Liverpool manager Matt Beard has called on his side to bring their ‘A Game’ when Arsenal provide the opposition at Prenton Park this afternoon.
The Merseysiders have won one and lost two of their opening three matches in this season’s Barclays Women’s Super League. Beard’s side are going through a transition process following their promotion from the Barclays Women’s Championship back in May.
The Reds have found themselves chasing games upon their return to the top tier and manager Beard says that his side must bring their ‘A Game’ against an Arsenal team who defeated European champions Lyon 5-1 in midweek.
“We just need to concentrate on ourselves,” Beard said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “We’ve started the games slowly which has been frustrating, so we can’t do that against Arsenal. We definitely can’t concede early against them.
“There are little things that we’ve looked at that we need to make sure we address for ourselves. We need to be on our ‘A Game’ without a shadow of a doubt.
“They like to play through or they can go over. I think that’s the biggest thing that Jonas (Eidevall) has added to Arsenal, maybe the pressing intensity and they can mix their game up as well.”
Liverpool are yet to score from open play in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season but Beard is not overly concerned about the lack of goals at this stage.
He said “I’m not concerned because we’ve been creating the chances. If we weren’t creating them, that’s when it becomes an issue. I’m not concerned.
“Obviously you take Leanne Kiernan out of the team, you take Shanice van de Sanden, it doesn’t give us issues but it’s obviously a blow because Leanne is an instinctive finisher and Shanice’s pace and creating goals – you take those two out and it does have a slight effect.
“Because we are creating a lot of chances, I’m confident that as time goes, we’ll start to take them. We’re not going to get as many as we did last year at this level, so we’ve just got to make sure we’re composed in the right moments, we’re not snatching at shots and we’re making the right decisions in the final third. That will come.”
Liverpool’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal kicks-off at 12pm.
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