Liverpool manager Matt Beard says that his side are prepared for an uncomfortable tussle with Leicester City.
The two sides meet at Prenton Park this afternoon as they contest their latest fixture in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Both teams have enjoyed impressive starts to the new season and occupy positions in the top half of the table. Liverpool had a tough time against Leicester City last season as they lost both league fixtures and manager Beard expects The Foxes to try to give his side an uncomfortable ride again this afternoon.
“If you look at both games last year, the home game we should have comfortably won but it was one of those days in front of goal and we deserved everything that we got in the away game,” Beard said when speaking in the pre-match press conference.
“Willie (Kirk) has done a fantastic job. Their form at the start of the year coincides with how they finished the season. It’s not just a pre-season and what they’ve done in these first four games, it has been work over six months.
“They’re a tough team to play against. We watched the Man City game and they could have been out of sight in the first 15 minutes but they didn’t convert their chances and Leicester really did grow into the game.
“They unsettle you, they’re in your face; they’ve made the most fouls in the league and picked up the most yellow cards, it’s not going to be a comfortable afternoon. We know that but we just need to concentrate on ourselves.”
Liverpool were made to settle for a 1-1 draw with West Ham United last time out. The Hammers scored a 95th-minute equaliser in that match. Despite not getting the result that he wanted, Beard still saw positives in his side’s performance.
He said “It was our best performance with the ball from a consistency point of view; we knew when to go forward with the ball, when to keep it. That’s the biggest challenge that we’ve had since we’ve been back in the Super League because you want to break teams’ presses and so on but sometimes, it’s not on to do that. That’s been one of our biggest focus points at the back end of last season and in pre-season.
“We were disappointed not to see the game out but things happen. At the end of the day, it was a good cross that was put in the box and then the second ball. It cost us two points but the performance was good, it was an excellent performance.”
Liverpool’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Leicester City kicks-off at 2pm. Tickets for match are available to purchase by clicking here.
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