Manchester City’s 16-game unbeaten run was ended by Arsenal in a FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup semi-final tie at the LV Bet Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Gunners won the tie 1-0 after extra-time, Stina Blackstenius netting the only goal in the 93rd minute.
With a quick turnaround, the focus for both sides immediately turns to their Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at a sold-out Academy Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking ahead of his side’s second fixture in four days against The Gunners, Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor said that he expects an unpredictable encounter and that his side will need to be aggressive in their approach.
“Predicting how the game will go is like trying to predict the future,” Taylor joked when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “I expect it to be tight again but there are certain areas that we need to work on and for us, it’s been about the recovery process with the quick turnaround.
“It will depend on who comes out of the Wednesday night game fresher and once the whistle blows, I think you’ll start to see two teams really going at it and wanting to win again.
“I think Arsenal setting up as a back-three was a compliment to us; they’d obviously tried to identify how they would deal with the pressure that we put on them but regardless of what they play, it’s about us and being aggressive like we were the other night. The players are bright enough to be ready rather than predict.”
One Manchester City player to watch out for will be midfielder Laura Coombs who has kicked up a storm during the campaign so far. It took time for The Cityzens to give Coombs her breakthrough with their midfield always being so strong but now she’s had time to prove herself, she’s earned herself an England call-up.
“I think Laura really deserves this,” Taylor said. “Sometimes, players can be overlooked in the international set-up, particularly when they’re doing really good things at their club.
“Laura’s had an opportunity this season and she’s cemented her place in the team which is always difficult to do when there’s high competition levels.
“She’s brought a lot to the team with her all-round game and she’s playing to her strengths which includes running beyond defences and her shooting ability which is top class. She’s scoring goals and her belief and confidence levels are really high.”
Manchester City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal is scheduled to kick-off at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon.
About The Author
