Rosa Simkin (@rosatalksball)
Date – 27/01/24
Time – 12:30
Location – Walton Hall Park
Where to Watch – The FA Player
My Prediction – Everton 1 – 2 Leicester City
Leicester City celebrate their 5th and final goal against Everton in the League Cup mid-week.
Image Credit – Plumb Images, Getty Images
This Sunday (29th January) sees a battle of the Blue’s with Willie Kirk’s Foxes taking on Brian Sørensen’s Toffees in the Barclays Women’s Super League. It’s a close one, with just one point separating the two sides in the table with Everton placing 8th and Leicester City placing 10th and hanging dangerously close to that relegation zone. Both side’s will be looking to build a barrier between themselves and the relegation battle as they repeat a tie they played just four days ago in the league. Catch the latest team news, form guide, the word from the managers, my predictions and more below!
Head to Head:
WSL -> 5: Everton (3), Leicester City (1), Draws (1)
All Competitions -> 9: Everton (6), Leicester City (2), Draws (1)
Last Time Out:
The two teams in Blue have already clashed on two occasions this season, one being in the WSL and the other in the Continental (League) Cup. Back in October Leicester City took their first ever WSL victory against Everton, winning 1 – 0 at home thanks to a Lenna Petermann 69th minute goal. They then came together again just three months later on Wednesday, 24th of January in the Cup, with the Foxes taking a massive 5 – 1 victory at home. The goals for City coming from Sam Tierney, Deanna Rose, Shannon O’Brien, Missy Goodwin and Jutta Rantala. A consolation goal came the way of Hannah Bennison for the Toffees, in the 6th minute of added time.
Everton:
Everton will be looking to fight back against a Leicester side who have taken six points from them already across competitions this season. The side had a boost a few weeks ago, advancing to the fifth round of the Adobe FA Cup after beating Birmingham side Aston Villa 0 – 3 away. Since then, however, they haven’t been as succesful.
A closely fought 2 – 1 loss away to ‘big four’ member Arsenal last time out in the league will have given the side confidence, with a composed defensive performance and good moments of pressing and runs in from the attacking side of things keeping Arsenal out, with the gunners having 19 shots on goal. A much changed team in the League Cup against today’s opponents Leicester City midweek saw the side on the receiving end of a 5 – 1 onslaught away.
“I think that any time we play a team that is not the traditional top four it is a good chance to showcase ourselves. I think, if I’m honest, it is a top-four league with the rest battling for that fifth spot.” – Brian Sørensen
Despite their recent successes.. or lack of them, Everton will be full of confidence heading into today’s tie. With a home advantage and reinforcements over the window aswell as significantly improved allround play, manager Sørensen believe that his side are ready for the threat that comes with playing the Foxes.
“Leicester have improved a lot, they brought people in and invested a lot. It’s getting closer and more competitive. Every week you got out and show your absolute best, and we have shown that. We are a good team and we can compete with those around us. It’s an important game, as we know we can win, and its an important game if you look at the league standings. It is an important period but we are ready for Sunday.“ – Brian Sørensen
Financial Difficulties
This fixture, like many others for the side this season, comes with another difficulty however, with Everton being charged with another set of breaches of the Financial Fair Play rules by the premier league this week. Their first set of breaches led to the Premier League side being docked 10 points in November. The situation will also greatly affect the women’s side. Despite their injury woes and exits in January, the financial situation means the club is unable to recruit heavily in the January market, with manager Sørensen revealing that the signings of Danes Kathrine Møller Kühl on loan from Arsenal and Rikke Madsen on an 18-month permanent deal will be the only signings made by the side in January, unless someone leaves adding to their budget pool.
“We are in the same place, there is no money to sped at the moment. That has been the reality for a while now. That is however a part of football. Sometime down the road maybe it will turn. But again, I am happy with the players I have to work with, and we are trying to find different ways in finding a squad that is good to compete in this league.” – Brian Sørensen
Team News:
In – Rikke Madsen (Transfer IN), Kathrine Møller Kühl (Loan IN from Arsenal)
Out – Karen Holmgaard, Katrine Veje (ankle), Emily Ramsey (ankle), Nathalie Björn (transfer OUT), Alyssa Aherne (return to parent club Manchester United from loan) & Nicoline Sørensen (retirement)
Everton have been on the receiving end of many absentees over the last few months, from star Nathalie Björn leaving recently to join Chelsea to 26-year-old Nicoline Sørensen announcing her retirement from football the luck hasn’t been with them. They have, however, only been able to bring in two players so far this January window coming in the form of Danish duo Rikke Madsen on a permanent deal and Kathrine Møller Kühl on loan from Arsenal for the remainder of the season. Due to the club’s financial difficulties, it’s likely that those two players will be the extent of their signings.
