Manchester City host Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow afternoon but there is a lot more than bragging rights on the line.

City currently sit top of the Barclays Women’s Super League standings after stringing an impressive run of seven straight victories together since suffering a narrow defeat to title rivals Chelsea on the opening day of the season.

United will be eager to close the four-point gap on their Manchester rivals after a poor performance against Aston Villa ended their unbeaten start to the season however Marc Skinner has plenty of positives to take from their midweek Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

Team News

Manchester City

City welcome back several players from injury that could all be in contention to start after working their way back to full fitness. Lauren Hemp played around half an hour in last weekend’s victory over Everton, whilst former United midfielder Grace Clinton could line-up against her former club after a short spell on the sidelines. Rebecca Knaak and Sydney Lohmann are also in the mix after recent injuries.

“It’s one for us to consider what is the best way of winning the game. It’s good for us. Of course, the ones that are coming back is giving competition for each position in the team bigger and raising the level in the training session. When you have more players, the load is a little less. When there are few, you need to be careful with how you load the other ones because repetition becomes more. [It adds] quality too. It gives us opportunities to think how we want to start and end the game.

The hosts will be without Alex Greenwood (knee), Mary Fowler (knee), Kerolin Israel Ferraz (unknown) and Lily Murphy (shoulder) who continue their rehabilitation with no clear date of return indicated.

“No, not this weekend,” Jeglertz confirmed when asked if any of the quartet could feature this weekend. “They’re progressing well and every day working hard. We have a very good performance team with the back-up staff. They are working every day to help these players come back as quick as possible and make them sustainable for the future. They are on their way but when it’s time it’s time.”

 

Manchester United

As for the visitors, Marc Skinner remains without defender Millie Turner and attacker Celin Bizet due to knee and back injuries, respectively. 

Phallon Tullis-Joyce is set to be assessed ahead of the derby, after the goalkeeper missed her first game of the season with a facial knock, but the United boss will be confident Safia Middleton-Patel can deputise in her absence if required upon after a superb performance against PSG.

“She took a knock against Villa; I think we’ve got an assessment today [Friday]. She had a little bit of irritation on Wednesday, so it was just making sure that she’s safe and healthy. We’ll assess her again and see where she’s at for the weekend and going into Wolfsburg. It’s in her face, so we’re just getting it checked, and we’ll update you going into the Man City game. She’s okay, it wasn’t a concussion moment or anything like that.”

Dominique Janssen is available for selection again after being forced to sit out the midweek Champions League tie due to suspension. 

Melvine Malard was withdrawn in the second half against, but Skinner suggested afterwards that the France international, who scored a brilliant goal on the night, should be okay for the weekend.

“I believe so. She’s smiling at the end,” he said. “It’s a quite a firm pitch Old Trafford, so it kind of just pushes your muscles a little bit differently. So, where we tend to have soft ground now, because of the weather, it’s a little bit firmer because it drains really well, so probably just overexerted that a little bit.”

Ella Toone will be pushing for a recall to the starting 11 after a slight niggle prevented her from beginning the game at Old Trafford as will Elisabeth Terland who also began the game on the bench. Skinner was clear in his response that it was nothing serious and the England Lionesses star will be involved on Saturday.

“Tooney, going into the game, had a little niggle, so it was just managing, really, managing her minutes. She’d obviously hit the game against Villa hard, so we were just making sure. And I really mean, it was a tiny niggle, but I didn’t want it to get worse. She will absolutely be involved. She’s fit and healthy. With three games back-to-back in such a short period of time, it would have been irresponsible for us to risk her for the amount of 90s that obviously she’d love to do. You know Tooney, she wants to play every minute.”

Jess Park has had a sensational start to her United career and will no doubt be looking to prove what the club she spent majority of her academy days at are missing out on after her summer departure which saw Clinton go in the opposite direction.  

Previous Meetings

Previous meetings between the two sides have been high-profile and intense with this one likely to be no different. Saturday’s clash will be the first time that the two Clubs have met this season. The previous derby was in May which finished 2-2 after Laia Aleixandri and Rebecca Knaak had put City 2-0 ahead with Clinton on target for the Reds.

United recorded their first ever away win over City in the WSL in last season’s corresponding fixture at the Etihad Stadium, but will face a different Blues team this Saturday under Swedish head coach Andree Jeglertz who have showcased some much-improved consistency so far in their domestic campaign.

Match stats

Both sides have seen goals in almost all their matches this season—indicating that we might expect an open, attacking game.

United are undefeated away in the WSL this season which adds an interesting dynamic since they will look to maintain that record at City’s ground, but The Citizens have their own record to protect as the hosts are the only other team other than Chelsea to have a 100 per cent home win ratio this season.

Andree Jeglertz’s side will enter the weekend as the league’s highest scorers, scoring 20 goals in eight matches. This will no doubt give the home side the confidence they need to break down a United side with the second-best defensive record in the division although The Red Devils have registered 18 goals themselves with Melvine Malard currently sitting joint top goal scorer in the league alongside City’s Khadija Shaw.

Where to watch

Derby Day will take place at the Etihad Stadium Saturday 15 November with Kick-off scheduled at 13:30 UK time. 

For those not heading over to the Etihad Stadium, the game will be broadcast live in the UK on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

In-depth coverage of the game will be available on both clubs’ official apps as well as regular updates on their dedicated social media platforms.