, but the postponement of the fixture with Arsenal last weekend means it is two weeks since they last played.

Birmingham boss Darren Carter will be looking for a response after being on the receiving end of a 5-0 defeat against Manchester United last weekend.

He said: “I hate the fact that we are going into the second half 4-0 down and we are talking about small wins, talking about drawing the second half, I hate it. It is how the game went and you have to manage it in a certain way.

“We are under no illusions that we lost the game 5-0 so there’s lots to work on and we will get back to work.”

Carter could well ring the changes this weekend at Reading.

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• Of all WSL fixtures to have been played more than five times, only Doncaster v Everton (67%) has seen a higher share of those matches ending level than Reading v Birmingham (55%), with six of the 11 previous matches finishing in draws.

• The home side has only won this fixture on two of the 11 previous occasions Reading and Birmingham have faced (once each), with the Royals losing on two of the last three occasions they have hosted the Blues.

• Reading have won each of their last four home matches in the WSL, all without conceding a single goal. Only once before have the Royals enjoyed a longer winning run on home soil – between February and September 2018 – when they won five on the bounce, also without conceding in any of those matches.

• Reading have won double the number of home games this season (4/6) than they managed to win in their 11 WSL home games throughout the whole of last season (2/11 – D5 L4). One of those four losses last season did come against Birmingham in October 2020 (0-1).

• Since a 2-2 draw with West Ham in March, Birmingham have only scored two goals in their last eight away WSL matches (D1 L7), conceding 27 goals in this time.

How to follow: Follow the latest in our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports’ digital platforms with match highlights available from midnight on Sunday.

West Ham Women vs Everton Women – Sunday, kick-off 3pm

Team news

West Ham could well give a full debut to Halle Houssein after the midfielder scored off the bench during the midweek League Cup defeat to Chelsea. Katerina Svitkova will provide the goal threat once more for the home side having also notched in the 4-2 loss to Chelsea.

Everton Women boss Jean-Luc Vasseur says scoring first can provide his side with a needed shot of confidence in their quest to climb the table. A win would put the Toffees level on points with this weekend’s opponents, who currently sit eighth.

“I think we need to score the first goal because, perhaps, it changes the face of my team – I know my team is not confident at the moment,” said the Frenchman.

Vasseur had no new fresh injury concerns to report ahead of the trip to London, but this is the Blues’ first game of the year after scheduled matches against Aston Villa and Chelsea postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the squad.

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• Spurs have only lost one of their five previous WSL matches with West Ham (W3 D1), though it was in the reverse fixture in November, with Dagny Brynjarsdottir netting the only goal of the game for the Hammers.
• West Ham have failed to win any of their first WSL games in a calendar year, with the Hammers picking up just one point across those matches (D1 L3).
• Tottenham have picked up 23 points from their last 11 WSL games (W7 D2 L2), just one fewer than in their 25 top-flight matches beforehand (W6 D6 L13).
• No side has recovered more points from losing positions than Tottenham in the Women’s Super League this season (7, the same as Man City), who have won two of the five matches in which they’ve fallen behind (D1 L2).
• West Ham are the only side yet to concede a single goal in the first 30 minutes of an FA WSL match this season – the earliest goal they’ve conceded was scored in the 33rd minute (Inessa Kaagman for Brighton in September).

How to follow: Follow the latest in our dedicated live blog across Sky Sports’ digital platforms with match highlights available from midnight on Sunday.