“Unfortunately we had setbacks on Holmgaard, Vanhaevermaet and Veje. They were all on the pitch but are off now. It’s not so good but hopefully not long term, just a little step down the ladder and then back at it. Kathrine Kühl of course is not able to play, and Emily Ramsey is still out with an ankle injury for a long while.” – Brian Sørensen on the injury situation.
Form:
Everton Top Goal Contributors (23/24 Season):
1. Megan Finnigan – 4 (3 Goals, 1 Assist)
2 (=). Katja Snoeijs – 3 (3 Goals, 0 Assists)
2 (=). Hanna Bennison – 3 (1 Goal, 2 Assists)
4 (=). Toni Duggan – 2 (2 Goals, 0 Assists)
4 (=). Aurora Galli – 2 (2 Goals, 0 Assists)
Leicester City:
The Foxes had quite some start to their 2023/24 campaign, climbing to the top half of the table. And although they have now fallen down to 10th place there are lot’s of positives for Willie Kirk to take from his sides performances. There have however been a number of missed opportunities for the side, loosing two first half advantages against “big four” sides Arsenal and Chelsea, entering the changing room at halftime with a 2 – 0 lead in both WSL clashes, yet going on to loose 2 – 6 and 5 – 2 at Chelsea.
The Foxes will be hoping to get their first win in five WSL games against Everton today, after securing 3 draws and two losses in their last five league games. They can take lots of positives from their midweek clash with the Toffees which saw them take a dominant 5 – 1 victory as they travel up North.
“We’re back to where we were at the start of the season, where goals are being shared around the team. I stupidly said last week that if you keep a clean sheet, you win the game, because we always score, and we didn’t on Friday, so it was nice to get a few tonight. It’s really positive in terms of goals, and people making positive contributions, either from the start or coming off the bench, as well as people coming back from injury.” – Willie Kirk on mid-week league cup clash with Everton and where it has left the team
“The only positive about losing the late goal is the fact that we can’t become complacent. We could’ve said in our preparation that, if this happens, you can concede, but now we can say that you will be punished, because we were.That will be a key lesson to keep us focused ahead of the game on Sunday. As much as I’m frustrated to lose the clean sheet, I’m hoping that it will pay off come Sunday afternoon.” – Willie Kirk on conceding late on to Everton last time out and hoping to maintain 90 minutes of pressure this time out.
Team News:
In – Yuka Momiki (Transfer IN), Saori Takarada (Transfer IN), Emilia Pelgander (Transfer IN), Asmita Ale (Loan from Spurs)
Out – Hannah Cain (knee), CJ Bott (calf)
The Foxes have signed a multitude of reinforcements this window, with Japanese internationals Yuka Momiki and Saori Takarada joining them from Swedish club Linköping FC, 19-year-old Emilia Pelgander joining from Damallsvenskan side KIF Örebro on a three-and-a-half-year contract and finally, defender Asmita Ale joining them on loan from Tottenham Hotspur for the remainder of the season.
They remain without the services of young forward Hannah Cain and Kiwi defender CJ Bott due to knee and calf injuries respectively.
Form:
Leicester City Top Goal Contributors (23/24 Season):
1 (=). Jutta Rantala – 8 (5 Goals, 3 Assists)
1 (=). Lena Petermann – 8 (5 Goals, 3 Assists)
3. Sam Tierney – 5 (3 Goals, 2 Assists)
4 (=). Janice Cayman – 4 (4 Goals, 0 Assists)
4 (=). Missy Goodwin – 4 (2 Goals, 2 Assists)
Match Week 12 Fixtures (28th – 29th January) – All Times GMT:
28th:
Brighton & Hove Albion 0 – 4 Chelsea (MATCH COMPLETE)
29th:
Manchester United vs Aston Villa – 12:00, The FA Player
Everton vs Leicester City – 12:30, The FA Player
Bristol City vs West Ham United – 14:00, The FA Player
Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City – 14:00, The FA Player
Liverpool vs Arsenal – 16:30, Sky Sports*
*All games can also be streamed on the FA Player, Overseas only.*
WSL Table:
