Manchester City Women currently sit three points behind third-placed Manchester United Women with a game in hand, which will be played this Wednesday, when Everton Ladies travel to the Academy Stadium.
Gareth Taylor's side are in excellent form heading into this outing, only tasting defeat once in their last 16 games in all competitions, while Everton are looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses.
Match preview
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This will be the second meeting between these two sides in the space of four days, after Man City welcomed the Toffees to the Academy Stadium on Sunday in the FA Cup.
A brace from Lauren Hemp along with strikes from Caroline Weir and Ellen White ensured that the Citizens are on their way to the semi-final of the FA Cup with a comfortable 4-0 win.
Another clean sheet for goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck helped the side collect maximum points last time out in the Women's Super League on Wednesday, when they recorded a 2-0 win against Reading.
Demi Stokes and Hemp found the back of the net on that occasion, but the hosts would have felt that it was an opportunity missed to improve their goal difference, having created an ample amount of chances, totaling 30 shots in all.
With this being Man City's game in hand on Man United, they cannot afford to drop points on Wednesday evening if they want to break into the top three by the end of the campaign, making this a must-win outing for the home team.
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Prior to their 4-0 defeat against this week's opponents on Sunday, Everton faced a tough test last time out in the WSL, with reigning champions Chelsea visiting Walton Hall Park.
Chris Roberts's side struggled to get a foothold in that match and ended up falling to a 3-0 defeat after first-half goals from Samantha Kerr, Guro Reiten and Erin Cuthbert.
The Toffees will have to endure a tough final run in as they play four of the current top five teams in their final six matches of the season, with the main aim to now start building for the next campaign.
Everton finished in fifth spot last year, meaning that this year's performance has significantly not lived up to their expectations, but they will be aiming to finish as high as possible in what is left of this season, which could potentially see Everton end up in seventh or sixth place.
This encounter will be the fourth time Everton have faced Man City this season and this week's hosts have got the better of Everton on every occasion by a comfortable margin too.
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Team News
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After being struck with a lot of big injuries at the start of the season, Man City are seemingly reaping the rewards of having key players such as Roebuck and Lucy Bronze available and fully fit.
Captain Steph Houghton remains the only major absentee for the hosts, and she will continue to be sidelined due to injury, with Alanna Kennedy certain to start in the heart of defence alongside Alex Greenwood.
Taylor completely changed his front three for the FA Cup game on Sunday, from the trio that started against Reading, but Hemp, White and Jessica Park are likely to retain their places in the lineup.
Everton goalkeeper Sandy MacIver returned between the posts on Sunday after being replaced by Courtney Brosnan in the last league outing, but the former is expected to continue in goal for the visitors.
Roberts is likely to set his side up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Toni Duggan expected to come into the starting 11 to lead the line, while Izzy Christiansen will aim to link the midfield to attack from her number 10 role.
Manchester City Women possible starting lineup:
Roebuck; Stokes, Greenwood, Kennedy, Bronze; Weir, Stanway, Walsh; Hemp, White, Park
Everton Ladies possible starting lineup:
MacIver; Pattinson, George, Finnigan, Turner; Bjorn, Galli; Bennison, Christiansen, Emslie; Duggan
We say: Manchester City Women 3-0 Everton Ladies
It may be difficult for Man City to be as dominant as they were against Everton on Sunday, as the visitors should have learnt a lot from that defeat and will know more as to how to stop City's attack.
However, after beating Everton three times before this season, Man City have shown that they are professional enough to not become complacent and that will help them collect another three points on Wednesday.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Manchester City Women win with a probability of 62.72%. A draw had a probability of 20.9% and a win for Everton Ladies had a probability of 16.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester City Women win was 2-0 with a probability of 10.86%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.85%) and 2-1 (9.92%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.91%), while for a Everton Ladies win it was 0-1 (4.95%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 3.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Manchester City Women would win this match.
